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A delicious example of a genuine craft beer is this glass of Pitch Black IPA by Widmer Brothers |
FRIEND OR FAUX:
The Brewers Association, the not-for-profit trade association based in Boulder,
CO, dedicated to small and independent American craft brewers, issued the
following statement regarding the increase in production and promotion of
craft-like beers by large, non-craft breweries:

Define a Craft Brewer. An American
craft brewer is defined as small and independent. Their annual production is 6
million barrels of beer or less and no more than 25 percent of the craft
brewery is owned or controlled by an alcoholic beverage industry member who is
not themselves a craft brewer.
In 2011, small and
independent craft brewers saw their industry grow 13 percent by volume; in the
first half of 2012, volume grew by an additional 12 percent. Meanwhile, the
overall beer industry was down 1.3 percent by volume and domestic non-craft was
down 5 million barrels in 2011.
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Another example of fine craft beer |
While this is certainly a
nod to the innovation and ingenuity of today’s small and independent brewers,
it’s important to remember that if a large brewer has a controlling share of a
smaller producing brewery, the brewer is, by definition, not craft.
Blurring the Lines. However,
many non-standard, non-light “crafty” beers found in the marketplace today are
not labeled as products of large breweries. So when someone is drinking a Blue
Moon Belgian Wheat Beer, they often believe that it’s from a craft brewer,
since there is no clear indication that it’s made by SABMiller. The same goes
for Shock Top, a brand that is 100 percent owned by Anheuser-Bush InBev, and
several others that are owned by a multinational brewing and beverage company.
The large, multinational
brewers appear to be deliberately attempting to blur the lines between their
crafty, craft-like beers and true craft beers from today’s small and
independent brewers. We call for transparency in brand ownership and for
information to be clearly presented in a way that allows beer drinkers to make
an informed choice about who brewed the beer they are drinking.
And for those passionate
beer lovers out there, we ask that you take the time to familiarize yourself
with who is brewing the beer you are drinking. Is it a product of a small and
independent brewer? Or is it from a crafty large brewer, seeking to capitalize on
the mounting success of small and independent craft brewers?
Beer Drinker’s Right to Know. The
following link takes you to another discussion of big brewers masquerading as
small guys: http://www.brewersassociation.org/pages/community/ba-blog/show?title=beer-drinkers-right-to-know.
About the Brewers
Assn. The Brewers Association is the not-for-profit trade association
dedicated to small and independent American brewers, their craft beers and the
community of brewing enthusiasts. The Brewers Association (BA) represents more
than 70 percent of the brewing industry, and its members make more than 99
percent of the beer brewed in the U.S.
The BA organizes events including the World Beer Cup®, Great
American Beer Festival®, Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America®,
SAVOR℠: An American
Craft Beer & Food Experience and American Craft Beer Week®. The BA
publishes The New Brewer magazine and its Brewers Publications division is the
largest publisher of contemporary and relevant brewing literature for today's
craft brewers and homebrewers.
Beer lovers are invited to learn more about the dynamic
world of craft beer at CraftBeer.com and about homebrewing via the BA's
American Homebrewers Association. Follow us on Twitter.
Source:
www.craftbeer.com
More dispatches from the war zone:
http://natmonitor.com/2012/12/15/report-ugly-beer-war-pits-craft-brewers-against-big-beer-video/
More dispatches from the war zone:
http://natmonitor.com/2012/12/15/report-ugly-beer-war-pits-craft-brewers-against-big-beer-video/
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