The Truth about Craft Beers...

bnt · 07-03-2015 11:40am

Wang King wrote: »

Sure go to your local and order a pint of oxtail, be grand!

Actually, you're not far off. You can't beat a pint of Gazpacho when it's hot outside.

If you look at the history of beer, you'll note that there were long periods in medieval history when it was the only safe thing to drink. (This comes up at times in Game Of Thrones, too.) It's not a fad, quite the opposite.

I was in the USA over Christmas, where I did see many more small brewers on the shelves at Walmart and Publix than the last time. It's Americans that have been driving the craft beer trend, and I can't blame them - having suffered so many years of Budweiser. Anyone remember the film Smokey and the Bandit? All that expense (enough to buy a new truck), all the risks they took, all the car chases and damage done, and for what? To get one truckload of Coors (a mass market beer from Colorado) delivered from Texas to Georgia. Just how bad was the beer in Georgia, if some Coors was worth that much? Wikipedia has an explanation, that Coors was a fresh beer made without preservatives, which also explained why it was a race against time using a cooler truck. I had some Coors at a hockey game in Denver, and can confirm that it was indeed fresh, hardly tasting like a mass market beer at all.

So that is what Craft Beer means to me: local small scale brewing means that it's more likely to be fresh and free of presevatives and other gunk. Probably the worst beer I've had recently was Molson "Canadian", which reeked of glycerine. On the other hand, I saw "Craft Beers" in the store in Florida which had been made in California, which had me going "what?"

dashcamdanny · 07-03-2015 3:15pm

One for those who think craft is no good.

Creans Lager will surprise you.

Its just lovely . Fresh crisp and not overpowering in the hop department.

http://dinglebrewingcompany.com/?age-verified=8e782a26ee

hatrickpatrick · 07-03-2015 3:52pm

Leann Folain

Links234 · 07-03-2015 3:54pm

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

Leann Folain

Lovely stuff

Iranoutofideas · 07-03-2015 3:55pm

The Backwards Man wrote: »

That's the kind of thing I'm talking about lads. If you like your beer, drink it and enjoy it, there's no need for all the nastiness.

Yeah and you do realise that your point applies to everyone, regardless of what you're drinking?

It doesn't matter whether I'm having a Coors or some complex craft beer, I don't want or need another person sticking their beak in to offer their critical thought on my choice if beer. If I wanted it, I'd ****ing ask.

Rezident · 07-03-2015 4:01pm

Most of the craft beers I have tasted do taste pretty poor, they can be quite unbalanced, but there are a few lovely ones.

Firefox11 · 07-03-2015 4:20pm

AndonHandon wrote: »

What does craft beer even mean?

Someone buys a cheap beer making kit down the local wine merchant and put in in a bottle with a fancy label and flogs it for twice the price.:pac:

Doctor Jimbob · 07-03-2015 4:41pm

Saying 'all craft beer is awesome/awful/whatever' is a bit like saying 'all fruit is awesome/awful/whatever'. The term covers such a vast range of products that the statement becomes utterly meaningless.

The whole labelling basically everything that isn't bud, heineken etc as 'craft beer' gets on my nerves a bit though. You know what the best beer is? Cheap beer that tastes nice.

jetsonx · 07-03-2015 4:46pm

dashcamdanny wrote: »

One for those who think craft is no good.

Creans Lager will surprise you.

Its just lovely . Fresh crisp and not overpowering in the hop department.

http://dinglebrewingcompany.com/?age-verified=8e782a26ee

Lovely brew alright. Perfectly balanced and as you mention a very crisp taste.

But, it's distribution seems to be scant. Aer Lingus serve it though.

Just a little Samba · 07-03-2015 4:50pm

Some "craft beer" is delicious, ie Galway Bays Buried at Sea stout or Black's Black IPA or White Hag's Imperial Stout or Trouble Brewing's Whistle Blower, Eight Degrees Amber.

Some "craft beer" is absolute swill, ie anything from McGargles, Carraig Amber Ale, Eight Degrees Red ale, Galway Bays Bay Ale...

