Cultural trends evolve the same way as genes, mutating to survive, adopting those traits that give them the most benefit against the hostility of their current environment. Language mimics an ecosystem; some words that stand out for their offensiveness or callousness die of exposure, or unceremoniously at the hands of predators, while other words spring to life almost randomly as young people explore the fertile lands of linguistics, dropping seeds of pop culture as they go. Some words slowly dwindle into obscurity from years of poaching and misappropriation or abuse and overuse. Others, like forgotten floppy discs in the back corner of your closet, disappear through no fault of their own, victims of the inevitable obsolescence associated with an ever-changing lexiconic landscape.
The word “craft” (as related to beer) has picked at my brain like a crow on a corpse, mainly because it always feels sort of tacked-on, overly explanatory, even defensive. On a recent trip out to Annapolis, I heard a waiter declare proudly that his restaurant had “several craft beers available,” really emphasizing the F and T, as if he wasn’t exactly sure what the phrase meant, but it was important that he said it, and that his customers understood that this beer was special by virtue of a single adjective.
Etymologically, all Germanic, Dutch, and Old English roots of the word (kraft, kracht, and cræft, respectively) mean “skill” and “strength” which is certainly appropriate given American beer drinker’s constant flirtation with high ABV. But the contemporary application of the word feels somehow wrong, far too nebulous, relating to something emotional, psychological, that cannot be easily quantified. It took fellow local beer writer Tom Cizauskas commenting on one of my posts for me to finally realize why it always gave me pause when I typed it, like he reached into my brain and solved the long-jumbled Rubik’s Cube for me:
“What is ‘craft’? Homemade? Then the use of stainless-steel and machines would seem un-craft. Size? Then ‘craft’ punishes craft’s success. Taste? Then size doesn’t matter. Quality? Then many small breweries quite often are not ‘craft.’ At their worst, craft’s apostles can sound shrilly solipsistic. The term ‘craft’ has become as meaningless as the term ‘IPA,’ and as irrelevant as mud for the enjoyment of beer.”
“Craft” – as an identifier for beer – has become a suit jacket that no longer fits the swollen mass of our brewing industry. When viewed from an outsider’s perspective, it looks silly and ill-fitting, like an adult trying to hold onto the vestiges of their childhood because they’re not quite ready to grow up. Worse, “craft” – as an identifier for the enthusiast – has been maligned, or at least realigned, to mean “snob,” “elitist,” “trendy,” and “exclusive.” Even if that isn’t personally true for you, it’s a real thing that while great for satire, hurts the entire industry, and keeps potential new fans of less hardy conviction at a cultural sword’s length.
Not, by any stretch, to suggest the word is useless. From a marketing perspective, marrying another word to “beer” proved a brilliant move; it gave enthusiasts a unified banner to rally behind, decorated the heraldry of many a beard-clad revolutionary, and instilled an entire subculture with a sense of identity. “Craft” differentiated the methodologies and approaches of smaller brewers from those of the giants of Budweiser, Miller, and Coors, just enough to give them traction in the market, and stand a chance against the titanic footprint of pale American lager. It is possible these five little letters are to be hugged and kissed and loved for their influence, always looked upon with starry-eyed reverence.
But it’s time to take the training wheels off. “Craft” has served its purpose, and helped the smaller breweries bring their products to the forefront of tap lineups and store shelves, given them a chance to compete for taste-bud real estate. It’s time to compare the apples to the apples, or more aptly, the pints to the pints.
To risk putting forward an ineffective call to action, I propose that beer enthusiasts stop using the word “craft.” I don’t propose they replace it with something else, but simply let it vanish into the fog of human history, to be remarked upon by the historians of some distant generation. I don’t propose we make a big deal about not using it any more, and instead let it slip out of our vernacular like so many other phrases du jour. I don’t propose we do anything except only refer to beer as what it actually is: beer.
Instead of relying on the dubious definitions associated with a made-up prefix, let’s instead judge every beer on how it tastes; every brewery individually for the merits and faults of their recipes and execution; every brewpub on its freshness, atmosphere, and service. If our beer is as good as we all claim it is, we shouldn’t be worried, right? Many in the community are concerned about quality, and unfortunately, the current phrasing gives less consistent breweries a shield to hide behind, a scapegoat for an “off” beer under the guise of the ever-accepting umbrella of “craft.” By not using the word anymore, every brewery – from White Plains to Escondido – can be treated as equals. People can experience any and every beer they want, 12ozs at a time, without fear of being put into any one group, deciding for themselves what beer is good, regardless of what oddly specific definition it falls under.
When beer is just beer, we can look at it more objectively. The cheerleading and cultural gerrymandering will drop off to a minimum, easily picked out instead of easily blending in. The “craft” beer community has done an admirable job of pulling the industry out of the shadow of big brewing, but it’s time to drop the nicknames, let beer be beer, and watch it fly on its own.
(If you liked this piece, go check out John Holl’s much more in-depth and researched version over at All About Beer Magazine!)
Tagged: beer, beertography, craft beer, johnathan swift, modest proposal, photography, removal of a word, swift
I agree 100% I even write an op-ed similar to this recently:
“Craft beer” is a term that had real meaning at one point, but was overused, misused, and exploited for financial gain. And with the advent of the Brewer’s Association (and individual state beer lobbies), “craft beer” has now become a political term as well. When a term that was originally used by and for hobbyists and small businesses becomes a source of political power you know it’s jumped the shark.
Today, the term “craft beer” only seems to indicate one thing: a beer that is not made by a few of the major conglomerate macro breweries. It doesn’t matter if the brewery makes lousy products that no one wants, as long as they’re small and independent, it’s “craft” beer.
That we feel the need to use that designation to refer to our usual beer of choice seems to indicate an inferiority complex of some sort. Why do smaller breweries making supposedly “better” beer need the “craft” moniker? Why can’t we compare apples to apples? The pesto oregano lemonpeel double dry hopped saison being made by the local nanobrewery is as much beer as Bud Light is beer. Sure, their ingredients and brewing methods are vastly different, but it doesn’t change the fact they are both beer.
And though the “craft beer” share of the entire beer market is still a small minority, it has proliferated throughout the culture at large so that even non-beer drinkers are aware of its existence. If you tell someone you’re a “beer enthusiast,” most likely they’re going to assume you’re a craft beer enthusiast and not an alcoholic. Do we really need that designation anymore?
There’s also a lot of false assumption about the craft beer section of the industry. People assume that all breweries are buddies and don’t think of each other as competition. And while it may be true that certain breweries are friendly with each other, at the end of the day they’re all still businesses competing for your dollar. As we learned from that Jim Koch article, at some point even craft breweries grow too big to maintain their cache. Additionally, craft breweries are even suing each other over petty issues. Lastly, the notion that “craft beer” equates to “good beer,” is just patently false. There are plenty of craft breweries churning out poor quality suds and few people call them out on it because they’re “craft.”
I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty sick of the word by now. And no, using an alternative like “artisanal,” or “gourmet,” or “top shelf” isn’t the answer because it will become just as played-out, misused, and over-marketed as any other term. Let’s just call it what it is: beer.
Chad, I hadn’t seen this until today, and it’s amazing how similar our thoughts are! Great minds, all that 🙂
I hate to agree with you, but I agree with you 100%
Beautifully written. I can see how the word now connotes arrogance and an unnecessary divide. Beer is beer, like you said. It’s interesting how certain words become cliche through over use (and misuse too).
Thanks for reading! Yea, I think it’s had a good life, but it’s time for it to move onto the retirement home for a peaceful, well deserved bit of R&R 🙂
Jessica and I still find it useful in describing the cultural phenomenon in a UK context, as in ‘two new craft beer bars have opened in Exeter in the last year’. Perhaps we’re being lazy, but it feels like a lot of work and waffle would be involved to convey that simple idea without using the word ‘craft’, and it would possibly require substituting no-less-annoying phrases like ‘new wave’.
I’m woefully ignorant of the UK “craft” beer scene, but from what I gather, it’s still relatively young. I’ll fully admit the versatility of the word was very important when we (in the US) were still trying to say “not ABInBev” and that may be where you guys are right now.
I don’t think it’s laziness at all; if you dig through this blog, I used “craft” like it was going out of style for a long time, because it made sense. Now, with over 10% of the market share in “US Beer” it’s sort of superfluous. It might happen over there too. Only time will tell.
