The Craft Brewers Conference (CBC) was held this week and along with it, the World Beer Cup. The winners of the World Beer Cup are posted here. One concern at this year’s conference was the perceived threat to the craft brew industry from small breweries producing low-quality beer. Paul Gatza of the Brewers Association urged brewers to improve. (See also this blog.) To me, this brought up some interesting questions. Are bad breweries — and they’re out there, no doubt — really dragging the whole industry down? Or are they irrelevant? In the ’60s — when Hendrix, The Who, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and the Kinks were at the top of their game — was music threatened by the (many) silly bands that also existed?
Stupid Beer Post
If you were on social media last week, you probably saw an article warning of the supposed dangers of certain beers. There were actually a couple different ones, and they both simply rehashed info from the stupid “Food Babe” article we made fun of last year. If you did see these posts, hopefully you also saw Maureen Ogle’s response. This was posted the last time around, but is worth reposting when “dumbassery,” as she so accurately puts it, resurfaces. On a side note, as an aficionado of crackpot science, I have to say that this article on microwave ovens is the “Food Babe’s” crowning achievement in scientific illiteracy. [Also, to keep veering of course deeper into this tangent, the site Rational Wiki is a great compiler of all sorts of “woo” (pseudoscientific nonsense), as they put it, and the scientific response.]
Also, what’s so bad about isinglass? As this Newsweek article points out, it has some positive characteristics beyond being a capable fining agent. (The author does seem to give the impression that all breweries use it, which isn’t the case.)
Miscellaneous
Scientists continue to learn more about the origins of lager yeast. The LA Times explains skunky beer. Some guy doesn’t like session IPAs. German glass maker Spieglau introduces a glass designed for stouts.
Funny
Last week, I forgot to post two funny April Fools videos. Both Sam Adams and Stone hit on the idea of joking about a heliumated beer. (If you’re wondering why no brewery has done this for real, this might help.)
Also last week, the Schafley Brewery put out a funny video relating to their recent legal battle.
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I don’t think that poor brewers are bringing the industry down. Most if not all brewpubs and breweries that I thought produced below average beer have improved. And I seem to notice that poor brewers get replaced with better ones. Often times, the poor brewer “moves up” the chain into a marketing or management role (hooray!). It also seems that there is so much cooperation among brewers around the country (and the world), that they are sharing ideas, yeast and more so they can all produce good if not outstanding beer. I will admit that I am a pretty forgiving homebrew and drinker and a beer has to be pretty bad or boring for me not to drink it (and yes I have had a couple of absolutely terrible beers). As Peter Bouckaert of New Belgium says, “A beer is 10 minutes of pleasure”. I always try to remember that. Another obstacle to remember for a brewery or brewpub is they often times have to use the same yeast for all their beers. You do need to turn some sort of profit or what is the point? Thanks to all the pro brewers out there who work very hard and often times make very little money.