On the other hand, pretty much all macro brewed beers are absolute piss, with the odd exception being decent.

dubscottie · 07-03-2015 5:02pm

What I find funny is that most of these so-called "craft" ales are nothing of the sort. They are made on an industrial scale by machine so there is no "craft" involved whatsoever..

It would be interesting to see what would happen if Ireland had the same trading standards laws as the UK.

If a shop is selling "homemade" soup for example, then they have to prove it is in fact made from scratch on the premises. Same with fresh sandwiches, Stuff that's made from "local" ingredients etc.

It would be the end of most of the hipster joints of Camden/Wexford Street..

Humans have been brewing beer for thousands of years so why are we only now starting to put chocolate and other weird stuff in beer??

Has nobody stopped to think that maybe someone tried before and discovered it tasted s**t so didn't bother?

Just a little Samba · 07-03-2015 5:08pm

dubscottie wrote: »

What I find funny is that most of these so-called "craft" ales are nothing of the sort. They are made on an industrial scale by machine so there is no "craft" involved whatsoever..

Any proof for that there, dubscottie?

Having visited a few of the "bigger" micro breweries in Ireland I can say there are far from "industrial". It's usually 2 or 3 lads in a small building lugging bags of grain around and mashing in by hand, bottling by hand (or semi automated) and labelling by hand.

Even O'Hara's, who have the largest output by a long way are still a small operation with only a few lads in the brew house.

By law in Ireland micro-breweries are only allowed to produce 20,000 hectolitres per annum before they lose their tax rebate. The only brewers on the Island exceeding that limit are Guinness and Heiniken.

I visited Kinnegar in the summer and it was typical of the other places I visited in style.

henryporter · 07-03-2015 5:13pm

Eutow wrote: »

Coors also try and produce their own "craft" beer such as Blue Moon

Ghastly muck altogether - I was wondering why it was labelled "craft"

MadsL · 07-03-2015 5:30pm

A point overlooked by thse who hate on the craft beer movement is the fact that craft brewing creates jobs. Compare that to the big macro automated plants, despite the size of Diageo only abut 65 people are actually involved in brewing at St James Gate, a number that seems to drop year on year.

Despite a small state of only 2 million people, my state has 33 breweries! Most of whom employ brewing, catering and serving staff.

Living in a smallish city in the US, breweries seem to be opening at the rate of one a week, aided by the fact they can easily open tap rooms (and sell guest beers) without jumping through hoops. If Ireland would deal with the monopoly of the licenced trade, then craft beer would grow as fast there. Diageo are probably lobbying like hell to make sure that doesn't happen.

Craft beer can be cheaper too, without the big marketing departments and multimillion dollar campaigns, and with some tax breaks, beers here can be sold at $3 a pint.

Eutow · 07-03-2015 5:35pm

henryporter wrote: »

Ghastly muck altogether - I was wondering why it was labelled "craft"

Another stupid term for you, "crafty", a beer that is made by a macro but tries to pass off as "craft". I hated it (Blue Moon) when I first tried it a couple of years ago and only found out who brewed it after looking it up. The ownership is kept hidden so you wouldn't know. Luckily, the barman only gave me a free small sample so I didn't waste any money.

Defiler Of The Coffin · 07-03-2015 6:23pm

Pay a visit to Wetherspoons and try some of the craft beers on offer. Then go to another pub and drink some of the mass-produced beers. You'll notice the difference straight away.

As a country it's about time we had more choice when in the pub. It would be fantastic if pubs in different regions had different choices of beer. It's depressing having to drink the same oul stuff no matter where you go.

Liamalone · 07-03-2015 7:12pm

So what's the story with Blue Moon then? I have a pal who loves it and never stops dinging on about how the dude who made it worked for budweiser and branched off on his own blah blah. Any truth in that yarn?

Burgo · 07-03-2015 7:15pm

Liamalone wrote: »

So what's the story with Blue Moon then? I have a pal who loves it and never stops dinging on about how the dude who made it worked for budweiser and branched off on his own blah blah. Any truth in that yarn?

