Craft brewing backlash?

[stux]

Myself, I think the term craft beer is responsible for a lot of any ki d of backlash that may exist.

Beer has been around for a really long time and before the us did it, before we copied them, beer was made. Some is mass produced, boring and bland but sone is wonderfully flavourful with differences and nuances and niches aplenty. Is an altbier a craft beer or just a beer? How about a porter or a kolsch?
**** the dumb terms - there's beer and within that there are many different types. Some are well made, some aren't. Buy the well made ones that suit your drinking habits and if you want to support smalk/local/independent, buy from independently owned micros.
For me, I'll buy it if I want it and it suits my palate that day so it can be mega (little creatures, hoegaarden) or minor/micro (temple, 4 pines). Craft schmaft- just be beer and be good.

I don't care about trends or backlashes. I drank duvel when I was 18, long before our craft revolution, and I'll be brewing my version of it long after it's over.

Oh the article? Maybe right maybe wrong, don't give a ****. Marketing is the devil's puckered freckle held over your face till you poke your tongue out.

In Belgium, at least when I was living there, the term Artisanal was used where we would use "craft" now...

And Duvel-Moortgat, counted

BTW, I had a Duvel Triple Hopped 2015 Edition (Mosaic), delicious

 

[TimT]

In Belgium, at least when I was living there, the term Artisanal was used where we would use "craft" now...

And Duvel-Moortgat, counted

BTW, I had a Duvel Triple Hopped 2015 Edition (Mosaic), delicious

In Belgium, at least when I was living there, the term Artisanal was used where we would use "craft" now...

And Duvel-Moortgat, counted

BTW, I had a Duvel Triple Hopped 2015 Edition (Mosaic), delicious

Well speaking personally, this is an artisanal craft homebrewed forum comment, cured and cultured with a heirloom yoghurt, and fermented at ambient temperatures by flaxen-haired maidens for a fair-trade wage.... but I don't know about some of the other, mass produced comments above.

 

[going down a hill]

You forgot bespoke

 

[manticle]

He's on holiday.
In Belgium.
Drinking beer.
Good beer.

 

[Dave70]

Yeah, there definitely are some small breweries who exist purely on the fadism of "craft", need a good recession to sort the wheat from the chaff.

Some brewers mash chaff?

 

[Rambo]

Couldn't be good beer surely? I've just returned from Belgium and didn't see a craft beer advertised anywhere.

 

[MartinOC]

Thanks for posting the Busweiser ad., TimT. I wouldn't have gone looking for it to watch otherwise.

What I got from it was "Don't think for yourself, just drink what we market to you". Appealing to the lowest common denominator in the drinking-public (much the same way that Labor appeals to the lowest common denominator in the voting public by campaigning on a Public Holiday for the "Grate" Final weekend, FFS!!!

Therein lies a fundamental problem. The Marketing (not the quality of product) is what drives Anheuser-Busch & the "biggies" over here. They have BIG pockets to do the marketing, which the little guys don't have.

You also brought-up the point "They wouldn't bother attacking something they didn't think mattered". Yep! That's why they went after Buweiser Budvar many years ago in an attempt to shut them up (& won, only because they had the $'s to pay for a huge legal team). Anyone remember the argument over who was first & the semantic difference between the slogans "The King of beers" vs "The beer of Kings" & who stole it from whom? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budweiser_trademark_dispute

Over here, we have the "Big-boys" who have their marketing clout, but we, the discerning drinking public choose not to consume it, because we can think (& drink!) for ourselves.

I originally started homebrewing in the UK because I wanted to replicate the stuff I got in local pubs, made by artisans & served by publicans who cared about the product they were selling. When I came to Aus., I started brewing again because I was bitterly (pardon the obvious pun!) disappointed with the quality & choice afforded by what was available from the mainstream breweries.

In the past few years, the choice has got much better & I can only think that's a good thing for discerning consumers. The big boys are scared of the competition. I can't see Australians capitulating to accept mainstream shit in their glass ever again.

