This isn't a vent post, I'm seriously curious to know if seeing that word being slung around nowadays annoys anyone else. IMO it's such a silly misnomer and I really wish it would stop being used entirely to make one's product somehow sound more special than another. Let's first address the applicable definitions of the word craft itself:
noun, plural crafts or for 5, 8, craft.
1.
an art, trade, or occupation requiring special skill, especially manual skill:
verb (used with object)
9.
to make or manufacture (an object, objects, product, etc.) with skill and careful attention to detail.
Judging by the very definition of the word BMC beer fits within the "craft" definition. Matter of fact, I would say those pro brewers probably have more skill and "attention to detail" than the average "craft" brewer. I know for sure with many of the microbreweries (which should be the proper term that seems to be now obsolete) each year seasonal releases can vary in taste to the point where people who once loved a release don't like it "this year". BMC and major breweries beer is so incredibly consistent with all the methods they use to achieve consistency (blending batches and such, sourcing consistently from the same suppliers, etc) that it would seem to me by the definition of the word that they are more craft brewers than the smaller guys.
Now, before I finish up I want to state outright that I am NOT defending the product produced by BMC companies. I don't drink Bud or Coors though I have drank beers under their umbrella that were very good. I'm just really getting annoyed seeing all these news articles about "Craft beer" when it simply refers to smaller scale breweries, many of which use the same mechanical brewing tech as the larger one's. I mean, most of these companies aren't small time home brewers using coolers for mash tuns and stirring the mash by hand, etc. If you have distribution throughout the USA you are producing on a big enough scale and using modern technology to aid in production... so why do YOU get to be dignified as a "Craft beer" when the bigger dogs get vilified for being so successful?? Just human nature to support the underdog then turn on them when they become wildly successful?
Rev.
noun, plural crafts or for 5, 8, craft.
1.
an art, trade, or occupation requiring special skill, especially manual skill:
verb (used with object)
9.
to make or manufacture (an object, objects, product, etc.) with skill and careful attention to detail.
Judging by the very definition of the word BMC beer fits within the "craft" definition. Matter of fact, I would say those pro brewers probably have more skill and "attention to detail" than the average "craft" brewer. I know for sure with many of the microbreweries (which should be the proper term that seems to be now obsolete) each year seasonal releases can vary in taste to the point where people who once loved a release don't like it "this year". BMC and major breweries beer is so incredibly consistent with all the methods they use to achieve consistency (blending batches and such, sourcing consistently from the same suppliers, etc) that it would seem to me by the definition of the word that they are more craft brewers than the smaller guys.
Now, before I finish up I want to state outright that I am NOT defending the product produced by BMC companies. I don't drink Bud or Coors though I have drank beers under their umbrella that were very good. I'm just really getting annoyed seeing all these news articles about "Craft beer" when it simply refers to smaller scale breweries, many of which use the same mechanical brewing tech as the larger one's. I mean, most of these companies aren't small time home brewers using coolers for mash tuns and stirring the mash by hand, etc. If you have distribution throughout the USA you are producing on a big enough scale and using modern technology to aid in production... so why do YOU get to be dignified as a "Craft beer" when the bigger dogs get vilified for being so successful?? Just human nature to support the underdog then turn on them when they become wildly successful?
Rev.