If you ran the beer world...

[cdh]

What is your greatest pet peeve about the system that is in place? Great beers that can't get distribution? Huge beer factories buying quality small producers and sucking the life out of them, while increasing distribution? Something else entirely?

If you could make three big changes to the beer marketplace, what would they be?

[beergirl]

The one that bothers me the most is from your list - huge beer factories buying quality small producers and sucking the life out of them while increasing distribution. But it is one we have little control over. And, the small producers have every right to "cash in" when the offer is right for them. I would like to see the market support them more so they don't feel they have to sell in order to make a living.

The lack of distribution doesn't really annoy me as much as it once did because I've come to really enjoy going to another city, state, region and sample the locally produced beers. We've taken to calling our beer hunting "drinking beer in its natural habitat." What would be the point in traveling if I could get everything without leaving home?

Now, the three big changes - tough one as I'm not a business type.

First, the marketplace (consumers, distributers, etc.) for craft beer needs to accept that a bottle of Dogfish Head Immort Ale SHOULD cost more than a bottle of Budweiser. Many craft or artisinal beers are under-priced. These products generally take more time, ingredients, etc. to produce but are placed in direct competition with beer from the beer factories.

Second, the restrictions for mail order and shipment of beer (and wine for that matter) should be loosened to allow small producers to sell directly to their customers.

Third, there should be more of an effort to market craft beer to women. I believe there are large numbers of women who would take to craft beer if the current image of beer drinking wasn't being dominated by the big three's view (babes and balls - football, baseball, golf ball, etc.)

[jhlurie]

Follow up question...

Michael Jackson... good or evil? (for those not aware of beer matters, this is not the question you think it is)

[beergirl]

Follow up question...

Michael Jackson... good or evil? (for those not aware of beer matters, this is not the question you think it is)

I believe MJ has done more for craft beer than any other writer that comes to mind. He's been at it a long time. He is still one of the most entertaining speakers we've had the pleasure of hearing (even with or because of the digressions.)

I believe he is becoming another victim of that all too American past time of trying to discredit someone who has managed to become successful.

[theakston]

an alternative follow up question:

CAMRA: great organization or reactionary and restrictive in their definition of "Real Ale"?

[Alekeep]

We are life members of CAMRA and I fully support their mission. I disagree with some of their methods though.

Real ale must be naturally carbonated in the vessel (keg, cask, bottle, or any other container) that it is served from without the introduction of other gas. Real ales are served by gravity feed or by pump (beer engine) depending on where the vessel is relative to the glass. It can't be served using pressurized CO2 like is used for what is commonly referred to as draught beer.

This is all well and good but as the beer is served from the container the void is filled with ambient air. The oxygen and bacteria in the air will begin to affect the flavor of the remaining beer. If the beer is served from a bottle or even from a cask that is emptied within a couple of days, this is not a problem.

The publican that can't turn over beer that quickly is stuck with a few options:

- dump the beer because it is no longer at it's best (expensive)

- serve the beer anyway to save money (yuk)

- quit serving real ale altogether (say it ain't so)

There is another option that CAMRA does not accept. There is a device called a "cask breather" that allows CO2 to replace the beer served from a cask. Why does CAMRA not accept the beer served with a cask breather as real ale? This does not artificially carbonate the beer or affect the taste of the beer in any way. It just extends the shelf life which makes it feasible for more pubs to serve real ale. This provides greater access to real ale and more people drinking it so breweries will produce more of it and...

Okay, I'll step down from my soap box now.

Edited May 19, 2004 by Alekeep (log)

[malarkey]

Third, there should be more of an effort to market craft beer to women. I believe there are large numbers of women who would take to craft beer if the current image of beer drinking wasn't being dominated by the big three's view (babes and balls - football, baseball, golf ball, etc.)

hear! hear!

[paul o' vendange]

Great thoughts, all. My $.02.

Michael Jackson: Good man for beer. My wife and I won a trip to England through a web entry. I got the news on my final day working for Goose Island Brewing Co. The package included a multicourse dinner at the White Horse in London, with MJ himself. The dinner was extraordinary. The publican's wife is the chef, and she is gifted. MJ was a brilliant dinner companion, and his knowledge is encyclopedic. He quizzed me on what hop varieties were in the several beers accompanying our meal, and I played well. (Though I must have come off as a pompous ass - I'm afraid my nerves must have gotten the best of me, as they then tended to do in such situations, and I stepped into my erstwhile "thespian" alter ego to overcompensate. If you find the article he wrote on the dinner, you'll know what I mean. Ah well).

Re: CAMRA, agree with beergirl. Example: We stayed at the Pear Tree Inn, Hook Norton, England, within spitting distance of the 150 year old brewery Hook Norton. The publicans there, beyond being some of the most gracious folks my wife and I had ever met, ran a great real-ale trade; John knows his stuff and is beyond reproach. He also refuses to deal with CAMRA at all. The impression I have of many of CAMRA's minions is that they are much like 1000's of Society for Creative Anachronism players, with the zeal of a religious mission, fueled perhaps by the consumption of too much real ale - a bad mix, in that many presume to know more than just about anybody and have become unthinking missionaries. A good cause, but often misguided in approach. In the instance of the Pear Tree Inn, I understand they tried to tell John how to run his business and, I think rightly, he told them what they could do with themselves. He still managed to pull an excellent pint.

Paul

Edited May 22, 2004 by paul o' vendange (log)