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Thread: What is Craft Beer

  1. #1
    I'll stay on me own
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    Default What is Craft Beer

    This might sound like a silly question but after reading about new Craft bars opening and Craft beers being available in the more trendy pubs,i thought what is a Craft Beer and also a Craft Bar.

    I always thought something that had Craft in the word was something home made or regarding beer beer that is brewed on a farm or in somebodys shed,well how wrong can i be having recently read about Anheuser-Busch brewing Craft beer,i thought this was the brewery that wanted to close a very old European brewery down because they did'nt like the name of their beer and i also though this was the largest brewery in the world so how can it brew Craft beer.

    I would welcome any thoughts on this subject.

  2. #2
    Pussy Galore No 1 Oggwyn Trench's Avatar
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    It does confuse me some what although thats not to hard these days

    As far as i know Craft beer is either cask ale brewed on a small scale , or the newer and popular in the USA version , brewed as a real ale then carbonated and put in a keg .

    I am sure there are people on here who know more about it .

    Hopefully try some in a few weeks time as the Fighting Cocks is having some as part of the RAT festival .
    Theres a Man with a Mullet going Mad with a Mallet in Millets !

  3. #3
    Old & Bitter oldboots's Avatar
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    Somebody best summed craft beers up as "beers I like made by breweries I like".


    Basically it means all things to all people or to paraphrase Lewis Carroll " it means exactly what I want it to mean". To me and many others it means precisely bugger all. I believe the term Craft Beer comes from the USA where it was coined to describe beer from brewers who make under a certain amount of beer a year (5 million hectoliters rings a bell), of course the definition was changed when one of the chosen brewers started making more than the limit. It is a favourite term with beer bloggers and trendy modern metrosexuals.

    A craft bar is usually a place that sells cold, fizzy, beers; often cloudy but always expensive; from smaller breweries, it will pretend these beers are in some way "better" than mainstream keg beers because they've been made with dedication or integrity or I guess "lurve". The bar will have a dreary stripped out look, with bare floorboards and walls, probably involving furniture sourced from a skip, it may sell beer in thick, handled mugs to .... well you can guess the rest. It may sell cask beer from micro brewers as well. Some are now jumping on the pork pie band wagon, "craft pies" I expect.

    Greene King uses the term "craft" in its publicity and one of the blogs had a picture of a beer menu from a bar listing Carling as a Craft Beer not long ago.

  4. #4
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  5. #5
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    It means good beer. The fact that some people think that Carling, John Smiths, Bud Light or Tetley's are good beer or that some people think carbonation means a bad beer is irrelevant.

    It is brewed by innovative brewers who don't think we have to drink beer that our grandfathers drank. Usually with a nod to the best brewers in America and Belgium. It is not xenophobic.

    Bars serving it are predominantly in the M62 belt or London.

    Sometimes but not always it can be more expensive - this is caused by better ingredients, place or means of dispense, more suitable glassware, better educated and trained bar-staff, etc.

    It does not run counter to Camra but is post-Camra. Some real ales are craft beer, some aren't, depending on if they are manufactured with care and innovation rather than just churned out.

    Craft: Magic Rock, Brewdog, Marble, Hardknott, the Huddersfield Grove, Port St Beer House, North Bar, Euston Tap, Friends of Ham.

    I know what craft means - that other people don't know or don't want to know, does not mean it has no meaning.

    Brewers calling their own beer "craft" is irrelevant, just as people calling themselves liberal or progressive means nothing.

    It's in the drinking!
    Last edited by Spinko; 29-08-2012 at 20:37.