It's brewed by coors.

evolving_doors · 07-03-2015 7:36pm

Each to their own, just because it is 'craft' doesn't mean it's going to be special either.

I think a lot of folk are getting caught up in the 'uber-cool-zeitgeist-latest-niche-craze' thing. Oooooo my brewery is more craftworthy than yours.

Just a little Samba · 07-03-2015 7:50pm

Liamalone wrote: »

So what's the story with Blue Moon then? I have a pal who loves it and never stops dinging on about how the dude who made it worked for budweiser and branched off on his own blah blah. Any truth in that yarn?

Total yarn. Brewed by MolsenCoors at their mega-brewery in Colorado, but the address for "blue moon" is a PO Box in Denver in an attempt to make it less obvious.
AbInbev (Budweiser) produce a similar beer called Shocktop for the US market in the same "crafty" style.

MadsL · 07-03-2015 8:37pm

Gebgbegb wrote: »

Each to their own, just because it is 'craft' doesn't mean it's going to be special either. .

Chances are however it is likely to taste better than the BUL big brands, Stella used to be relatively good - brewing to sell at a euro a pop in the UK has destroyed it. Legal additives like MSG, Propylene glycol, Calcium disodium EDTA, Colours like FD&C blue 1, red 40, and yellow 5, Insect-based dyes, and Glyceryl monostearate are all added to macro brews. No wonder that hangover hurts.

Great takedown of that Bud ad here...
http://www.thebeerbabe.com/2015/02/why-the-pro-macro-beer-budwesier-ad-is-so-dangerous/

Especially this "Contrasting the faux gastropub of the earlier bar scene, we’re now presented with a night-time scene at a busy bar filled with attractive, thirsty guys. A woman servers up Budweisers in the bottle, and it looks like a good time is going to be had by all. Here’s where you can start noticing the fact that only men are drinking in this scenario. What are the women doing? Serving beer."

One of the interesting features of the craft beer movement is the return to beer of women beer drinkers, the amount of times I have heard "I never used to think I liked beer, then I discovered real beer!!" Women do seem to gravitated to heavier flavours, not surpring that Tmave (dark) beers in the Czech Republic are seen as mostly women's beers...they have known that for 800 years or more.

conorh91 · 07-03-2015 8:47pm

MadsL wrote: »

Chances are however it is likely to taste better than the BUL big brands, Stella used to be relatively good - brewing to sell at a euro a pop in the UK has destroyed it. Legal additives like MSG, Propylene glycol, Calcium disodium EDTA, Colours like FD&C blue 1, red 40, and yellow 5, Insect-based dyes, and Glyceryl monostearate are all added to macro brews. No wonder that hangover hurts.

Why?

Do those things cause hangovers? Why do I get hangovers when I drink craft beers or vodka or mass-produced beers, but no hangovers when I consume other foods and drinks that contain MSG and GMS or Calcium disodium EDTA -- things like ice-cream and salad dressing?

It seems to me that a lot the claims made by the craft-beer industry is not backed up by anything in scientific literature.

A bit like some fitness guy on newstalk radio who once told listeners that craft beers are healthier than mass-produced beers on an equal volume basis. Some of this stuff is openly anti-science.

Eutow · 07-03-2015 8:48pm

^^^^^

They are quite clever with their marketing. All the macro ads, especially, Heineken, Coors, Corona and Bud try and appeal to our sense of trying to belong to a crowd, and they play up to that. Drink this and you will be popular and get the beautiful sexy woman, and you will have lots of friends and be the alpha male.

Eutow · 07-03-2015 8:53pm

conorh91 wrote: »

Why?

Do those things cause hangovers? Why do I get hangovers when I drink craft beers or vodka or mass-produced beers, but no hangovers when I consume other foods and drinks that contain MSG and GMS or Calcium disodium EDTA -- things like ice-cream and salad dressing?

