Skip to main content

Craft Beer Continues to Struggle With Size

Just how big is too big for craft beer?  The most recent story of a brewery being too big for its craft business came from a surprising location: Vermont.  Specifically the Alchemist, which shocked the New England beer scene by increasing it's hermit-like withdrawal from the Craft Beer community.  Quite possibly to increase engagement, or at least tolerance within its own community of Waterbury.  With an output of less than 10,000 barrels a year, all a single flavor the alchemist grew too big to maintain its focus on its craft.  The line of case-buyers and growler fillers was too great a distraction, and certainly an irritation to its neighbors.

Heady Topper is a double IPA with such a reputation, and exclusivity, that some guy in Bangor, ME had the audacity to offer a pair of 16 oz cans as a fair trade for tickets to a Phish concert.  The headyness of this coveted elixir is apparently equivalent to a single set of Vermont's finest.  History repeats its self. Just as Hurricane Irene flooded the Alchemist restaurant, and forced the brewer to close shop and narrow his focus on brewing, Beer Geeks flooded Waterbury and destroyed the retail side of the business.   

Something is clearly out of proportion.  10,000 BBLs is too much of a good thing.  That or Beer Geeks are much too tolerant of standing in line, and disrupting communities in search of their coveted elixir.  I'm not accusing the community of wanton drunkenness, and disorderly conduct.  No.  It's the culture of the beer pilgrimage.  Disruptive traffic, crowding, and unnecessary queuing, are the signs of decay and cultural squalor. Beer Geekery is crushing itself under its own weight.

Stories like the Alchemists disruptive effects on a small Vermont town will supply legitimate fuel to arguments supporting the zoning regulations that inhibit the establishment of new, and exciting Nano breweries.  Just before the Alchemist announced its plans to step back, and continue to duck under the radar, the Boston Globe ran a piece arguing that the city will lose its influence in the Craft Beer world because zoning restrictions are making it too difficult for the next-Alchemist or Hill Farmstead to open within the Hub.   

Who would want craft brewers as neighbors if the draws our queuing pedants by day, and drunkards by night?  While appreciation for high quality beer is unlikely to go away, perhaps its time to say so long to a culture that embraces marketing of event beers (Dark Lord Day, I'm talking about you and your demon spawn) and instead focus on community and civic engagement.  Craft Beer is a life-style product.  As consumers we should foster a healthy, balanced life style that's focused on the area community and not just the camaraderie in a line of beards, rejected by the Boston Red Sox.  

If idle queues are a necessary product of supply/demand inefficiencies and the awkwardness of our distribution system, then perhaps it is the calling for brewers to find some social responsible application for the attention.  Perhaps the idle queue should be turned into an active squad cleaning a local park, maintaining or building something for the community they disrupt.  Why shouldn't beer drinkers be as good as their beer?

Comments

Greatest Hits

Beer Destinations: Prague

Beneath a fairy tale skyline of spires, domes, and towers, a modern city of industry and commerce sits upon cobblestone streets and ancient bridges.   Prague is a maddening riddle.   Brilliant minds like Franz Kafka and Bohumil Hrabal relied upon surrealistic visions to make sense of it.   Despite the city’s complex and frankly tumultuous history, there’s a millennia of brilliantly preserved architecture, miraculously spared the devastation of fire, war, and tasteless modernizations that have continuously reshaped many European cities. Located between the noble hop fields of Žatec (Saaz in German) and Moravia’s cascading barley fields, Prague is within easy reach of the ingredients to needed to sustain a vital brewing scene.    However, the city was not spared the 20 th century’s assault on local beer culture.   In the early 1990s, international breweries monopolized the city’s tap handles.   Brewpubs were mostly forgotten, a novelty for tourists, at best. This Prague earned a reput

Holiday Gift Ideas for The Beer Lover

The gift of beer itself may seem obvious, but it is fraught with pitfalls. Especially if the gift giver is not as knowledgeable, experienced, or perhaps as jaded as the intended recipient. Craft beer lovers tend to have promiscuous taste buds. They crave new and exciting, and occasionally hard to find beers. How can anyone hope to keep track of another person's sense of new. You may have an advantage if you live a few states away and distribution agreements give you unique access to a hot new Nano, or even a New Belgium scale microbrewery. That's a great in if you have a little guidance. A beer lover that's a bit of a hoarder may enjoy an annual gift of Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout, or Sierra Nevada Bigfoot for their cellar. However, the safest bet for a beer gift is t he somewhat corny Beer of the Month Club. Has the beer lover on your list has neglected to drop any good hints for gift ideas? Are you looking to surprise? Here are some ideas to consider.

Liberty, Diversity, Farms, and Money - Beer Links for Monday

The Story of Anchor Liberty Ale: The Beer that Started the Craft Revolution "Michael Jackson, the famed beer writer, called Anchor Liberty Ale the first modern American ale".  A great look at craft beer's roots. What should CAMRA do now to save cask ale – and itself? The better beer movement in the US is generally may occasionally struggle with the limits of it's David v. Goliath narrative , it's generally much better served than our friend across the pond.  In the UK, the Campaign For Real Ale (CAMRA) started in the early 70's championing quality beer by preserving England's traditional cask serving style from overly cold, blend kegs of macro lager.  The same Goliath as in America.  Or maybe it's Goliath's dutch cousin.  Regardless, the better beer narrative became one of tradition and preservation vs. innovations that sacrifice quality for economy.  In some minds it reduced to old v. new.  The oganization is struggling to coexist with the U