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    I recently enjoyed a few pints in the Craft Beer Co. ,admittedly I stayed with the cask beers but good to see the range of beers available,a bit expensive depending on the ABV chosen but ok, a top pub in my view. Moved on to the The Old Red Cow and decided to bite the bullet and go craft,a pint of Thornbridge Jaipur IPA in keg form,it was cold,a bit fizzy, it was also quite good,but bloody hell £5.50 a pint,not quite so enjoyable.Craft, its an interesting development in beer,but beware the craft sharks.
    "Everybody's got to believe in something. I believe I'll have another beer."
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  7. #7
    Old & Bitter oldboots's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Spinko View Post
    It means good beer. The fact that some people think that Carling, John Smiths, Bud Light or Tetley's are good beer or that some people think carbonation means a bad beer is irrelevant.

    It is brewed by innovative brewers who don't think we have to drink beer that our grandfathers drank. Usually with a nod to the best brewers in America and Belgium. It is not xenophobic.

    Bars serving it are predominantly in the M62 belt or London.

    Sometimes but not always it can be more expensive - this is caused by better ingredients, place or means of dispense, more suitable glassware, better educated and trained bar-staff, etc.

    It does not run counter to Camra but is post-Camra. Some real ales are craft beer, some aren't, depending on if they are manufactured with care and innovation rather than just churned out.

    Craft: Magic Rock, Brewdog, Marble, Hardknott, the Huddersfield Grove, Port St Beer House, North Bar, Euston Tap, Friends of Ham.

    I know what craft means - that other people don't know or don't want to know, does not mean it has no meaning.

    Brewers calling their own beer "craft" is irrelevant, just as people calling themselves liberal or progressive means nothing.

    It's in the drinking!
    The Hatter opened his eyes very wide on hearing this; but all he said was, "Why is a raven like a writing-desk?"
    "Come, we shall have some fun now!" thought Alice. "I'm glad they've begun asking riddles. — I believe I can guess that," she added aloud.
    "Do you mean that you think you can find out the answer to it?" said the March Hare.
    "Exactly so," said Alice.
    "Then you should say what you mean," the March Hare went on.
    "I do," Alice hastily replied; "at least--at least I mean what I say--that's the same thing, you know."
    "Not the same thing a bit!" said the Hatter. "You might just as well say that 'I see what I eat' is the same thing as 'I eat what I see'!"
    "You might just as well say," added the March Hare, "that 'I like what I get' is the same thing as 'I get what I like'!"
    "You might just as well say," added the Dormouse, who seemed to be talking in his sleep, "that 'I breathe when I sleep' is the same thing as 'I sleep when I breathe'!"
    (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 7)
    Last edited by oldboots; 29-08-2012 at 22:36.

  8. #8
    This Space For Hire Aqualung's Avatar
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    The "Craft" label has and is becoming even more trendy, so expect it to be hijacked by the global corporate abominations and the larger regional brewers.

    As for keg, I don't know what The likes of the Craft pubs and Brewdog keg systems are, but the Brodie's HQ the King William in Leyton serves up to 11 of their beers on Keykeg, which I understand is the system so popular in America.

    I've now tried several of these and I can state that they are most definitely not gassy. They are too cold, but if the weather is quite hot then I don't really mind that. Most of them are between 6-12% ABV so it's unlikely you're going to want to down it in one. Some of them do turn up cloudy, but I put that down to the chilling, especially if they have been brewed with any wheat. As for the price, they are £3.20 a pint served in an oversized goblet so you very rarely get a short pint. The handpumped beers are £2.35 a pint.

    Sadly it seems that Hackney Red and Dalston Black are only going to be available in future on Keykeg, but I will still have my Friday afternoon treat starting on anything that catches my eye on the pumps and finishing with anything stronger that I like (Simcoe for Breakfast and Big Mofo Stout are favourites) on Keykeg.

    I've heard about the prices in the likes of The Craft pubs and the Camden BrewDog and to be honest I just wouldn't go there.
    Last edited by Aqualung; 29-08-2012 at 23:04. Reason: speling

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  10. #10
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    Keykeg:

    http://www.aswiftone.com/2011/05/key...elled.html?m=1

    Be sure to read richardb's comments after the main piece as he clears up some inaccuracies.
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