musing

What if he tweeted? We’re not really going to spend much time talking about that Saturday in Lexington, but if everybody else has put as much thought into the process as Roger Baylor it’s going to be very interesting.

First, here is the schedule for “Craft Writing: Beer, The Digital, and Craft Culture.”

10:30-12:00
“What if Michael Jackson Blogged? Communicating About Beer in the 21st century”

Introduction: Kevin Patterson, The Beer Trappe
Stan Hieronymus: “So You Want to be a Beer Writer”
Julie Johnson: “When Your Beer News Arrived by Mail”
Teri Fahrendorf: “Creating a Community Out of Thin Air”

1:30-3:00
“Beer Knowledge”

Introduction: Daniel Harrison, Country Boy Brewing
Roger Baylor: “Everything You Know is Wrong”
Jeremy Cowan: “Founder and Owner of Shmaltz Brewing Company”
Mitch Steele: “The Top Ten Surprises From Researching Historical IPA Brewing”

3:30-5:00
Keynote

Introduction: Gary Spedding, Brewing and Distilling Analytical Services
Garrett Oliver: “Beer is People”

I will focus on writing about beer as an act of journalism. And as journalist one way to signal I am an unbiased observer is to refer to participants by their last name. However, in the runup to this event Baylor posted a thought provoking piece titled “Conformity, contrarianism and a craft writing symposium.” It was way too Roger to write anything other than go read what Roger has to say.

Craft beer is a state of mind … but whose? I have a slew of opinions about this, as rooted in a system of ideas, and I’m capable of sharing them in writing. What always can be counted upon to annoy me to the point of active resentment is when justifiable enthusiasm becomes irrational exuberance, then is enumerated and rendered doctrinal, after which perfectly sensible persons began advising against challenging the new prevailing orthodoxy – for instance, the familiar admonition against brewers even speaking aloud about a potential craft beer bubble, lest doing so might instigate a loss of faith, and the popping of a bubble that the very same commentators deny exists in the first place.

And then he moved on to Socrates.

A little curmudgeonly this week. Blame the weather.

– Hype, Backlash, and Hopslam. “Hopslam (nor any other rare beer de jeur) is not the sickness in our beer scene, it is merely a symptom. We have become a beer scene that talks openly about a return to craft beer enjoyment …. We talk a good game, but our actions (and our tweets) say differently.” [Via Charlotte Beer]

– Lagunitas addition adds depth to Chicago beer scene. “In some ways, sizes of craft breweries are irrelevant. The guys I talked to, whether they made 5,000 barrels a year or 100,000 barrels a year, they are looking for other breweries who will support the craft beer movement.”

In all fairness, there’s more to that thought. But, golly, sure this “get along and help each other” spirit has been a factor in more small breweries making better beer. But what brewers are really looking for is people who will buy their beer. Nothing wrong with that, but a fact. Otherwise they’d stick to being homebrewers. “Here, taste my beer. Great, right? Glad you enjoyed it.”

And later in the story Lagunitas owner Tony Magee says, “Some people say we’re in the beer business. I’d say we’re in the tribe building business. Tribes are built on shared stories.” Have you heard the one about how they’re not in the beer business?

[Via Chicago Sun-Times]

– The unexpected way beer is helping this California town get through a historic drought. “The recent installation of an innovative water treatment system at the Bear Republic Brewing Company, along with the ongoing construction of two local wells in part paid for by the company, could go a long way toward keeping Cloverdale afloat before it’s estimated to run out of water in a few months.” [via takepart]

– Has craft beer finally gone too far? Take our ‘quiz’. Welcome to the Rabbit Hole. [Via Atlantic Cities, where the tagline is “Place Matters” – bless ’em]

– Michigan-made malt worth the hefty price tag to local breweries and distilleries. But it’s not easy selling something for 80 cents a pound when out-of-state varieties go for 35 cents. [via MLive]

Of course a right proper rant from Andy Thomas, CEO of Craft Brew Alliance, Monday at Beer Business Daily’s Beer Summit grabbed the headline.