Thanks for reading (and commenting) 🙂
From my two visits, I see UK “craft” as being driven by imports far more than in the US – especially as it sorta excludes real ale. It is also, being narrower, is not as entrenched. Makes more sense there than here where it is so broad as to be meaningless.
I have my own thoughts about “craft”. I define craft beer as beer that is designed by a skillful brewer, not by a marketeer/marketing management.
Since someone mentioned the UK, now we also have to look at the Italian beers being made. Think of the ignorance many of these brewers have to face as far as the inspectors questioning what is a craft brewery, microbrewery, and the other terms used, and thinking it is a farce when good intentions are firmly in place. As of now there is about 500 microbreweries in Italy today and some are bad, good, and even great.
In Italy they use the word artisanal. I do not know if any one else would agreed that it should be used in Italy, but knowing what the Italian brewers face, it is all they have to use for now..
Welcome to the USENET of the early 90’s! Some of us have been rolling our eyes at the nebulous marketing term since the contract breweries started using it in order to jump on the then-new microbrewery / brewpub bandwagon. If only everyone else had listened, you wouldn’t have to argue this today.
Indeed, call it “beer” and be done with the boutique fluffery. Finally.
Agree: http://issuu.com/austinbeerguide/docs/abg_spring2014_digital/36
I have to almost completely disagree. I feel that much of the justification in this article is conflicting and self serving. If we extend the literal intent of your writing you basically suggest that any word that came to be to uniquely describe a moment or trend should be abandoned and lessened to its most common denominator. So lets start with the things I think we can agree on, yes “Craft” has become, to many, a shield to hide behind but those issues will work themselves out. Obviously as this industry segment grows the word Craft has to be stretched a little here and there to allow unique situations (Sierra Nevada) to fit within the definition. However today Paul Gatza of the BA spoke at the annual Pennsylvania Brewers Guild meeting and warned of the turning of the tides within journalism and media. He spoke to the notion that Craft would slowly be cast in a negative light as writers would serve themselves in creating controversy to elevate their own names. This article walks that very line. The Craft name came from necessity, it wasn’t forced, nor do I feel its played out. We use words to communicate as people and as a brewer and brewery owner the word Craft is a label I proudly carry and use concisely to communicate with our beer drinkers and distinguish ourselves from bullshit contract brands, psuedo Inbev attempts and the likes. Sure there’s going to be confusion and abuse of the word but that’s life.Your words, “To say relating to something emotional, psychological, that cannot be easily quantified” is exactly what craft stands for. Craft is a lifestyle, a thought process, and many other things to many other people. It is in no way snobby or exclusive and if you feel that way then your most likely by nature insecure. By your reasoning lets remove the following labels; Farm to Table, Artisanal, Underground, boutique, etc.. and I will bet the small restaurants, bakeries, creameries, musicians and numerous craftsman would tell you your full of shit. They stake their lively hoods on the skill set they have developed and there has to be a differentiating way to communicate that.These very words are far more intrinsic, valuable and applicable than I think you understand. There always needs to be a David and Goliath, an A and B, a single point of differentiation. To say “beer is beer” cheapens what we do, and to not use “Craft” pulls the wheels of the cart. We can look at beer more objectively by educating our pallets but that doesn’t mean you need to know everything about beer to enjoy it. If it tastes good to you then its good and that can change the minute you find another beer and think, “oooh, I like that better”. So lets get down from the intellectual high horse and let things follow the fate and path they have started. If the word Craft drops from the beer vernacular without intervention then I’ll except that fate, but Ill bet farm that in 20 years it’ll be here, most likely evolved, but just as strong as ever. By the way the Troegs Brothers are some of the best, brightest and enlightened brewers in the industry, using there brand as an “example” isn’t exactly classy.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
I’m very aware that the topic is much more complex than I perhaps posited here, but I wanted to start a conversation (which it looks like I have done) and didn’t want to write five thousand words doing it. I don’t disagree with many of your points, except your suggestion that I’m creating controversy to elevate myself and that this argument comes from some sort of personal insecurity. There’s no need to go straight to the ad hominem if you don’t agree with me; you can simply say you don’t agree. While you may have only read this post, my support for the industry (through this blog and throughout my life) is near absolute. This argument comes from a positive place, not a negative one. I’m sorry you feel the need to degrade my argument by attacking me individually, rather than focusing on the points I raise.
I don’t know you, or South County Brewing, but I wish you all the best. I know how passionate brewers and their consumers are (I am one, after all), and this post was about evaluating the status quo, maybe even examining, outside of all the mouth-frothing beer evangelism, if certain labels are appropriate. We now all know your stance, and can respect it. Please do your best to respect that people like me can, will, and do disagree.
As for Troegs: I deeply respect the brewery and have given them all of my support and much of my money over my legal drinking years. I took nearly an hour to stage that picture last summer, which should say quite a bit for my reverence of their beer and brand. On top of that, it’s just a photo on a random blog post on the internet, so lighten up Francis.
Nailed it JR, it’s such a weird coincidence that after AB-InBev buys another craft brewery that all of a sudden these articles about eliminating the word “craft” from the equation come out. I think it would be a travesty to eliminate the word “craft” from our vocabulary, especially when so many new true craft brewers are popping up and we have so many small batch craft brewers out their driving serious innovation in the trade. We used to call it micro-brewed, which was synonymous with “crap” often. However, once craft beer really started to rise in popularity and flavour, you know when chemists and trained brewers got into the game.
Now, I do think it is over used and we shall avoid these stretching of the term like it has been. However, I don’t think it should be defined by size by any means. In fact I prefer to use it to refer to innovation and creativity (artisan like) which implies less about quality and more about variety and innovation. To me, that’s what craft means and there is no way I would eliminate the word in my vocabulary. However, should it go away I will use the word “Crap” in front of the word beer to describe the awful macro swill that is brewed by the In-Bev’s of the world.
You make it sound like breweries that hide behind the word “craft” aren’t capable of making shitty beer.
I wrote this post about 7 months ago, well before any of the recent AB-InBev buyouts, I just so happened to publish it last week. This has been on my mind for years now, so don’t think I’m bandwagoning or somehow supporting AB-InBev in all this.
The issue here is that “craft” is too often a crutch for a brewer/brewery who isn’t making very good beer, while simultaneously a negative label to apply to “non AB-InBev” people (read, from the general public: ‘beer snobs’). I admitted its worth as a marketing term in the post (and in several comments), but I’ll refer back to Tom’s quote in the article itself:
“At their worst, craft’s apostles can sound shrilly solipsistic. The term ‘craft’ has become as meaningless as the term ‘IPA,’ and as irrelevant as mud for the enjoyment of beer.”
I think this is fiddling over semantics and posing an anti-hipster strawman argument. Nobody is confused or cares about the word craft, at least nobody I know. Why don’t we disregard any names people want to use and just drink the divine nectar? Is that not the point?
Matt, that’s sort of the crux of my argument here. There ARE quite a few people who care about craft (see up a few comments) on both sides of the fence. I think it’s as much a crutch as it is boon, as much a limitation as it is a negative label. Drink the beer because it’s good beer, not because it’s “craft” or otherwise.
Thanks for taking the time to read and comment.
Another advantage to taking out the “craft” is it removes one (kind of cheap) way in which A-B/InBev or others on the big beer side can try to compete with those other brands. For example, when creations like Shock Top or Blue Moon are marketed as “craft” when most of the educated beer drinker community knows the difference.
Nicely stated. As you know from my recent post, if we have to use it anywhere, I’d prefer it on the beer more than anything else, but I agree with your point that the adjective once served a grand and glorious purpose, which is no longer needed.
I’ll probably continue to use it in certain contexts where it is needed as a matter of point (and the fact that I’ve usually typed up to the ‘f’ before I think, “I don’t need that word here”. But I’m going to try to not make them the ‘q’ and the ‘u’ of the beer world in the future.
I think the issue is that “craft” does mean something and to remove it from our vernacular would inhibit that meaning. “Craft” doesn’t dictate mastery of a subject, simply immersion. I like “craft” brewers because they [we] are immersed in the art and science of brewing. When marketing begins to dictate what a “craft” brewer makes, are they still “craft” brewers? That is a pertinent question and leads to the problems of the industry defining what “craft” is. To me “craft” means you love what you do, strive to make it better, and contribute to your community (in general and in brewing). “Beer” comes close but does not adequately describe those criteria.