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Craft Beer Is the Strangest, Happiest Economic Story in America

theatlantic.com

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Re: Craft Beer Is the Strangest, Happiest Economic Story in America

#81

Post by aidenn0 »

wil421 wrote: post #72
mberning wrote: post #70

It’s very hard for me to reconcile. I love what craft brewing has done for the industry. But it has gone to a ridiculous and antithetical place. The culture has more in common with wine than beer at this point. It is no longer an “Everyman” drink. Waiting in line for releases. $10 and $15 pours. It’s a turnoff.

Why is this a bad thing? I have so many more options than the cheap beer I started drinking. The Everyman beer still exists and many people still drink it. There are plenty of non $10 or $15 dollar pours to keep me happy. You don’t have to wait for releases. I only participate in lottery systems for limited liquor releases, screw the lines.

Totally OT, but maybe someone in this thread knows why my favorite everyman beer (Busch) seems to not be sold in California.

Re: Craft Beer Is the Strangest, Happiest Economic Story in America

#82

Post by fendmark »

ovrdrv3 wrote: post #35

Love craft beer and I am glad my 125K city has 5 of them, but /r/starterpacks was dead on with this one: https://i.redd.it/fio3hqlmuofy.jpg I will be confused if I ever walk into a microbrewery that doesn't look like that!

Not to be overly contrarian but it does seem that we are getting close to the peak for the craft beer industry.

Smuttynose Brewery going up for auction is a great example of this. https://www.pressherald.com/2018/01/18/smuttynose-brewing-in...

Many areas are getting over-saturated with microbreweries and there eventually won't be enough demand to sustain them.

In retail, $10+ average price for a six pack, the even more offensive 4 pack of beer for the same price or more.

It's great to see this growth engine for jobs, and I personally love the amount of variety and innovation we are seeing in craft beer, I just wonder how long it will last until people are onto the next trend or until the industry gets so greedy that they kill the golden goose.

Re: Craft Beer Is the Strangest, Happiest Economic Story in America

#83

Post by plantsbeans »

sigil wrote: post #53

Summary: benevolent regulation caused the craft beer boom. I call bullshit. Look at this graph [1] and tell me again how great the three-tier system was for market diversity. America went from 700 post-Prohibition breweries to less than 100 in 1978. That was the year homebrewing was legalized, and it's a pretty steady climb back up from there. Brewpubs -- which circumvent the three-tier system and its all-too-easily-…

I think the author made the same point. The three tier system didn't help, but once there was an exception for craft brewers there was an opening, because the three tier system maybe prevented eg. chains of cheap bars run by AB.

Re: Craft Beer Is the Strangest, Happiest Economic Story in America

#84

Post by toomanybeersies »

rb808 wrote: post #79

What I dont understand is that in Europe there are dozens of delicious lagers, in the US I can't find any local copies. Mexican or Central American beers come closest. Surely with literally hundreds of microbrewery options there should be something close. Any recommendations?

Craft brewers don't do many lagers for two reasons.

The first is that they're "boring". You can already get lots of different mass market lagers, and they're all similar.

The second reason is that they're hard to brew. You can hide the fact that you're a shit brewer behind malt and hops (to an extent). You can't cover up poor technique in a lager. The big megacorps have got their technique down to a tee.

Re: Craft Beer Is the Strangest, Happiest Economic Story in America

#85

Post by dllthomas »

dragonwriter wrote: post #10
vkou wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People aren't buying craft IPAs because they want to drink bitter water. They are buying craft IPAs, because they want to drink craft beer. Miller-Coors producing and marketing an IPA wouldn't be getting them all the sales that are going to microbrewers. Our alcohol consumption is 60% ritual, 60% social signaling, and 30% personal preference.

> Our alcohol consumption is 60% ritual, 60% social signaling, and 30% personal preference. Also, it is affecting our math skills...

Maybe there's overlap?

Re: Craft Beer Is the Strangest, Happiest Economic Story in America

#87

Post by partiallypro »

I, for one, absolutely hate the craft beer revolution in the U.S.; a lot of restaurants are changing out their taps of beers that are universally liked for craft beers. It's basically impossible to get a Stella or Heineken on tap now, everything on tap is Bud Light and a ton of craft beers. There are a few places that haven't fallen into this, but it's a big problem. I hate it. I love Belgian and German beers and it has become almost impossible to get either of them on tap unless you go to a beer hall style bar.

A few of the "craft" beers are owned by the major multinational corporations anyhow.

Re: Craft Beer Is the Strangest, Happiest Economic Story in America

#88

Post by adventured »

fendmark wrote: post #82
ovrdrv3 wrote: post #35

Love craft beer and I am glad my 125K city has 5 of them, but /r/starterpacks was dead on with this one: https://i.redd.it/fio3hqlmuofy.jpg I will be confused if I ever walk into a microbrewery that doesn't look like that!

Not to be overly contrarian but it does seem that we are getting close to the peak for the craft beer industry. Smuttynose Brewery going up for auction is a great example of this. https://www.pressherald.com/2018/01/18/smuttynose-brewing-in... Many areas are getting over-saturated with microbreweries and there eventually won't be enough demand to sustain them. In retail, $10+ average price for a six pack, the even mo…

I agree the movement is likely nearing saturation on total number of microbreweries. However, $10 +/- a few dollars, for a six pack, is not a problem. The mediocre old domestics cost $7 to $10 around most of the US. Paying more is perfectly fine for a superior tasting product. Product price scaling works that way in most consumer goods, it makes sense.

Re: Craft Beer Is the Strangest, Happiest Economic Story in America

#89

Post by mylons »

partiallypro wrote: post #87

I, for one, absolutely hate the craft beer revolution in the U.S.; a lot of restaurants are changing out their taps of beers that are universally liked for craft beers. It's basically impossible to get a Stella or Heineken on tap now, everything on tap is Bud Light and a ton of craft beers. There are a few places that haven't fallen into this, but it's a big problem. I hate it. I love Belgian and German beers and it…

i guess they weren't universally liked if they're getting changed out for craft brews.

Re: Craft Beer Is the Strangest, Happiest Economic Story in America

#90

Post by oasisbob »

Analemma_ wrote: post #51
ovrdrv3 wrote: post #35

Love craft beer and I am glad my 125K city has 5 of them, but /r/starterpacks was dead on with this one: https://i.redd.it/fio3hqlmuofy.jpg I will be confused if I ever walk into a microbrewery that doesn't look like that!

Oh lord, this is so true it hurts. Living in Seattle, you’re never more than maybe 300 yards from a microbrewery— and don’t get me wrong, I love it— but they are all exactly like this.

I have a hard time giving that starter-pack graphic too much credit because it's really describing a wider design aesthetic.

It's not just microbreweries, it's bars and restaurants too. I can think of a dozen each in Chicago, Portland, and Seattle that look like that. Hell, there are Starbucks concept stores in Seattle that look like that. I've been in tech office spaces that look like that ...

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