Craft VS. Crafty from BA. How some beers are trying to pass off as craft beers

CRAFT VS. CRAFTY: A STATEMENT FROM THE BREWERS ASSOCIATION

Boulder, CO • December 13, 2012—The Brewers Association, the not-for-profit trade association 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:

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.

The community of small and independent craft brewers has grown as beer enthusiasts embrace new, diverse beers brewed by their neighbors and friends who are invested in their local communities. Beer drinkers are voting with their palates and dollars to support these entrepreneurs and their small and independent businesses.

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.

Witnessing both the tremendous success and growth of craft brewers and the fact that many beer lovers are turning away from mass-produced light lagers, the large brewers have been seeking entry into the craft beer marketplace. Many started producing their own craft-imitating beers, while some purchased (or are attempting to purchase) large or full stakes in small and independent breweries.

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.

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?

A full list of U.S. breweries is available on BrewersAssociation.org. The Brewers Association list of domestic non-craft breweries is available for download.

Originally from unofficialnetworks.com

BEER – PROVEN TO BE GOOD AFTER SPORTS DRINK

BY MILES CLARK · MAY 7, 2012 · 5 COMMENTS

Ski champion Jean Claude Killy boozin’ it up aprés ski

It’s springtime – you ski for 3 hours in the slush, you’re done by 1pm and….you’re drinking at the Chammy….everyday from now until June. Is drinking right after exercising smart?  Of F$%king Course It Is!!!!!

I learned  about this many years ago. Beer has electrolytes, calories, and carbohydrates. All these things are great for the post exercise body.

In a current ‘study’ they found that beer is “slightly better” than water at hydrating a human after intense exercise. Slightly better is really not that impressive, but, we’ll take it.  Check out this article about beer being a good post exercise drink:  www.telegraph.co.uk

Even more interesting, is that scientists aren’t even arguing this one anymore: Men should have 2 drinks a day, women 1 drink a day. If this is done, you’ll actually live longer. Hell, this article even says men can have 4 drinks per day and women 2:  www.msnbc.com

It is also proven that as soon as you have more than the allocated amount of alcohol, you’re unequivocally hurting yourself and increasing your chances of disease and death.  Check out this article about how alcohol consumption has been linked to mouth, larynx, breast, liver, and throat cancers:  www.health.usnews.com

So what is the moral here?  I supposed it isn’t hard to figure out:  Drink Up!…but not too much.

But, if you do here are some quality Hangover Cures…well, basically it’s just food, sleep, and H2O:  www.health.usnews.com

It's American Craft Beer Week!

American Craft Beer Week: Show Your Support

By CraftBeer.com

Happy American Craft Beer Week! Make sure to show your support for the ideals of American Craft Beer Week by custimizing your Facebook and Twitter profiles with any of these American Craft Beer Week icons. Last year, American Craft Beer Week trended in local areas on Twitter, be sure to use the hashtag #ACBW when tweeting at your favorite brewery or at an American Craft Beer Week event.

ACBW 2012 Official Logo

ACBW 2012 Untapped Badge

ACBW 2012 Cap Logo

Brewer's on BioDiesel

Powered By Vegetable Oil. We're using our spent oil to power our brewers truck.

BREWERS ASSOCIATION: CRAFT BREWING VOLUME HOPS 13 PERCENT

Total U.S. brewery count tops 2,000

Boulder, CO • March 26, 2012 —TheBrewers Association (BA), the trade association representing small and independent brewers, today released 2011 data on U.S. craft brewing¹. Craft brewers saw volume² rise 13 percent, with a 15 percent increase in retail sales from 2010 to 2011, representing a total barrel increase of 1.3 million.

In 2011, craft brewers represented 5.68 percent of volume of the U.S. beer market, up from 4.97 in 2010, with production reaching 11,468,152 barrels. Additionally, the BA estimates the actual dollar sales figure from craft brewers in 2011 was $8.7 billion, up from $7.6 billion in 2010. Increased retails sales represented 9.1 percent of the $95.5 billion dollar U.S. beer market³.

“While the overall beer market experienced a 1.32 percent volume decrease in 2011, craft brewing saw significant growth, surpassing five percent total market volume share for the first time,” said Paul Gatza, director, Brewers Association. “It’s becoming increasingly clear that with the variety of styles and flavors to choose from, Americans are developing a strong taste for high-quality, small-batch beer from independent brewers.”

Download High Resolution Graphic	View Expanded Infographic

With 250 brewery openings and only 37 closings, the BA also reported that 1,989 breweries were operating in the U.S. in 2011—an 11 percent increase from the previous year. Small brewers employed approximately 103,585 workers in the U.S in 2011.

“We saw rapid growth in brewery openings last year, particularly with microbrewery start-ups, and these numbers are poised to rise even more in 2012,” added Gatza. “In February 2012, we already topped 2,000 operating breweries—a truly remarkable milestone. We look forward to even more success and the continued expansion of the craft beer market.”

Note: Numbers are preliminary. The Association will publish its full 2011 industry analysis in the May/June 2012 issue of The New Brewer, highlighting regional trends and sales by individual breweries. Additionally, a more extensive analysis will be released during the Craft Brewers Conference in San Diego, Calif., from May 2-5.