Craft beer is here to stay! :super:

 

[TheWiggman]

It got a bit lost in the end but overall I tend to agree with it. Bear in mind we AHB members are probably going to be biased based on the fact our hobby IS craft brewing, so we are - I would hope - in full support of the craft beer industry.
However...
I completely agree with this whole supposed definition of craft beer. It isn't a defined term but rather a flexible word that, in line with the article, is used primarily as a marketing term and is as flexible as the marketers want it to be. I agree that craft beer isn't VB, XXXX, Swan etc. What I don't necessarily agree with is that craft is Matilda Bay. I a not saying it isn't, but it's in the grey area that the marketing machine has jumped upon and turned the term into a buzzword that this whole argument has deleted from.
I just had a Pintail Pale Ale and 4 Pines Stout. Craft? Don't care, loving them right now.
I recently had a Borenore Pale Ale. Completely on the other scale and is craft beer without a doubt. Locally produced and they sell it at one pub and at farmers markets. Didn't love it.
I see this whole craft beer movement thing as some sort of backlash against the monopoly of the megas. I completely support the concept of broadening the varieties on the market as I personally see this as the biggest problem having these mobs dominating the taps. We don't all want to drink in volumes, I know now I like to have a few beers and enjoy every one of them. With 5 lagers on tap I can't eno...
(TheWiggman cooks 2 pizzas, feeds bathes and beds kids, and consumes a few beers in the process)
... what was my point again? Well I can understand the sentiments of the author about the whole craft beer 'revolution'. It's gone past representing the small producer of unique beers to being a buzz term that the big mobs have got hold of and the hipsters have embraced. Don't be seen drinking beer, drink craft beer!
In reality we want to drink good beer. I think it's that simple.

 

[TimT]

What I got from it was "Don't think for yourself, just drink what we market to you". Appealing to the lowest common denominator in the drinking-public (much the same way that Labor appeals to the lowest common denominator in the voting public by campaigning on a Public Holiday for the "Grate" Final weekend, FFS!!!

Yes to all those things. Of course they're betting (rightly) that there's still a market for mass swill out there. Same as in Australia. Americans can be very nostalgic abut their megabrews, same as in Australia. Hell, I'm nostalgic about the days when every pub had a 'Carlton Draught' logo on it and you always knew what you'd get when you went in. And I don't even drink it anymore.

But I'm looking forward to the day when we reminisce nostalgically about the craft beers of the early 2010s.... and it'll come, and it'll come soon. "Remember when everyone used to drink IPAs? Heh, and there was that whole thing about Taylor Swift.... geeze, I haven't heard her music for ages....."

 

[MartinOC]

Tim, I still reminisce nostalgically about the mid-80's, when you could go into "The Royal" on Flemington Rd (before it was turned into the Redback Brewery), sit next to the fire with an exquisite pint of Bengal Blaster & play cards with your mates in relative quiet....or "The Loaded Dog" on St George's Rd before it became trendy & had to queue to get in.....

 

[verysupple]

The thing is, IPAs are what you get because IPAs are what is selling, if consumers wanted craft beers which were session beers, then that is what would be made and sold...

There are sessionable craft beers, and they do sell.

There are a lot of craft breweries, and the mega craft brews are quite sessionable, and do sell

Fat Yak, Lashes etc

Just don't drink a Hopinator if you don't want to be hop socked, and if competition is working, then you will get what the general craft drinking public wants...

Tap contracts might be hurting competition though.

I pretty much agree. I basically said that restaurants buy what they know sells. My issue is that I don't think the average drinker is adequately exposed to the full range of styles that could be available.

I also agree that a lot of craft beers are sessionable. But even the sessionable ones tend to be hot forward. I mean, how many Australian non- homebrewers/beer geeks would know that things like altbier and southern English brown exist? (Yes, I know style guidelines aren't all that relevant in the commercial beer world, but beers of those styles are quite hard to find here)

 

[Goatfish]

As a bloke in his early 20s I can relate to the feeling of too much flavour, but I still enjoy a decent 'craft beer'. The biggest problem is price and availability. I struggle to justify going out and spending $10+ on a pint when I can get a mass produced one for around $7-$8

 

[MartinOC]

As a bloke in his early 20s I can relate to the feeling of too much flavour, but I still enjoy a decent 'craft beer'. The biggest problem is price and availability. I struggle to justify going out and spending $10+ on a pint when I can get a mass produced one for around $7-$8

How much more enjoyment do you get & how much longer does your pint last for that extra $2-$3???

