OK it is not a real joke or even the start of a joke, but why not? The craft beer industry is exploding and interest is global. Everywhere I go, I hear people talking about this new brewery or that new beer. Interest in our website http://www.docksidebrewery.com has been through the roof, flooding us with requests for our beers, and interest from job seekers and investors. It seems everyone wants to be a part of the craft beer industry. Why is the passion dying out for industry insiders? When speaking with industry insiders, such as craft brewery owners, craft brewers, and distributors, their passion for the product has turned to the hard cold reality of running any other mundane manufacturing operation.
I agree that breweries are supposed to be profitable. They are businesses and like any other manufacturing company, breweries are concerned with production, demand, marketing, supplies, taxation and the million other things that can trip us up on a daily basis. However unlike other manufacturing companies people in the craft beer world are drawn by passion, dreams, and the love of craft- beer. When was the last time you overheard someone that was speaking about the tires coming off the assembly line at work with passion? Craft brewing is exciting, craft brewing is rewarding but most of all craft brewing is supposed to be fun.
Should we let craft brewing go big business? Should we let craft brewing become another ordinary manufacturing product?
We are Dockside Brewery and we want to keep craft beer and the manufacturing of craft beer fun and exciting. But we can’t do it alone. If you love craft beer, be passionate about it, shout it from the rooftops. But please don’t take it to seriously, let us worry about that.
Bill – I saw this post on LinkedIn and followed your link to your website. How does one maintain the passion for craft brewing when all of the mundane parts of running any successful business (those you can control and those you cannot) often get in the way of the passion? Not certain what the answer to that question is but I believe that you continually need to find ways to keep things fresh and interesting.
I believe that some of the passion held by those who have been involved with craft brewing for a while is that there has been an end to the innocence to a certain extent and that as breweries grow and expand, the demands and expectations multiply exponentially.
The other thing is that, as you mentioned, everyone wants to be involved in the industry and this can become overwhelming.
One thing that has begun to turn me off lately is what I would for lack of a better term call the “wineization” of craft beer where a craft beer is often critiqued by someone who deems themselves an expert (either on YouTube or Beer Advocate, etc.) and they get into the “I smell hints of leather with wet blanket, citrus, pineapple, pinetree, while the aftertaste hints at watermelon, hibiscus, and smoke”. Ugh…
I actually followed a Twitter link yesterday that took me to a YouTube video where a young guy was critiquing an IPA in a wine glass (“goblet” – ha) and was swirling the beer around and sniffing it and swishing it in his mouth before rendering his verdict (all the while trading inside jokes with the camerman). I found the entire event both hysterically funny and sad. Talk about taking something way too seriously.
While I feel your pain about the “wineification” (as I’ve called it) of beer, my concerns lie more with the absurd, trend-driven price upticks we’ve started to see and the tendency to stuff the culture of beer drinking with the endless lifestyle crap that I’ve watched overtake the simple enjoyment of drinking a nice wine; food pairings, what’s the “proper” glass, “sessioning”, what beers are “right” for summertime, tail-gating, fine dining, etc. As far as the analysis of a beer’s flavor, no, that has never, in our collective past, been something to waste time on because, for generations, all American beer tasted the same. Now, with an almost infinite variation in what’s possible to craft into a tank of water, yeast, and hops, communicating the flavors one can expect is a necessity for those who are out there trying to use their hard-earned $$$ to find what they might like. I’d suggest that if you don’t take beer at least seriously enough to figure out how to discern one beer from another, yeah, FOR YOU that’s probably a waste of time…but that’s just you. And you have every right not to describe beers in that way to your friends or read anything written about flavor descriptions. But many, many of us do NOT see beer as basically all the same thing, the yellow, fizzy, watery sludge that American have been swilling mindlessly for well over 150 years. I describe beers to my readers all the time and several thousand of them have written back to thank me for leading them to beverages they now love and enjoy. I plan to keep right on describing and analyzing beers, because it helps people do this. How that’s “taking beer way too seriously”, I can’t imagine but I’d submit that your bothering to express that attitude is the same feckless task as standing around at the seashore as high tide rolls in and shouting “I refuse to get wet!” People are going to describe beers because they’ve become a complex subject and folks appreciate the help. Sorry you don’t care for it but we won’t stop the practice because you think it’s uncool.