¹ The definition of a craft brewer as stated by the Brewers Association: An American craft brewer is small, independent, and traditional. Small: Annual production of beer less than 6 million barrels. Beer production is attributed to a brewer according to the rules of alternating proprietorships. Flavored malt beverages are not considered beer for purposes of this definition. Independent: Less than 25 percent of the craft brewery is owned or controlled (or equivalent economic interest) by an alcoholic beverage industry member who is not themselves a craft brewer. Traditional: A brewer who has either an all malt flagship (the beer which represents the greatest volume among that brewers brands) or has at least 50 percent of its volume in either all malt beers or in beers which use adjuncts to enhance rather than lighten flavor.

² Volume by craft brewers represent total taxable production.

³The Brewers Association does not include flavored malt beverages in its beer data set.

Contact:

Abby Berman (on behalf of the Brewers Association)
abby@rosengrouppr.com
646.695.7044

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About the Brewers Association:

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 and BrewExpo America®, SAVOR℠: An American Craft Beer & Food Experienceand 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 atCraftBeer.com and about homebrewing via the BA's American Homebrewers Association. Follow us on Twitter.

What to do with those beer tabs...

Pull-Tab Craftiness

by JAY BROOKS on MARCH 19, 2010 · 0 COMMENTS

in JUST FOR FUN,RELATED PLEASURES

When I was searching yesterday for images to use for my post about pull-tabs, I was surprised by how many websites there are devoted to finding other uses for the little aluminum pull-tabs, both the old-style ones and the more modern one-piece tabs. There are so many of these and they’re so inventive I thought I’d share a few of them. This is just the tip of the iceberg, there’s a whole world of DIY, recycling and craft people who are finding amazing ways to use the discarded pull-tabs. So here we are, from head to toe:

Here’s a kid’s hat and shirt, and there are lots more at the wonderfully named Art of Tabistry.

Here’s a woman’s top from Apocalypse Creations Chainmail in Canada.

And a colorful vest by Tiffany, posted on Craftster.

How about a dress made entirely of pull-tabs? Here’s one posted atRecyclart.

And let’s not forget the shoes, shown here, and you can see another pair at This Next.

Or if you want to be covered head to knee, here’s an entire suit of pull-tab armor, from Geekologie.

And don’t forget to accessorize with this fetching purse, also from This Next.

In case you get tired wearing all that heavy metal, here’s a pull tab chair for you to sit down and rest made by Studio G.

I can’t say I’d actually wear any of them, but they impressive nonetheless. Enjoy.

2011 New Years Resolution - A look Back

New Year’s Resolutions of a Beer Geek

Well the New Year is here, and I’m in the mood for change. Not change for change’s sake, but change for the better. Here’s how I plan on being a better, more sensible beer nerd in 2011:

1. Spend Less

I spend a lot of money on beer. Too much, I think. So far, my spending has known no regulations, no limits, but I intend to change that in the new year (that cry you hear is a collective gasp from beer shop owners and distributors throughout Northern New Jersey). I need to think it through a bit, but the obvious place to start is setting limits and sticking to them. It’s time for a beer budget. Eww, I don’t like how those words sound together!

2. Drink Less

In order to spend less, I’ll have to drink less. It’s not that I drink a lot, but there are a number of beers I can eliminate from my diet without affecting the pleasure I get from my favorite hobby. There’s the uninspired weekday beer, the beer you actually shouldn’t have at the end of the night but you do anyway, the expensive beer you open even though you’re not in the mood, etc. Lots of areas where less may very well be more, allowing me to enjoy my beers even more when I have them. Plus the bunker is well-stocked; it’s time for a drink-down!

3. Brew More

One way to save a ton of dough is to brew your own beer. Speaking of a ton of dough, that’s what I spent on my ridiculously over-capable brew kettle, so it’d be silly not to get the pot on boil. I’m planning on brewing at least one batch a month, starting with that Two Hearted Pale Ale clone I’ve had since August…

4. Learn More

I’ve spent the last few years filling my head with all sorts of beer facts. But up to this point it has been through drinking, talking, web surfing and some light reading. But this year I want to get more structured about filling in the blanks. I’ll start with reading all those beer books I own but have only pawed through quickly. Cover to cover, so much to discover!

5. Mission GABF

Don and I went to the Great American Beer Festival last year, and I intend on returning this year. Not sure how I’m gonna swing it, but it’s the Super Bowl of beer, and where there’s a will, there has to be a way. Maybe I can use all the money I save from #1, #2, and #3 above. We shall see. But now that I know the lay of the land, there’s so much I want to do there.

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So those are my resolutions for this year. We’ll see how well I do – I’m already a little tired just reading back over the list! I think if I can stick to at least half of these, I’ll be a wiser, richer and more complete geek by the end of 2011, which will be a good thing indeed.

What about you? Any beer or whiskey-related resolutions that revolve around the world’s greatest beverages (not counting that one you made New Year’s Day about NEVER drinking again)? As always, let us know below, and HAPPY NEW YEARS from Don and I!