It seems to me that a lot the claims made by the craft-beer industry is not backed up by anything in scientific literature.

A bit like some fitness guy on newstalk radio who once told listeners that craft beers are healthier than mass-produced beers on an equal volume basis. Some of this stuff is openly anti-science.

Beer is really only supposed to have four natural ingredients. Why is Budweiser brewed with rice? Does it have any hops in it at all? The beer industry gets away with a lot of stuff that other industries can't get away with. Beer don't have to have a list of the ingredients on the cans / bottles, whereas other food stuff does. It should change.

conorh91 · 07-03-2015 8:58pm

Eutow wrote: »

Beer is really only supposed to have four natural ingredients. Why is Budweiser brewed with rice?

This has nothing to do with what I just said about hangovers and health issues, but anyway, since you asked...

Plenty of craft beers are brewed with rice too. But maybe that's different because it's "wild rice"...

I'm not a Budweiser fan, so I'm not going to defend Budweiser. I just think this discussion has a problem with a lack of facts.

Rough Sleeper · 07-03-2015 9:07pm

MadsL wrote: »

Chances are however it is likely to taste better than the BUL big brands, Stella used to be relatively good - brewing to sell at a euro a pop in the UK has destroyed it. Legal additives like MSG, Propylene glycol, Calcium disodium EDTA, Colours like FD&C blue 1, red 40, and yellow 5, Insect-based dyes, and Glyceryl monostearate are all added to macro brews. No wonder that hangover hurts.

And here I was labouring under the impression that it was large quantities of ethanol that causes hangovers! I must be falling over and cracking my noggin off the ground every time I wake up with a splitting headache after drinking craft beers.

Eutow · 07-03-2015 9:13pm

conorh91 wrote: »

This has nothing to do with what I just said about hangovers and health issues, but anyway, since you asked...

Plenty of craft beers are brewed with rice too. But maybe that's different because it's "wild rice"...

I'm not a Budweiser fan, so I'm not going to defend Budweiser. I just think this discussion has a problem with a lack of facts.

The only beer I know that uses rice is Bud, whether other beers have it I don't know.

Beer usually has four basic ingredinets: Water, Barley, Hops, Yeast. The fact you get hangover means you either drink too much, or you have a bad reaction to certain beers. I can drink lagers, ales, or whatever and I don't get any different reactions.

As for health, drink too much and it is bad for you, like most things.

MadsL · 07-03-2015 9:26pm

conorh91 wrote: »

Why?

Do those things cause hangovers? Why do I get hangovers when I drink craft beers or vodka or mass-produced beers, but no hangovers when I consume other foods and drinks that contain MSG and GMS or Calcium disodium EDTA -- things like ice-cream and salad dressing?.

The fact that you are comparing consuming several pints of beer with a tablespoon of salad dressing seems pretty anti-science to me.

Question I would ask is why are we not allowed to know what additives Diageo decide to put in Guinness this year?

MadsL · 07-03-2015 9:26pm

conorh91 wrote: »

Plenty of craft beers are brewed with rice too..

Which ones?

conorh91 wrote: »

this discussion has a problem with a lack of facts.

Yeah...yourself included. There have been a handful of craft brewers who have experimented with rice, but it is ludicrous to suggest this equates to "plenty".

Egginacup · 07-03-2015 9:36pm

jetsonx wrote: »

As we all know, there has been an explosion in the number of craft beers available on the market.

But very few of these are actually nice. (nicer than Bud, Coors etc but that would not be too hard) Most are too watery, too hoppy or just lack any sort of decent flavor.

There are of course exceptions. Five Lamps is a tasty brew as is Red Rebel but other ones which I've tasted have stood out for being totally unremarkable, forgettable or just insipid.

The fact of the matter is most, not all, craft beers su@k.

What do you think?

I've tried a load of them and all I've found to be sh1t. Yet some twonk with a goatee will say they're the best. Full of hops because it's nearly impossible to fcuk up an ale. They will die a death like thrash metal in the 80's.

The Truth about Craft Beers...

Comments