We take beer very seriously as it is our business. We just want people to enjoy the beer without over analyzing it. We pride ourselves on high-quality but the fact that people are actually on youtube swirlling beer in a wine glass and commenting on the bouquet even to us is a bit much.
Cheers!
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Thanks to Eric for spreading the word! Maybe one of the rreades in attendance will be lucky enough to win Fuller’s Limited Edition 2010 Bottle-Conditioned Vintage Ale or some Schlafly, which is only sold around St. Louis. Call 318.255.1450 for tickets. It isn’t too late to enter the homebrew competition!
I see that Jordan has just posted, as he stetad I am the head brewer for Valholl. Jordan is my assistant as is Mike Scully(for any that followed Heads Up Brewing his name is known), also Aaron is going to head our sales and marketing for us and try his hand at brewing. We are starting small, nano 1/2 bbl, but we are running enough ferm. so to keep the beer flowing. We plan to expand as quickly as we can in 2010 or early 2011 to at least a 5 to 7 bbl system still in the Poulsbo area. We will be the first brewery in the city of Poulsbo, which is turning into quite the beer haven. The Hare and Hound just opened down the street offering 5 cask engines and lots of taps. We will offer 4 ales to start including a 9% Belgian Strong Ale with seasonals throughout the year. Look for the 9MM, Firkin Hammer and Damn Red Scotch Ale. We are hoping and pushing for a first of March grand opening.
That’s kind of a cool idea, especially for those who have siluoesry thought about opening their own brewery. Micro brewery is big business nowadays (pun definitely intended, booya!), which is just the way I like it.
Caldera is one of Oregon’s best breweries. I wish they had some kind of tatnsig room. Or maybe they do. Dunno. Standing Stone was, a coupla years back, fine, but not stellar. Improved?
bo dietl said something simliar a few weeks ago. I was watching a news report on t.v. that made the same points as the article above.
I’ve wondered for alhwie why there was no good craft beer store in Decatur. Months ago my girlfriend and I were riding bikes and I actually told her that a beer store needs to go into the spot that you got. Weird.Really looking forward to the beer and brewing supplies being so close to home.
Jon, I agree Indianapolis would not be the obvious chicoe when compiling a list of potential locations for a beer bloggers conference. What we organizers have found, however, is that more important than an appealing beer city is the reception of the local beer community. Indianapolis put together an excellent bid with support from a major local wholesaler (Monarch), the Brewers Guild of Indiana, and even the city of Indianapolis. It makes a big difference to us as organizers and we think it will make a big difference to attendees when the local community is excited about hosting beer bloggers. Just some background info for you!
Had a few pints of the Flower Power’ Wye Valley Brewery, what a loverly beer, light in coulor, very fruity with a sweet aroma, and as always well kept and served to its very best.
