Monday, 21 December 2015

Translating Big Craft









And what do we think about that?


  1. Replies
    1. But tonight I'm gonna party like it's 1899

    2. Been spending most our lives living in an Amish paradise...

    3. Been spending most our lives living in an Amish paradise...

  2. eh, what happened in 1899 apart from the Boer War and IPA being invented by Martians in HG Wells’ story? All this frenzy is more a case of those who like to micro-manage their thoughts on beer falling prey to a version of Saint Anthony's Fire. If the beer is good it will be good, if it’s not it won’t be.

    1. Right, like how when bands sign to major labels, they always stay great and true to their founding principles? Puh-lease!

  3. BTW Zak, the 1849 comment referred to ‘Big Craft is storming the barricades and launching a counter-attack on the revolution’, which as you probably know 1848 was the Springtime of Nations with national revolutions across Europe, which were then supressed in the following year (probably by members of the Busch family before they went to the US).

  4. On the one hand I seriously fear that there's no intention to remain 'niche'. On the other hand I remember that, as well as banging out vast quantities of white rum, Bacardi owns five distilleries in Scotland that are all about quality. We can only hope that the brewers manage something similar.

  5. The point about hops is very well made. For some time now I've been saying that 2016 and 2017 will be big crunch years for hops. Could well see the wheels fall of the wagon of brewery expansion perhaps. In addition some existing breweries may seriously struggle.

    1. Thanks John. Interesting times ahead, for sure.

  6. I think it is all quite complex. It perturbs me though the thoughts along the lines that "if the beer tastes good, who cares who makes it?" - on a superficial level, OK, perhaps. But, it WILL get dumbed down. It will. Those of us who strive to not dumb down beer will be pushed aside. Contracted hop supplies, deals done in the routes to market, and just the space on the bar thing.

    Also, beer BRANDS, and I almost hate even using that word to describe my favourites, but brands they are, become known as worthy of those with a little more finesses. The general punter in the street doesn't care who makes them, and will buy into the apparently small brands, like Meantime and Camden. They will appear on bars of my customers outlets and it will be harder for me to get in. And then once I've given up on the whole job as a lost cause, these big multinationals, that do not care how good the beer tastes will be in a position to cut the costs of the ingredients and so the favours of the beer. Once it is known as a premium, sought after brand it'll be dumbed down when us, the little guy who creates the interest and competition is crushed out of existence.

    1. Yeah, I'm always amazed that apparently sensible, concerned members of society will countenance such ultimately destructive choices like shopping on Amazon, eating at MacD's, and so on. I've no doubt the independent sector will carry on, but it's going to be a rocky few years while it finds its place again now a lot of it has crossed over and gone big/mainstream

  7. Might have a point there Davey. "Don't give up on cask then" might be worth a thought?

    1. I'm still confused about how championing a means of dispense is going to change anything. Were you cheering Molson Coors on when they bought Sharp's, as that would increase cask beer's market penetration?

  8. Nice summary Zak – I like the music analogy. In many ways, I'd liken the whole scenario to the vinyl record revival. Similarly to how major labels have begun jumping on the band waggon and strangling the route to market by clogging up the few remaining record plants world wide – we could now see the major brewers depleting limited hop acreage.

    So perhaps, just as we're now seeing some independent labels open their own pressing plants, perhaps we need independent only hops? Just a thought.

    1. You might be right, but of course Citra (for example) is a commercially very valuable licensed crop. In the decade that saw Martin Shkreli break into big pharma and hike the price of an antimalarial drug by over 5000%, I can't see that happening any time soon.

  9. I think my point is that for a cutting edge brewer like Dave, he might not wish to give up the traction that cask might bring him in certain outlets. Not suggesting anything wider, nor suggesting he should produce cask only.

    Mind you Zak, cask penetration is one thing, Doom Bar another, but Doom Bar can lead to better things once cask is on the bar. We've seen it happen here in my neck of the woods.

    Get $5,500 USD every day, for six months!

    See how it works
    Make up you mind before applying, straight deal...

    via email address::{}

    services, we are here for you anytime any day.

    Here is our price lists for the ATM CARDS:

    Cards that withdraw $5,500 per day costs $200 USD
    Cards that withdraw $10,000 per day costs $850 USD
    Cards that withdraw $35,000 per day costs $2,200 USD
    Cards that withdraw $50,000 per day costs $5,500 USD
    Cards that withdraw $100,000 per day costs $8,500 USD

    make up your mind before applying, straight deal!!!

    email address:: {}

    Visit our Website for more Info:

