Editor of "All About Beer" magazine, his remarks.

[Tutsbrew]

Anyone catch the "Behind the Bar" page, an editorial I suppose, on page 5 of the March 2015 issue of "All About Beer" by the editor John Holl?

I received a subscription renewal yesterday for the magazine. On it, in bold and underlined, is the sentence "YOUR LAST ISSUE IS ON ITS WAY!".

How very true that sentence is now after reading Mr. Holl's remarks about craft beer.

 

[kombat]

Can you post a snippet of the most egregious remarks here, for those of us who don't subscribe to the magazine?

 

[watermelon83]

If this is the article in question, it can be read here:

http://allaboutbeer.com/article/single-word-case-beer/

I guess I don't see what the hubbub is. He doesn't bash craft beer, just the fact that every beer is truly craft beer. Just crafted differently.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

It amazes me how easily homebrewers get their panties in a twist anytime "craft" beer is talked about with a downward opinion. It's as if they have staked their lifes claim in it.

 

[FourSeasonAngler]

It's just beer.

 

[thekraken]

I agree with some of the authors sentiment about semantics but I can't say I agree with this paragraph... at all:

"For some consumers and brewers, it’s the battle of “us vs. them,” with people saying that the larger breweries make “crap” or “poor-quality” beer. Nothing could be further from the truth. Those brewers use the same ingredients as smaller brewers to make the same final product: beer. And while some consumers are throwing stones at large corporations that make technically perfect beer, they give a pass to some smaller breweries that fall under the craft banner but make and release clearly infected or inconsistent beers. Why?"

 

[Tutsbrew]

I agree with some of the authors sentiment about semantics but I can't say I agree with this paragraph... at all:

"For some consumers and brewers, it’s the battle of “us vs. them,” with people saying that the larger breweries make “crap” or “poor-quality” beer. Nothing could be further from the truth. Those brewers use the same ingredients as smaller brewers to make the same final product: beer. And while some consumers are throwing stones at large corporations that make technically perfect beer, they give a pass to some smaller breweries that fall under the craft banner but make and release clearly infected or inconsistent beers. Why?"

Boom. Glad you took the time to read the editorial, and with thought, before jumping on.

 

[bob1852]

It amazes me how easily homebrewers get their panties in a twist anytime "craft" beer is talked about with a downward opinion. It's as if they have staked their lifes claim in it.

You new here?

 

[madscientist451]

"For some consumers and brewers, it’s the battle of “us vs. them,” with people saying that the larger breweries make “crap” or “poor-quality” beer. Nothing could be further from the truth. Those brewers use the same ingredients as smaller brewers to make the same final product: beer. And while some consumers are throwing stones at large corporations that make technically perfect beer, they give a pass to some smaller breweries that fall under the craft banner but make and release clearly infected or inconsistent beers. Why?"

Mega brewers don't use the same ingredients. Its like saying wonder bread is made with wheat, and that's the same as your local bakery that makes a 12 grain. The author goes on to say that "some consumers" criticize corporate brewers and then go on to ignore infected or "inconsistent" beer. How does he know that anyone does this? And what's wrong with one batch of beer being slightly different than the one before? Is every single burger or flatbread pizza at the fern decorated bistro in his neighborhood exactly the same? Why does beer made in a small brewery have to meet some standard of perfection set in an industrial brewery? If you want consistency, eat at micky D's, drink coor's, bud, or miller light and make grilled cheese with wonder bread and velveeta.

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

Odd, yet all everyone talks about around here is consistancy and repeatability...

 

[watermelon83]

I went to a "craft" brewery in north west Indiana. I bought four 22oz bombers of a beer that I enjoyed with dinner. The first bottle back at the hotel room tasted completely different then what I had enjoyed with dinner. I shrugged it off as being brewers "license". That was until I hit the bottom of the glass. There was the nastiest ball of snot I have EVER incountered in any beer. I looked like someone with a cold hocked up a lugee and put it in the glass.

Had that been my first "craft" beer experience, I'd be drinking BMC right now.

 

[bob1852]

I've been to far too many new "craft" breweries lately in many states that make crap beer.

They aren't managing fermentation temps, they're rushing beer to tap, many are infected or diacetyl bombs, and/or other weird off flavors from bad process/ingredients and poor sanitation.

Sadly, many people "new" to the craft beer scene think that this is what "craft" beer is supposed to taste like because they don't know any better.

