Can extract be Craft Beer ?

[manticle]

I go back to my sock puppet.

 

[431neb]

I'm going with maybe.

I firmly believe that one of the reasons that men (generalising here) like brewing beer is because they can blend right brain activity with left brain in a way that suits each individual. Some lean toward an arty or creative approach and others favour a more rigorous scientific approach. This is one of the reasons that there is often such disagreement among some us. Often it's the shoot from the hip brigade (art) who have found a method that works for them, butting heads with the weigh / measure and research crowd (science). Street smarts vs book learnin' etc, the analogies are numerous.

The question is loaded because it speaks to both sides of the brain and / or debate. "Craft" is a word that implies some inherent value not by it's strict definition but through the ways it is used in modern language. It speaks of quality and creativity. Does the (arguable) lessening of the creative process (By eliminating the science of mashing) devalue the product enough to preclude it from the distinguished club of , "Craft brewing".

It might be interesting to note which sides of the debate the various "art vs science" AHB personalities fall.

I have the fence firmly parked in my posterior but I watch with interest.

 

[Black Devil Dog]

Has someone not built a house if they buy the wood pre-cut?

They have built a house.

But have the timber frames been prefabricated in a framing factory, or have the tradesmen building the house had to rely on their knowledge of their craft to assemble them? Rather than just lift the pre-fab frames into position.

 

[djar007]

I love it black devil dog. This question is like throwing a string of crackers into a crowded room and turning the cameras on.

 

[philmud]

The single most important thing is to remember that the meaning of life is to get everybody on the Internet to agree with you.

 

[DU99]

Craft the profession of a craftsman and what makes craft whatever is available to make the required item...and art theres crap and theres some good stuff

 

[Bada Bing Brewery]

If a brewer brews a craftbrew in the forrest and nobody drinks it - did he really brew? Late but deep ...
BBB

 

[djar007]

As long as he looked at it for colour and clarity. Smelt it. And looked again at the colour. sipped it. Cleared his nose. Then drank twelve of them.

 

[wbosher]

Here is another analogy -

I used to be a panelbeater many years ago. From time to time we would fabricate panels (eg vintage motorcycle mud guards and the like) from a flat piece of steel using rolling machines, a hammer, dollies and a file. Many people would call that a craft, right? We still made the panels with pre-made steel, which had been pounded into a sheet at a factory.

Does it make it any less of a craft because we didn't make that sheet of steel ourselves from iron ore?

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

Looks like I should have actually first asked how do we as a community define craft brewing ?
To me its the passion and also the choice of ingredients. My choice is raw ingredients that match my brewing skill level.
I guess you can look at each step in brewing and ask is this a craft, is opening a can of extract a craft, hell no, but is adding hops that balance the final brew a craft , yes?
I like to try and fully craft my beers at each process.
Nev

 

[bum]

The single most important thing is to remember that the meaning of life is to get everybody on the Internet to agree with you.

No. The last thing you want is morons agreeing with you. You just need them to know how wrong they are.

 

[Yob]

If a brewer brews a craftbrew in the forrest and nobody drinks it - did he really brew? Late but deep ...
BBB

Question is, does he get a craft hangover if nobody sees him drink?

 

[Bada Bing Brewery]

Question is, does he get a craft hangover if nobody sees him drink?

No No Yob - big question is - is it a real craftbrew or just BIAB
BBB

 

[Ivonavich]

I think that yes it can be...... we are talking tye use of extract here and not kit following instructions? If so there is really still a reasonable amount of variables (yeast, hops, adjuncts, schedules, temps etc) where the brewer can exert his influence on the final product creating an artform rather than just a prescribed item.

 

[bum]

Pliny the Elder uses a significant portion of dextrose.

Craft beer or no?

 

[manticle]

Did they refine the dex from home grown cane?

 

[lukiep8]

Chimay uses extract.

 

[Black Devil Dog]

Pliny the Elder uses a significant portion of dextrose.

Craft beer or no?

"The only certainty is that nothing is certain."

Pliny the Elder

 

[Mardoo]

Do we define craft beer in terms of commerce, as the Americans have done? (Perhaps I should say "we Americans" being a permanently transplanted US expat.) "What portion of the market place can a brewer potentially take (due to their size)?"

I think we'd be better off defining it in terms of some combination of technique and ingredients. I'd be afraid of stifling innovation by defining "craft" too tightly, but I think we can come up a better definition than barrels produced.

Better how? Better for preserving the traditional means and methods of brewing and beer. Probably not something excluding methods and ingredients but something more along the lines of, "craft brewing must use these basic ingredients and these basic processes." Something less restrictive than the Reinheitsgebot but less permissive than the American laws.

Laws? Hmmmm, maybe we should just brew beer!

 

[JDW81]

just like throwing some cheese in some bread isn't deserving of being called a craft sandwhich.

What if you use c(k)raft cheese?

If you go by the definition of craft i.e. n. an activity involving skill in making something or v. use skill in making something, then you could argue that making beer from extract could be classed as craft beer. There is an element of skill in knowing which ingredients to use, in what amounts (even if it is only malt extract) and how to handle hops, yeast, water, fermentation, packaging etc. Although it isn't quite at the same level as brewing entirely from grain, you have to admit to make a successful extract beer you do need a certain level of knowhow and skill.

FWIW if a brewery made an all extract beer and it was good I would drink it, irrespective of it being an extract beer. To me good beer is good beer, and if it is well made, and tastes good, then down it goes.

JD