 

[michaeld16]

As a bloke in his early 20s I can relate to the feeling of too much flavour, but I still enjoy a decent 'craft beer'. The biggest problem is price and availability. I struggle to justify going out and spending $10+ on a pint when I can get a mass produced one for around $7-$8

Its all personal preference i suppose but for 2-3 dollars more i would rather enjoy my pint,

 

[manticle]

I have had cheap pints I've loved and expensive ones I've hated. The pretend war is a marketing shitpile.

 

[jc64]

"Not everything has to be overly thought out," he says. "Sometimes beer is just there for when you knock off. As long as it's well made, balanced and enjoyable, and made with love, that's a beautiful beer."

That last line is all the article needed to say in my opinion.

 

[yum beer]

It doesn't matter what its called, craft beer is here to stay, it may get a new name or lose its current one but we will always have a larger and larger range of brews to enjoy,
Current market share is 3%, piddly.
You will always have the blind eyed, pig headed boof that will drink his delicious Carlton Dry and skoff at the hipster freak drinking the weird beer that smells like his daughters perfume....
Then you will always have those that look for, find, buy and try something different and then discovering a new taste they wil go occasionally and buy a carton of that 'crafty stuff' to take to a mates party or put in the esky at Xmas or the missuses birthday. He will still drink swill most of the time but 4% of his beer purchases become craft. As this continues the share of craft beer goes up, 4%...4.5% and upwards.
As long as there are people trying and buying then the market will get bigger and craft will become more readily available. There is nothing better at forcing change than consumers buying habits.
Will it one day become comparable price wise, not likely, supply and demand and cost of production will always ensure that and that will always constrain just how big a chunk of the market craft beer will gain.
At the end of the day a large chunk of drinkers are driven and blinded by price and **** all else.

*Craft Beer Disclaimer: Tried today,a bottle of John Boston Guard House(Golden Ale)...I seriously doubt there was a hop in the brewery when they made it, another 'fine' attempt by the big players to downplay Craft Beer 'see it costs 50% more and doesn't taste any better'

 

[Moad]

People still eat maccas...people will drink mega beers even though they know what is out there. Some either can't afford it (like those drinking goon) or genuinely just want a bland refreshment with no thought or complexity.

Don't snicker at the hipster or frown upon the hop bomb IPA lover, be happy there is choice and those choices are only increasing.

 

[danestead]

Gees this thread took off quick! And with a few different views.

So what does everyone consider the meaning of 'craft beer' or 'craft brewery'?

I had this conversation with a good mate of mine who happens to own and run a couple of boutique bars in perth. He also owns and runs his own brewing operation of which they put their brown ale on tap at a few places in lerth and are in the development and testing stage of their next style.

My response to his question 'what does craft beer or brewery mean to you?' Went along the lines of this- A brewery where the brewers/owners etc are passionate about the beer they brew and brew the beer to be how they want it to taste, cost aside. He disagreed with the cost aside part because cost always plays a part so I took onboard what he was saying and would probably sum it up as a brewery where the brewers and owners etc are passionate about beer in general and the beer they brew, and brew beer to how they want it to taste rather than what they know will sell in mass quantities, with generally less concentration on cost than the mega brands such as lion etc.

This definition of mine doesnt restrict a 'craft' brewery to brewing pale ales etc, they can brew a lager, but lets make it a bloody good one with all the love it and the other styles deserve.

 

[Black Devil Dog]

There's no consumer backlash, last week there was an article about CUB blocking 'craft beers' from having taps at certain pubs. Why would they need to do that?

If there is a backlash, it's coming from the mega dishwater brewers who can see their market share being eroded.

As for it being called 'craft beer', I think that one's been settled. If it's owned by a mega, it isn't craft.