From the Beeb:
RTWT... the article is a pretty good explanation about how craft brews got big. There's video, too.
Apropos o' not much... I never was a big beer drinker until My Favorite Uncle sent me off to London for three years. I immediately fell in with a bunch o' Brits who showed me what "real ale" was all about (aside: I was a card-carrying member of CAMRA) and I never looked back. So we owe the Brits a debt o' gratitude o' our own.
Oh, shit, oh dear... It might be all over now, coz "fashionable" is the kiss o' death. Still and even, it's good to see American craft beer get its long overdue recognition. Now if only more AMERICANS would sign on, we'd be golden. (Ahem)
My kinda beer cooler! Once widely mocked, US beer is now popular globally with hipsters and connoisseurs alike. Why is the world buying in to the American brewing revolution?Not so very long ago, American beer was a joke. And a weak one at that.
To international tastebuds, it meant bottled lagers like Budweiser, Miller or Coors - commonly regarded by self-respecting drinkers as bland, corporate and lacking in credibility.
An explosion in independently-run microbreweries producing lovingly-created, strong, pungent, flavour-rich ales has transformed the reputation of the product.
But it is not only traditional aficionados of ale who have been won over by this American revolution.
Somehow, beer from the United States has become not just widely respected, but achingly fashionable.
RTWT... the article is a pretty good explanation about how craft brews got big. There's video, too.
Apropos o' not much... I never was a big beer drinker until My Favorite Uncle sent me off to London for three years. I immediately fell in with a bunch o' Brits who showed me what "real ale" was all about (aside: I was a card-carrying member of CAMRA) and I never looked back. So we owe the Brits a debt o' gratitude o' our own.
This popularity, this being fashionable, has been in full swing for a looong time. Relatively, anyway. Being ridiculed for drinking Bud started - for me - in the mid-90's. Being out in Portales you are mercifully protected from the true swelling of trends, but nearer the cities beer snobs have been making wine snobs look like pleasant and tolerable people for a good 10-15 years.
ReplyDeleteEverything despicable about all that localorganicsustainable foodie social posturing garbage is on full display in craft beer land. Gets so a fella can't just sit down and drink a brew without being asked to comment on it's nose and finish, where the organic ingredients are sourced from, who has the best beard/plaid shirt combination, nicest canvas grocery bag, etc. DOES IT TASTE GOOD TO YOU OR NOT? End of discussion.
Guess I had something to vent about. Having done that, I am leaving early from work today to grab a few at the The Beer Junction, where beer snobbery is king.
Heh. We've had this discussion before and I agree with a lot o' what you say. All that aside, I'd freakin' KILL to have a place like The Beer Junction near me. Great beer stores are one of the few things I miss about city living, but not enough to go back. I envy you, though.
DeleteThe craft beers are a boomin' business, while the big label's sales are down. Maybe we should buy stock in the craft beers or just stock up.
ReplyDeleteI'll just stock up. I think there's a bubble out where where lil breweries are concerned and there's gonna be a shake-out. Most lil breweries are private, anyhoo.
DeleteSpeaking of getting used to drinking "warm" British beer, Buck, did you ever try another British standard, room-temp Brandy & Soda? I got mildly hooked on the stuff myself for a time as it was the cheapest way to get a hard-liquor buzz on in a pub, lol.
ReplyDeleteNever went there, Virgil. Pubs WERE quite pricy, weren't they?
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