MONDAY BEER & WINE LINKS, MUSING 11.09.15
More links than musing this week, and not really a full week’s worth. Sorry for any abundantly linkable items I missed over the weekend, but we left for New Mexico on Thursday. I’m confident we are having a good time.
Poppa Don’t Preach: Do We Need ‘Craft Beer Evangelists’?
[Via This Is Why I’m Drunk]
The Cult of Craft.
[Via Literature & Libations
Oliver Gray’s reaction (the second article) to Bryan Roth’s question (in the first) provides a lot to think about, but it is different than mine. Roth writes, “Evangelism is about marketing, but more so, it’s about stories.” Here’s the thing, journalism is not just about stories, but it is certainly about stories. Find a good story, write it well, and you end up doing a marketer’s work. This should give writers pause. I’ve rambled on about this before.
A Reader Asks, I Answer: Lagunitas and Heineken.
In case you were looking for the “us against them” dialogue mentioned in the first two links, here is an example. [Via The Pour Fool]
Drink while you can…these bars are closing quickly.
I missed this when it first appeared (h/T BeerGraphs), but that neighborhood bar’s decline has coincided with a surge in craft beer drinking is troubling. “If you think about the neighborhood pub, it’s not really in a position to offer 35 beers on tap,” (Mario) Gutierrez said. “That tends to be a specialized establishment.” That “bars” and “eateries” are classified differently complicates matters. In our neighborhood a lot of places where you can find good food, a dozen or more beers to choose from and enjoy conversation have benefited from selling a wider variety of beer that costs a little more. [Via CNBC]
Why it is OK to say “Their Beer Sucks”…”
“A critic’s job, nine-tenths of it, is to make way for the good by demolishing the bad.” – Kenneth Tynan [Via Pivní Filosof – Beer Philosopher]
The New Wine Democracy.
The word “snob” is back for a second straight week. [Via Wine Spectator]
Wrecking Bar(n) — How a Georgia Brewpub Bought the Farm.
A “lifetime project.” [Via Good Beer Hunting]
Down the drain: A brewpub fails in just 4 months
Reality check. [Via Joe Sixpack]
And then there was this, which was still happening Thursday afternoon, the retweets and comments piling up Click on the date to see what I mean.
Here, in one photo, is why the term "craft beer" matters. Here's a hint if you don't get it https://t.co/cufndPfeKd pic.twitter.com/11hiPJehV2
— Scott Metzger (@beermonkey) November 2, 2015
Excellent. Good cheap beer. Exactly what drinkers want.
In “Travels with Beer” the author points out that between about 1980 and 2000 The USA went from 75% of beer being consumed in bars to 25%. The book is downstairs and I am lazy but I think the trend away from neighbourhood bars (largely unnoticed by beer writers otherwise) is not due to craft given the still relatively small marketshare but modernity – TV, shopping malls.
On the point Alan addresses above, my thoughts are similar. The neighbourhood bar was on the way out for years before craft beer took hold of the American consciousness. The DWI and anti-smoking laws had a lot to do with it, in addition to the factors Alan mentioned.
I remember around Buffalo, NY, you would say a small bar practically at every highway intersection, the low-slung structure that was minimalist in every way. There are many fewer today and I am sure it is like this everywhere. I doubt beer choice has much to do with it. A small but well-chosen selection can be appealing as a large craft selection…
Gary
On the issue of reporting vs. advocating, story-telling vs. marketing, it depends on the writer. Some are resolutely neutral, and it can be hard to tell where they stand, where their preference lies. They tend to describe issues well, and points of view, and indeed this is more the traditional reportorial role. Of course, as in any writing, personal preference or inclination can never be completely hidden, but the writing has a decided cast, of even-handedness.
Others are more “committed”, to use the 60’s term, and their passions and prejudices come out more clearly.
Some are good at a middle ground, or can play either role depending on the kind of writing they’re doing.
Jackson, whom you mentioned, was good at this tightrope game. In his pocket book series, he rated beers by a star system, which definitely implied a judgement, although he would rarely criticize a beer outright. This caused a certain inherent tension though, and I recall a reviewer once saying Jackson’s rating system was “ambiguous”, which was true.
It’s really no different to other journalism. Some writers let you know where they stand on the issues, others are circumspect. I must say I prefer the kind of journalism that takes a position, many of the modern English beer writers are of this type. But once again the assignment will always influence too the degree of objectivity. Some writing jobs have to be largely descriptive, it is in their nature.
Gary