10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Beer
1. The best beer is not made by hand. After years of domination by big
beer brand, beer drinkers sought out smaller batch breweries that
eschewed the factory model of the Big 3 (Budweiser, Miller and Coors.)
But, like their larger competitors, most of the top craft breweries use
highly automated processes to brew their beer as efficiently and
consistently as possible.
2. The best beer is not made on automated systems either. This may
contradict the first fact on the list, but that’s kind of the point. Good
beer means different things to different people, and sometimes it’s the
tiny imperfections and inconsistencies from batch to batch that provide
the drinker the satisfaction of tasting a true craftsman’s handiwork.
3. Brewing is hard, wet and dirty work. Not only does most brewing
involve cleaning tanks, washing kegs and lifting heavy bags of grain, but
there's also a lot of mechanical knowhow required to operate a brewery.
4. Not all brewers have beards. There’s a common conception of the
modern craft brewer as a white man with a big, bushy beard. Brewers
like that certainly exist, but there are also breweries like Jackalope
Brewing Company in Nashville, which was founded by two women Robyn Virball and Bailey Spaulding. There are certainly brewers of
color as well, as brewing is an international profession practiced all
over the world.
5. Brewery owners are not rich. Beer is big business, but not everyone
in the industry is making big money. In fact, the opposite is often true
for small breweries. At Blue Hills Brewing Company co-founded by
Andris Veidis didn’t take home a paycheck for several years. Most
brewery owners, at least the good ones, start their companies to make
good beer - the money is just a perk.
6. It’s not just about the beer. Brewers are fond of saying that their
only concern is making good beer, but the truth is that such a claim is
mostly just good marketing. Every succesful brewer understands that
the most important thing is to make a quality product, but that the
next most important thing to have success, is to be able to market
that product.
7. Traditional methods are not necessarily the best methods. There is
a romantic attachment to traditional methods, but that doesn't’ mean
that those methods work better than newer ones. As important as
tradition is to brewing, so too is science and adapting to modern
science. Newer techniques and methods have allowed contemporary
brewers to get the most out of their ingredients and beers.
8. Beer is a community. Even in small markets, perhaps especially in
small markets, most brewers would rather collaborate with their
fellow brewers than compete with them. The idea that one brewery’s
success means the failure of another is beginning to fade in popularity, and the beer wards between breweries - even the big ones - are
increasingly rare.
9. Craft beer drinke '2&R