Actually, the local Willamette Week had me lead a tasting a couple years back when AB came out with a couple winter seasonals (Budweiser Brew Masters Private Reserve and the “oak-aged dark vanilla” Michelob Celebrate). Obviously, AB has the greatest assembled talent in America on its team and could, if it wished, produce a sublime winter ale. We got together a couple brewers (Christian Ettinger, Alan Sprints) a barkeep, and a bunch of WW staffers, and then tried the beer in a flight with NW seasonals. The second the two AB products came out, literally everyone in the room knew it, and mocking ensued.

And the flip side is also true. Mostly in the NW, breweries don’t carefully “craft” their sessions and milds. This is a minor theme of mine, because they’re actually the hardest beers to brew well. My guess is that they are brewing up light beers for people they assume don’t like beer–something for Aunt Millie, when she comes along with the fam. Anyway, whatever their motivation, these aren’t well-crafted.

An even better example are those periodic micros that come along purely as a business venture; they make midrange, inoffensive, focus-grouped beers that are brewed in “craft” styles, but are nevertheless purely commercial products.

To Stan, who rightly points out that commerce and art need not be different. For the brave who trust their beers, this is spot-on. I cite Deschutes in the Oregon market as a classic case of this. When we had the late-90s shakeout, a lot of breweries hired PR firms and tried to overcome the dip with good packaging and mass-market appeal (in their recipes as well). But Deschutes kept on plugging away, counter-intuitively making more characterful beers while other breweries were searching for a mass-audience winner. In what was a perfectly predictable outcome, Deschutes used that moment to outstrip the competition and has grown like crazy. Other breweries got the message, and now Oregon breweries mostly don’t mess around with mass-market offerings. And surprise! Oregon’s beer is far outselling the national craft market (up 17% last year).

And now, having gone on too long, I’ll shut up.

You just have to keep your bearings, evaluate how that brewery/brand is doing. And be willing to accept that the next beer from Anheuser-Busch may blow your socks off.

I love this line: For me, a “craft” beer is one in which the brewer’s commitment is to the beer, not the sale.

My only quibble would be you can be committed to both.

If you are as goofy as me you think that this translates into something tangible you can taste in the glass.

The craft beer movement came out of the impulse to make good beer, not to get rich. With the exception of that speculative five-year span in the early 90s or 20 years, that was the only intention. A-B could make beer that half the country drank, but ‘Lil Brewery X opened up to make great beer for people in the neighborhood.

Inevitably, business has entered the equation. The lines between “craft” breweries” and commercial breweries is getting a little blurry (I recently wrote a post on Henry Weinhard’s new Amber–a $7-per-sixer “commercial” organic). A lot of craft breweries are focus-grouping their new releases to find saleable offerings.

But it still seems evident to me what “craft” beer is. It’s right there in the name–

craft (n) – an art, trade, or occupation requiring special skill.

Since my sense of “craft” is based on the Brewers Association definition (though I would include Widmer, Goose Island, et al in the club) I couldn’t call it craft. I would call it a specialty beer.

As to my personal test, I haven’t had the current version (Lew suggests it is different). But last year’s didn’t have the character that would cause me to pick it – and I’m using a local, draft example – over Il Vicino Pig Tail.

SteveH, my Michelob experience is a total flip. I was impressed by the Hefe last October at GABF, and it was the reason I went to a little bit of trouble to track down the variety pack. Maybe it was an antcipation thing, but then the Hefe didn’t stand up to what’s dependable here – Weihenstephan and Flying Dog.

And maybe it was because I had no preconceptions about the all-malt Michelob but I was impressed. Didn’t pass the “but it” test but there was a lot there.

And if it passes the “complexity, depth of flavor, hop flavor (vs. IBU), texture” test.

Scroll down to the review of Beach Bum, that spawned the split discussion of Craft Beer.