Down with Craft Beer

There is a lot of natter and hullabaloo going on at the moment in the USA about the definition of craft and who blah blah blah.

It’s the same old shit and I know I’m not the only one who is tired of the constant whinging about who is and who isn’t or  “what defines craft beer”. It’s picked up recently because some industry association said some shit about some other breweries (for the record I’m being obtuse for emphasis, so please don’t try and tell me the details).

I’ve decided to come out and make a statement on the issue (I can already feel the masses waiting in anticipation). And here it is… it may shock you…

I hate the term “craft beer”.

It sounds awful. It doesn’t roll off the tongue. It has no meaning because no one seems to be able to attach one. It continues the “them and us” attitude that alienates us from non-“craft” drinkers and it has led to this endless and mucky debate about who is or isn’t in the special club.

I couldn’t care less who is in the damn club. I just want beer. I love beer. I want to share beer. I don’t need another word in those sentences. It. Is. Called. Beer.

Some is good, some is less good, some is made by evil companies, some is made by nice people. It. Is. Called. Beer.

Did anyone see that video a while back “I’m a craft beer drinker”? That almost turned me off beer. It was gross. Why do we need to constantly label and remind ourselves that we are somehow better or more important than everyone else.

“Oh you like beer? well I like craft-beer. Look at me with my fancy bottles and my opinions ooh hooo hooo”.

Fuck that. We don’t need to continue defining craft beer, we need to drop the title all together. I know I’ve used it in the past, but it has never sat right with me. I’ve just copped out and used it to make it easier on myself.

So from now on, unless I’m using it as a proper noun, referring to knitting or commenting on a sailing ship, I shall not use the term “craft”.

I’m done with it.

Like a poorly made mass-produced beer, it has only given everyone a headache.

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No Responses

  1. koongara says:

    With you on not loving the term craft beer but its a hell of a lot better than boutique beer, now that is a shit name

  2. Ooo, God yes, boutique beer is an awful name.
    While I’m not a great fan of “craft beer” as a name, I do think some sort of name to distinguish the beers we like from the mainstream variety is helpful.
    Maybe we should try for “good beer”.

  3. chad says:

    yeah once somthing becomes cool or Desireable to the masses the big companies will jump on it. making the term or genre uncool or whatever.
    from my viewpoint you should be able to have a beer made with quality ingredients, with real taste and guts from a locally based craftsman (excuse that word). every body should be into it, focus locally. brew locally. drink locally, taste the good stuff! stop getting slaughtered on nasty watery rubbish.
    but also stop talking smack about craft especially if your pushing crap.

  4. pimento says:

    I usually swing between ‘nice beer’ and ‘fancy beer’, depending on the fanciness of it.

  5. Dan says:

    Couldn’t agree more. I recon the shoe needs to be on the other foot, well made beer, made by a real person is (formely craft) Beer, for the rest we need to adopt a a dodgy sterile sciency name, in the pasturised sense. Homogonised Malt water, Fizz light. That’d soon turn folks off.

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