Why Drink Craft Beer? Drink Local To Be Sustainable

Continuing my series on why people drink craft beer it is time to discuss the environmental impacts of beer.  This was one of the two comments people have left me as to why they drink craft beer.  Let me start by saying this topic really shouldn't be done in one post.  Today I will give a brief overview of the environmental impact of drinking local.  Come back next Monday for an overview some sustainable practices.  This topic may stretch out into a few weeks.

The Environmental Side of Drinking Local
Shipping beer drastically increases the carbon footprint and the environmental impact.  Water is heavy so the closer the ingredients get to the consumer before adding water the better.  However, even deeper you could look for local breweries with locally sourced ingredients.  I recently spoke with a brewer who made his first organic beer.  He had to import the hops from Germany in order to meet the organic requirement.  He and I pondered whether there was any benefit to buying organic as the shipping more than likely cancelled out the benefit.

Additionally, there are local breweries that are not actually local.  An excellent example of this is Kona Brewing on Hawaii's big Island.  Kona brews on the island for draft only.  So any bottles consumed on the island are actually made on the mainland and shipped over.  So in reality you are not drinking a local beer if you are buying six packs of Kona in Hawaii.  I learned this fact on a tour of their Kona facility and it bothered me, because I felt many people on the islands where buying the "local beer."

Unfortunately not all brewers readily identify where their ingredients come from or even where they are brewed.  We as a craft community need to push brewers to give us the information we need to be informed consumers.

Why People Drink Craft Beer Part 1: Taste

This is the first of Tough Topic Mondays.  Come back each Monday for a deeper conversation on beer.

At the end of last week I wrote on why MillerCoors may be making craft beer.  MASGLBC wrote in that he (or she) drinks for the taste of it.  This I think just might be the main reason why people drink craft beer.  Regardless, taste is still pretty important, because if it tastes like crap why bother.  Years ago there used to be a great number of brewers and brewpubs.  Over time the industry consolidated and focused on just one type of beer.  Yes, I am pointing to Miller, Coors, Bud, and their light versions.  Most of the other breweries were wiped out by big advertising budgets of the big three and a pesky thing known as Prohibition.  The taste of beer became generic, homogeneous, and watery.

There still remained a few regional outfits that produced some, higher quality beer like D.G. Yuengling & Son.  However, most of the beer still lager and quality ales were nonexistent.  Ironic considering most craft brewers I know feel ales are easier to produce.

A slow revolution happened.  In 1984 Anchor brewed the first wheat beer since prohibition and England had the Campaign for Real Ale start in 1971.  Slowly very slowly things change.  In some cases laws had to be changed to even allow brewing.  A demand for beer with taste grew and today we have a diverse wealth of styles, and many that brewers just invent on the spot.

It is amazing at how taste can influence a brewery.  One brewpub I used to frequent constantly I now avoid.  Why? A new brewer came in with new recipes and put his twist on everything.  Even Old Style stopped krausening their beer causing a huge drop in sales.  This led to the eventual reintroduction of the process last year to invigorate sales.

Taste is the singe most important factor in beer.  Come back next week for an examination of how environmental factors influence people to drink craft beer.

MillerCoors May Be A Craft Brewer Depending on You

So this week MillerCoors announced the name and plans of a new business unit "Tenth and Blake Beer Company."  The goal of this new unit is to make craft brews and import similar quality beers from around the world.  Some blogs and twitter feeds have been scolding, some have rejoiced.  Personally, I will wait and see.

Many of the new comers to craft beer come by way of Blue Moon a not always acknowledged unit of Coors, and similarly Leinenkugel has been a unit of Miller for years.  Whether you should rejoice, be upset or indifferent depends on the reason YOU drink craft beer.  Yes I said you and your reason.

Most people fail to understand that people come to craft beer for a variety of reasons. Here is a short list in no real order:

• Taste
• Environmental
• Support Local Business
• Support Small Business

This is a short list, and in reality there are likely others and many subcategories with a massive influence on the market.  Interestingly enough, I know more than one person who jumped on the bandwagon condemning this.  However, this month Pyramid/Magic Hat is now owned by the people who sell Labatt and Kona joined a national conglomerate.  Were these mergers good bad or indifferent?

Over the next several weeks come back and see how I explore each of these issues, and their implications in Craft Beer.  Look for the "Why Craft?" label.

Also if someone has a reason they are drinking craft beer let me know in the comments.