Monday beer links: Diversity, more diversity, and supertasters

BEER AND WINE LINKS 02.05.18

Diversity doesn’t happen by accident. If you somehow missed this terrific post from Melissa Cole, read it now. Think about how to support change, and the people who have been in the trenches for year. Think about how to initiate change. Nieman Labs points out that a lot of publications are paying lip service to inclusiveness and diversity. Outside is actually doing it.

The science of better beer.
The Not So Secret Center of the Craft Beer Universe.
A few weeks ago these weekly links included three from October, motivating a friend to send an email asking me (tongue in cheek, I hope) if I had been acquired by ZX Ventures, division within AB InBev backs October. I apologized (also perhaps tongue in cheek), pleading the case that good stories are good stories. The second post of these two appeared in October. It would not be appearing here were I not comparing it, unfairly, to the first, which is longer, more detailed and obviously took much more work. Give it an A. I’m not sure what I’d give the second. But a story about UC Davis that doesn’t include Dr. Michael Lewis is not a complete story. And I had to get that off my chest.

How to Be a Responsible Music Fan in the Age of Streaming.
“According to the data trackers at BuzzAngle Music, more than 99 percent of audio streaming is of the top 10 percent most-streamed tracks. Which means less than 1 percent of streams account for all other music. That makes streaming more concentrated at the top than current album or song sales. Of course, the most popular releases have always dominated the music market, but it seems these new services increase that disparity rather than reduce it. The rising tide is lifting only certain boats.”

Beer seems to be headed the other direction. Fifteen years ago the 50 top-selling domestic specialty brewing companies sold 77.5% of craft beer. Last year they sold 60.6%. A few years ago when everybody happily reported double digit craft beer sales it was because the largest small breweries were growing at that rate. Last year six of the top seven craft brewers reported volume losses. Smaller breweries are the ones driving growth. In addition, drinking a beer in a brewpub, a brewery taproom or a small-ish bar where the person pouring a beer knows something about it provides context Spotify does not.

BEER, JUST THE LINKS

– Craft Brewing as a Model for Helping the Middle Class.
– Ancient Ale: Oldest Beer in Greece Dates to Bronze Age.
– It’s Daytime in Berlin. Where to Get a Decent Beer?
– So, Knives Out — Why Beer Culture Needs to Simmer, Not Boil.
– 5-hour wait for Pliny the Younger doesn’t faze beer lovers.
– Seminar Experience: 2018 Big Beers Festival Edition.
– Breweries Improve Their Release Strategies.

WINE

Do Your Genes Predict Your Wine Preference?
More on supertasters, and obviously relevant to beer.

FROM TWITTER