But in the midst of his 45-minute presentation to something like 300 beer industry types he rolled over the rock labeled “movement” and suggested “craft beer” could eventually account for 70 percent of all beer sales. Seventy percent. At that point perhaps we might be able to agree to just call it beer.

Brewbound has the details. “Are we really doing what we can to educate consumers about brewers, styles and brands or are we confusing them so much that they will go to something that is easier for them?” Thomas said. And here’s the nut, when he draws a parallel to Starbucks and the evolution of the coffee industry. “Is this a movement and not a trend?” Are we on the cusp of a brave new world?”

Two important bits of context. First the Brewers Association does not define the CBA breweries — including Redhook Ale Brewery and Widmer Brothers, which were among the first “microbreweries” in the Northwest — as craft breweries because AB InBev owns a considerable stake of each. Second, Thomas was talking to members of the trade, not the couple at the local hamburger joint enjoying a locally brewed beer and not the guys lined up at the beer store for the latest limited release.

So on to the rant (worthy of a passage in “The Unbearable Nonsense of Craft Beer – A Rant in Nine Acts”) as channeled through Brewbound:

“We have the honor of having two pioneering craft brands in our portfolio,” Thomas said, referencing Widmer Brothers and Redhook. “Yet, an industry association doesn’t consider us ‘craft.’ Isn’t it time that we stop acting like 13-year olds? That we stop taking ourselves too serious and start talking to consumers and retailers again?”

Thomas elaborated, drawing a link between the socialization models of young adults – the “jocks, stoners and nerds in high school” — and maturing craft brewers.

“We label; we operate in cliques,” he said. “Are you a craft brewer? Did your equity come from a certain place? Do you not use certain ingredients? Name-calling, labeling, craft versus crafty.”

And then he issued a challenge, which seems like it should be an animated gif.

“Don’t bash beer,” he said.

Thomas pled for all members of the beer industry to stop the infighting.

“Don’t elevate yourselves by cutting someone else down,” he said. “Don’t make someone question their beer.”

He emphasized his point, over and over again.

“Don’t bash beer,” he said. “Don’t bash craft beer. Don’t bash crafty beer. Don’t bash domestic beer. Don’t bash imported beer. Don’t bash light beer. Don’t bash brands. Don’t bash brewers. Don’t bash beer consumers. Don’t bash retailers or wholesalers. Don’t bash beer — celebrate beer.”

To reiterate, he wasn’t calling for everybody who talks (and writes) about beer to join hands around the campfire and sing only songs of praise. This was a message to the trade. So feel free to dis that beer in your glass if it deserves the dontdrinkbeer treatment.

– Another round of beer bonuses. A-B InBev is paying about $5.8 billion to reacquire a Korean brewery it unloaded for $1.8 billion in 2009. It might look like ABI didn’t make the best business decision, but “ABI’s managers, who haven’t invested their own money, will share an extra $2.5 billion in bonuses, including nearly $300m for Carlos Brito, the company’s boss.” Plus pick up some more cash because of the bump in stock price. [Via The Economist]

– Can we tell the media anything? and get away with it? More (if you were paying attention last week) from Luke Nicholas in New Zealand. [Via Luke’s beer]

– Pull up stool with Brian Grossman. The son of Sierra Nevada Brewing founder Ken Grossman talks about the giant new brewery soon coming on line in North Carolina. And other things, like “Thank God my dad didn’t make cat food.” [Via All About Beer]

– Praiseworthy beer from American Trappists. Don Russell uses the release of Spencer Trappist Ale, from St. Joseph’s Abbey in Massachusetts, to review of the history of a mostly forgotten U.S. monastery brewery. St. Vincent’s Archabbey in Latrobe, Pa., brewed and sold beer for more than 40 years at the end of the nineteenth century. [Via Joe Sixpack]

– Between Beruit and a Hard Place. It will be difficult for Steve Hindy to top “story of a Isarelia-backed militiaman and murderer who kidnapped me in Lebanon and ended up selling ice cream to children in the streets of Detroit” in his upcoming “The Craft Beer Revolution: How a Band of Microbrewers Is Transforming the World’s Favorite Drink.” [Via Vice]