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I’m weirdly loyal. I beamce friends with Lennie (the dude behind Saint Arnold’s twitter account) a few years ago (via josh’s love for the local texas breweries and homebrewing) and usually do what I can to spread the love of Saint Arnold. I don’t drink anything but Saint Arnold Amber and the Spring Bock, but I support their efforts. I like that they do events around here (not even that often!) and I like to whore them out basically. Because Lennie is my homey. My pal. even though every time I m around him I tell him how much he sucks. I threw my BFF’s 30th birthday party at the brewery in November with a cheese pairing from the Houston Dairymaids. I really liked being able to support two little companies at once. And we had a blasty.I’ve figured out that I’m this way with most things in my life. once I commit to something (which is not often, btw) I’m pretty stuck on it. I’ve always had T-Mobile, I’ll always stick with T-Mobile. even though I had a sidekick when the outage happened and they deleted all my contacts and ruined my $300 phone. I can’t imagine going anywhere else. It’s how my brain is wired.I have a toyota car. I’m pretty positive I’d never go to anything else (besides the fact that I paid it off last year and I am going to drive that car until it no longer rolls on wheels. maybe even drive it flintstone style after that.)I guess the point is that I’m okay with having a boner for Saint Arnold stuff. I’m actually not even a HUGE beer connoisseur. I drink a lot of wine. but I do drink a lot of mexican beers (modelo especial, etc.) when I do have beerz. and, I watched beer wars and it kind of brainwashed me and I won’t go near budweiser products. not that I really loved them that much in the first place other than my 24 year old phase where I played drinking games every day of my life.Josh does a homebrew that is similar to Saint Arnold Amber that I am a big fan of. but more often than not, I’m drinking wine. unless I’m at Thirsty’s where their fanciest wine is the Sutter Home that they charge $6 a glass for. there, they stock Diet Sprite for me with some cheap ass vodka. (I used to live nearly next door, not at cornwall, on the other side of the shopping center, to Thirsty’s and walked there a lot. so I was pretty regular for a really long time)I’ve had flying dog. I like it. Josh could give you the flavors and hops and blah blah blah bullshit facts that I can’t. ANYWAY. My response is longer than your entry. It’s 2am and I just woke up. I win! (or lose)
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Listened to the podcast, and I deifnitely agree that label art makes a difference. Contrary to popular belief, decent beer is not THAT hard to make. Granted, it’s easy to mess up, but there is plenty of good beer out there. Even if people don’t admit it, labels are often the only thing they have to go on when making purchasing decisions – part of the reason that crappy beers become popular. Like other products, drinking beer is a holistic experience, and it’s nearly impossible to separate the product itself from the marketing around the product.
see, I won’t use Facebook check ins AT ALL because I am rlelay loyal to Foursquare. I use Beerby and not untappd because I don’t want to cheat. My BFF (same one I threw the party for) works for a social media group in Corpus and is OBSESSED with checking and badges and shit so I’m all over it. do you not like MLG? I dunno. I’m indifferent. I’m a HUGE baseball fan so obvs that’s a plus for me but they’re expensive. We spend like 80 bucks every time we go there without actually eating real food. It hurts my heart.I don’t frequent the wine places here. I hate D’vine. Their wines are sweet and gross to me. I go to WineStyles occasionally (usually in a group date situation) and I like it alright. They at least have more variety. I’m super cheap so I usually only buy wine that is like between $1 and $15. I drink a red blend called Menage a Trois that is $7 at Spec’s on the regular. It’s my normal every day wine. It’s cheap, it’s good . yeah. I prefer pinot noirs if I’m being fancy. I have wine teeth in the majority of my out’ facebook pictures.I even have a sweet ass 32 bottle wine chiller! fancy. (josh works at a commercial kitchen supplier, so hello discounts!) Are you taste of the triangle’ing? We are. I like foods. and Saint Arnold will be there. with Lennie.
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That was a great comment. I get the loyal stuff I felt like I was brikaeng up with a boyfriend when I moved from Sprint to AT T. I refuse to use Foursquare because I met a guy twice who works for Gowalla. Yeah, so the loyalty I get. And before moving out to Beaumont, I tried to stick with primarily Austin-based beers. But I’m too much of a beer fanatic to box myself in anywhere (other than Bud Light, because ok I can’t help it, I still like that beer, will probably always like that beer). I’ve met Lennie as well (poor guy, having to meet me) and liked him, a lot. He explained the brewing process to a table full of engineers. Not an easy feat. So whore away for St. Arnold. It won’t offend me. I just wish some other tasty local brews had such loyal fans as yourself so that I could have good beer anywhere other than Major League Grill.Ok, so you’re a fellow wine-o! What are your favorites? Do you frequent the local wine stores? I’m not a huge fan, but that’s me. My favorite thing to do with wine (which I finally get to do this weekend) is buy a bottle at the Whole Foods on 6th and Lamar in Austin and sit on their roof with a smile. Being in Beaumont I’m on my own picking wine, which is dangerous because I normally I just find the prettiest bottle. In Austin I have fancy wine experts who direct me to great beers. On one occasion, I was suggested a wine that even my dad went back for seconds. Which has more significance if you knew my dad, but whatever.PS will you throw me a party at the brewery?!?!
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