The list goes on and on and it can get a bit confusing when you start playing the name game in the brewing industry.
In fact the only thing you can be certain of these days is that every single brewery has a different definition of what it means to be a microbrewery or a craft brewery. From defining it under the strict-guidelines of the Brewers Association or the newly found faux-brand image of Michelob it may seem to the average beer connoisseur that it is impossible to figure out what all of these definitions mean. You might as well take a swing at it and grab the nearest beer with a slogan that has some sort of 'craft' buy-line. Right?
Wrong. That is why I have simplified it for you. I have eliminated all the messy slogans and shareholdings. I am making it easy. Follow this simple guide and you will find what you want. After all there is simply beer and there is Beer.
beer.
beer is what you drank in high-school. beer is what you can buy at Costco in pallets. beer is what pays for all those funny ads during the Super-bowl commercials. beer is designed to be the lightest most drinkable substance on earth. beer is 'made' by people who drink Champagne, fly jets, and have never even heard of wort. beer is a great American invention and in some instances (oh no!) I have occasionally been known to still chug a beer.
Now for Beer.
Beer tasted like pee when you were in high-school (to much flavor for your feeble young mind). Beer is sold in a 12 pack-maximum and most of the time as simply a 22-0z bomber. Beer is made by people who are the brewmaster, the bartender, marketing director, and the CEO all at the same time and they fly Southwest. Beer donates its money to green initiatives and sponsors the local road-bike team instead of doing a TV commercial. Beer is an American art form and I would never dream of wasting a delicious Beer by chugging it.
This Blog is a Beer blog. While I appreciate beer's many great additions to our society like beer-pong, flip cup and those lovely ......AND TWINS!!!! commercials I will not speak of beer very often.
What I will talk about is Seattle's great Beer culture. From festivals to Homebrew clubs, from Beer reviews to interviews, I am going to explore the great Beers of the Northwest. Occasionally you may hear me complain about the state of the beer industry or CoorsMillerMolsenKeystoneColt45's latest attempt to trick the consumer into drinking one of their products but I will always strive to tell the reader about the best of Beer in Seattle.
So come along with me and feel free to drop me a line if you have a great Beer for me to try out, if you want to know who actually makes the Beer you are drinking, or if you know of a great festival for me to attend.
So enjoy the blog and drink a Beer. Cheers!
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Beer vs. beer. Never thought of defining it that way, but now I can't see a clearer alternative! Looking forward to following your Beer drinking adventures in Seattle and perhaps enjoying some of your top recommendations here in NYC.
ReplyDeleteXandy,
ReplyDeleteWelcome to Seattle and its host of fine breweries and watering holes. For your Redhook entry you'll want to make sure you spell it as one word, small "h". That way the locals won't get caught up in minutia. There are some super tasty draft-only brews on tap at Forecasters these days, so head east and sample so we can read your next entry.