But hey, it'll make my dream of opening a brewery in the future a bit easier. When the nostalgia of craft beer wears off, A LOT of these new places that are making crap "craft" beer are going to go out of business and their equipment will be cheaper to acquire.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Mega brewers don't use the same ingredients. Its like saying wonder bread is made with wheat, and that's the same as your local bakery that makes a 12 grain. The author goes on to say that "some consumers" criticize corporate brewers and then go on to ignore infected or "inconsistent" beer. How does he know that anyone does this? And what's wrong with one batch of beer being slightly different than the one before? Is every single burger or flatbread pizza at the fern decorated bistro in his neighborhood exactly the same? Why does beer made in a small brewery have to meet some standard of perfection set in an industrial brewery? If you want consistency, eat at micky D's, drink coor's, bud, or miller light and make grilled cheese with wonder bread and velveeta.

That anti-adjunct Reinheitsgebot tripe needs to go.

The big brewers use adjuncts for the same reason as craft brewers do. If BMC can't use corn to dry the beer and lighten body, then most of the IPAs need to go too, because they use sugar to do the exact same thing.

What this is is a bunch of people who can't brew on the same level as the big guys trying to bash their product.

I WISH I had the skill to brew as well and consistently as the big guys.

Dog the business practice and the company, but don't dog the beer.

And I've seen folks who should know better hand me a "Berliner Weisse" from a craft brewery, and think it's awesome. Thing smells like parmesan, and vomit from a very poorly performed sour mash. The beer never should have been released, and was awful, but people ate it up simply because "it's a sour beer and sour beers are cool and its a craft brewery so it has to be cool".

"Craft" just like "artisan" or "natural" is a marketing term, nothing more. Hence why the BA can change the definition at will to either kick someone out of the club or allow them to stay.

I think the article is pretty on point and objective, and stays nice and clear of all the BS politics associated with "macro" and "craft" beer.

 

[sudbuddy]

I don't see what the big deal is. To me, it was a well reasoned and thought provoking article. Is "craft" a marketing term? Abso-floccin-lutely. How much "handcrafted" hipster **** have we all had to look at lately? Be it clothes, cheese, salami or what have you, the term "craft" is here to stay. It started with beer, but now it is attached to everything.

Big deal. You know a craft beer when you see one, and you sure as hell know a macro. He wasn't denigrating craft beer at all, he was just observing that it is a marketing term, and at the end of the day we are all making the same thing: beer. Some of that beer is better than others.

But let he who has not had an awful "craft" beer cast the first stone. Come on people, just because it's made in small batches doesn't make it good. I'm not going to name names, but I have had some truly lousy so-called "craft beer(s)" and it made me start to think favorably about BMC again. Similarly, there are times when I really crave an Old Style, but I generally don't talk about that out loud.

Instead of bitching about one guy's take on a marketing term, why don't you tackle something a little more approachable. Like the inherent racism in professional bass fishing or NASCAR? Seriously folks, Relax, Don't Worry, Have a Homebrew

 

[madscientist451]

I've had my share of crappy "craft" beer and crappy large industrial brewery beer. I don't give anyone a pass for selling crap.
That's what the author was complaining about, giving a pass to a smaller producer.
And I've noticed some inconsistency in some beer, and if gets to the point that it bothers me, I don't buy it anymore. If you prefer factory food and drink that's 100% consistent, there's plenty of that available.
The problem I have with the magazine editorial is that the author is making conclusions without any facts and generalizing about what opinions people have.

 

[sudbuddy]

.
The problem I have with the magazine editorial is that the author is making conclusions without any facts and generalizing about what opinions people have.

Cite your source.

 

[erichsmith]

Mega brewers don't use the same ingredients. Its like saying wonder bread is made with wheat, and that's the same as your local bakery that makes a 12 grain. The author goes on to say that "some consumers" criticize corporate brewers and then go on to ignore infected or "inconsistent" beer. How does he know that anyone does this? And what's wrong with one batch of beer being slightly different than the one before? Is every single burger or flatbread pizza at the fern decorated bistro in his neighborhood exactly the same? Why does beer made in a small brewery have to meet some standard of perfection set in an industrial brewery? If you want consistency, eat at micky D's, drink coor's, bud, or miller light and make grilled cheese with wonder bread and velveeta.

I live very close to a Miller plant and they use rail cars of 6 row. I've been in the brewery and saw it.