Friday, the beacon of light to beer drinkers across the
world. The notion that friday is rolling around, and the
possibility to explore new and exciting brews that our great
liquid revolution has to offer lays before us. These pints
of perfection possibly rival any great work of art offered
up by the greats, Warhol, Beethoven and Da Vinci. The
difference with these works of art is that they are
temporary installations. The best part is that you are
able to enjoy different masterpieces again and again with
only the time it takes your local sud slinger to provide it.
The challenge is not to get stuck in old habits and challenge ourselves to break boundaries and push ourselves
to trying something new.
The three major beer brands in the US—Budweiser, Miller and
Coors take a staggering 78 percent market share. This only
leaves 22 percent to the rest of the brewers. Of that left-
over 22 percent, craft beers made up just 4.3 percent of
U.S. beer sales volume in 2009, according to the Boulder,
Colo.-based Brewers Association. These numbers are
staggering considering that the american beer market is
approximately $101 billion. 78 percent of this 101 billion >
ends up in the hands of the big three breweries, Budweiser,
Miller and Coors. And in my opinion what they serve up meets
the classification of beer, but to be perfectly honest I
hesitate to even call them breweries at all. They should be
referred to as corporations that literally pump product out
with no regard to the art of it, dollars and cents are all
that matter at the end of the day. It actually makes me
want to "stand up and shout" (in the great words of Mark
Wahlberg in the movie Rock Star). I feel like all the things that beer stands for has been warped by marketing and
the push for the mighty dollar. Beer has deep history with
humanity. We have relied on it to make water sources safe,
forms of currency, and created all sorts of events just so
we could consume beer. It is not all about the silver
bullet, draft horses and being the champaign of beers. When
did we lose a sight of quality over quantity. I think it is
up to our generation to take a step back and slow things
down a little. Bigger is not always better. Love and care
should be what we strive for in every batch of beer. When a
brewer creates a tasty brew, and he or she watches that
first pint being consumed by someone, all we should see is a
huge smile from that brewer in anticipation of the reaction.
I don't like to push one brewery over another, because this
is not what this blog is about, but I think a very good
example of the kind of brewers I am looking for is Sam Calagione, owner of Dogfish Head Brewery. I use him as
an example because I was able to watch him in Brewmasters
and really see his zeal and love for the industry. I have
also read countless articles on him and his journey through
the craft beer world. Sam receives a gold star for his&nbp;
commitment to pushing the boundaries of the beer industry. I
know there are countless brewery owners and consumers who
share his enthusiasm, without this community, craft beer
would not exist. So, to all of the countless people out
there I say thank you for not laying down and letting others
tell you what beer is or should be.
If options are what you are worried about, there are over
1,500 craft breweries operating in the US. Every state
offers at least one, as well as the fact that many craft
brewery beers are distributed nationally. This being said,
even though we are already in the midst of a quiet riot, our
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liquid revolution, we still need to push ourselves not to
settle. Meaning, don't stop when you find the one brand of
craft beer that you like. Try others, make the brewers be
.
innovative and show them that we are not mindless propaganda
following zombies. I promise you will like what you find.
Till next time, enjoy life and good beer!! Prosit!!
.
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