Craft Beer: Defining the Future

James Watts, BrewDog

I completely agree with Martyn Cornell (author of blog, Zythophile) that there is an ambiguous motive behind James Watts' (BrewDog) and Greg Koch's (Stone Brewing Co.) desire for a Craft Beer definition. Is it really to protect the public or is it to protect their own sales? 

Greg Koch, Stone Brewing Co.

However, I personally think that Cornell's missed the entire point.

Some may see the condemnation of Big “Beers” as both personal vendetta and self-protection, but at the end of the day, the drinking public has been conned into drinking lagers and ales that can be considered synonymous to fizzy toilet cleaner. And why? For cost-effective profit generation.

For years, lager has been considered the beverage of choice due to lifestyle-led marketing tactics which have succeeded in differentiating brands which would otherwise be considered identical. With years of capital behind them, the big players have the financial stature to bombard consumers with propagandist multi-channel marketing materials for their corner-cutting beers. Product brand names such as Stella Artois, Foster’s and Carling subsequently acquire salience in the mind of the consumer, so when it comes to the Big Retailer’s stocking activities, only “heard of”/”popular” brands will occupy shelf space in the Beer, Wines and Spirits section. Combine that with aggressive promotions and point-of-sale marketing, and the consumer is left with very few options regarding their choice of beverage.

A fridge full of crap

These are tactics which may very well consume the Craft Beer market should a proper definition not be uniformly agreed upon. Julia Herz (The Brewing Association, USA) maintains that: “If the lines continue to get blurred and “craft” become commoditised, small and independent brewers will have a harder and harder time selling their products, getting shelf space, tap handles and placement on restaurant menus.”

This is how all stockists shelves should look

This is the same for “crafty” beer brands such as Blue Moon about which Tom Long (CEO, MillerCoors) opined: “whatever style of beer you prefer, all we ask is that you judge us by the quality of the beer in the glass”. Not only is this point of view a stolen Craft Beer proposition, but it is clearly being used to distract consumers from their “Artfully Crafted” marketing materials, a campaign run by the Integer Group, a marketing agency far from affordable by 98% (very rough estimate) of Craft Breweries.

Molson Coors duping the public

So this is where Cornell has demonstrated a very limited understanding of branding and business as a whole. Blue Moon could very well outsell 5am Saint on the store shelf, but that is NOT the point; its dilutive effect on the Craft Beer category as a whole is a substantially larger concern.

Additionally, I contend that any brewery who can afford to inject £millions into marketing campaigns, distribution, and who has gaschromatograph olfactory mass spectometry services (which still begs the question, why does Stella Artois taste like a rusty pipe) at its disposal, has an unfair advantage over brewers who have generated their own capital or sourced for it through less conventional means.

The destruction of  heritage and livelihoods

Albeit another "premium lager", but just look at what happened to Bluetongue in Australia – a brewery built from scratch in 2003, grown to be bigger than Cascade and then passed clumsily like a children’s Frisbee from multinational to multinational until it was phased into non-existence by SABMiller. There is nothing brand positive about being bought out by a bigger brewery. Rapid growth may work in the technology sector but it is misguided practice in the FMCG alcoholic beverages market. Once growth becomes too much for Goose Island’s Chicago based beverage practice, AB InBev will have its cost-cutting ways with it.

Soul sold

By protecting ourselves, we can ensure that our beloved category isn’t obscured by poor practices. Perhaps this is a mixture of “arrogance and paranoia”, but we’re battling so-called brewers who have reduced beer culture to obesity, alcoholism and Drunk & Disorderlies (see my post on Heineken’s “Drink Slow, Dance More” campaign).

Finally, this petty argument regarding whether Craft Beer is keg or cask is ridiculous; as long as the taste challenges the borders of acceptance, the ABV is not subdued for tax purposes and there are more hops and malts than a frog in a barley field, then I’m going to be one happy drinker. 

As for John Hall’s (Goose Island) justification that AB InBev and other multinationals paved the brewing footpath by supporting hop farmers, it doesn’t change the fact that they have smudged the good name of beer and that cannot be something easily forgotten or forgiven.

Steely Hops’ definition of Craft Beer:

1. Quality 

A) All beers must be experimental whether with traditional styles or something new

B) All beers must use natural ingredients with no adjuncts to reduce costs/flavour

2. Commitment to Craft 

A) The brewery must not be owned >20% by a brewery not considered “Craft”

B) The brewery must grow organically without acquisition of smaller breweries

C) The brewery must not extend into other categories of the drinks industry

3. Honesty

A) All ingredients are clearly listed on the particular beer’s label

B) The place where the beer is brewed is clearly listed

C) All the beer is brewed at a craft brewery or a craft brewer’s premises