The link. I hope this link works for you, because it comes from a Bluesky thread. Two paragraphs because they are short.
You’ve got a company that’s expanding wildly and injudiciously across the planet. Expanding just to expand because it is foretold in their business plan that they must expand.
This happens because Craft Beer is a cult. You remember the Craft Beer Jesus? Well, Berlin doesn’t.
Expanding wildly and injudiciously. Sound familiar?
The paragraph:
“You can choose completely how you define your company, how you run it, what you stand for and how you communicate that to consumers,” (Brewers Association CEO Bart Watson) said, calling those elements the most defensible sources of differentiation for small producers in the years ahead. In a period of instability, Watson added, community and trade associations can provide support and coordination, but long-term success will depend on how clearly individual businesses define and communicate why they exist and why they matter.
The link, for all those who curious about tastes from the past, including Ron Pattinson*.
“Olfaction helps shape our cultures, although it often does so unknowingly or without us noticing,” says (Inger) Leemans, who led the Odeuropa project. “When we talk about cultural heritage, we can think about religious rituals, but we can also think about specific scents that we’ve been cherishing and living with for a long time.”
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* Something he told be for Brewing Local: “Why do I want to taste extinct styles? On one level it’s purely from curiosity: how did it taste, what did it look like, how did it drink? All the things you can only really learn about a beer by having one in a glass in front of you. That simple need to know could be satisfied by a pint or two.
“But then there’s the cultural aspect. Beer styles—and especially those associated with a specific place—have a wider significance than just being a drink. Because every beer style is a unique cultural item. When one disappears, the culture it came from is diminished.”
A 1960s postcard from the Harvest House hotel, a mid-century modern gem
The paragraph:
“Walking out of the Friday evening session last year I had a sense that I’d be skipping the 2026 [Great American Beer Festival] thanks to a ‘been here, done this’ feeling. Now, with this change and a promise of something new, I’ve already started looking at flights to the Mile High City for mid-October.”
The first GABF was held in the Millennium Harvest House Hotel in Boulder, Colorado. It was demolished recently to be replaced by University of Colorado student housing. Is that relevant to all that was written last week about GABF leaving the Colorado Convention Center?
The paragraph:
“There were a few early people back in the day who understood Jack (Joyce’s) vision,” says (Floyd) Holcom. “The Rogue Nation was made up of embassies, they didn’t have managers they had ambassadors. That is why Rogue was kicking ass in those days is that felt that they were ambassadors to craft beer. I think that’s why Jack chose us to put a Rogue here.”
Embassies and ambassadors.