Indie beer

[hash tag]

Good try, but will it sort out the confusion over what is and what is not craft beer?

Indie brewers ditch ‘craft beer’ tag as drinkers are ‘misled’ by global brands

Survey shows many consumers unaware that previously standalone businesses now owned by big corporations

www.theguardian.com

 

[Silas Loom]

Even indie music failed as a descriptor by the late 80s when the indie charts were full of Stock Aitken Waterman bubblegum pop.

 

[Callie]

I think if you care you know which ones have been bought out. If you don't care you won't know and changing a tag name won't matter.

 

[marty21]

I was aware of this - but does a 'craft beer' change taste if it is now brewed by megacorp? One of my favourite breweries is Dark Star - who started in Brighton - they've been sold a couple of times - to big brewers - when i buy it now (usually bottled as it doesn't seem to appear in many pubs any more) it tastes the same

 

[Callie]

I was aware of this - but does a 'craft beer' change taste if it is now brewed by megacorp? One of my favourite breweries is Dark Star - who started in Brighton - they've been sold a couple of times - to big brewers - when i buy it now (usually bottled as it doesn't seem to appear in many pubs any more) it tastes the same

Not necessarily. If they brew the same beer, same recipe, same facility I think it's unlikely to change. Unless they start changing supply lines for ingredients etc in the name of profit.

I think a lot of the 'buy outs' have been in the name of production expansion so more volume of the same product.

The joy of a lot of indie craft artisanal breweries is that they have their core beers but try out other stuff - which can be great or not so much. But that makes it interesting. I think a lot of the bigger corps wanted a 'craft beer' line in their portfolio to get that bit of the market. Probably helps them to push up the price of all their pints.

 

[marty21]

Not necessarily. If they brew the same beer, same recipe, same facility I think it's unlikely to change. Unless they start changing supply lines for ingredients etc in the name of profit.

I think a lot of the 'buy outs' have been in the name of production expansion so more volume of the same product.

The joy of a lot of indie craft artisanal breweries is that they have their core beers but try out other stuff - which can be great or not so much. But that makes it interesting. I think a lot of the bigger corps wanted a 'craft beer' line in their portfolio to get that bit of the market. Probably helps them to push up the price of all their pints.

Yup, I liked Beavertown when it first came out - but that was another one that expanded by accepting a takeover - and the price of Gamma Ray ,my favourite of their beer stable) is now £7.50+ in the nearest place that sells it (Royal Sovereign in Clapton) so I don't drink it anymore in pubs.

 

[hash tag]

Not craft or a micro brewery I know; Young's went right down hill when they got bought out by Charles Wells. The beer was never so nice afterwards and the pubs all became clones of each other, all serving pretty much the same food. The same goes for Fullers London Pride. It was never the same after they sold out.

 

[mx wcfc]

Dark Star used to be one of my favourite breweries.

It’s been destroyed by Asahi.

 

[marty21]

Dark Star used to be one of my favourite breweries.

It’s been destroyed by Asahi.

When it was independent, I used to see it in several local pubs regularly - It always cheers me up to see the APA or Revelation on tap (not that arsed about the Hophead which is probably their most popular) now I can get it in some supermarkets but never see it on the bar - I have pestered two local pubs to put it on - unsuccessfully so far

 

[marty21]

Not craft or a micro brewery I know; Young's went right down hill when they got bought out by Charles Wells. The beer was never so nice afterwards and the pubs all became clones of each other, all serving pretty much the same food. The same goes for Fullers London Pride. It was never the same after they sold out.

Talking of Youngs - I remember going to Young's pubs in the 90s and drinking Ramrod and Special - a bottle of Ramrod and a half of Special? I asked about it last night in my local (now owned by Youngs) and they'd never heard of it - is it still a thing?

 

[hash tag]

Talking of Youngs - I remember going to Young's pubs in the 90s and drinking Ramrod and Special - a bottle of Ramrod and a half of Special? I asked about it last night in my local (now owned by Youngs) and they'd never heard of it - is it still a thing?

No idea. But these days, I tend to avoid the likes of Young's, green king and fullers. For a choice of decent ale, spoons appear to have lost it. Of the chain pubs, Nicholson's can usually be relied upon for a decent ale. Of the larger brewers a go to would be Harveys or Tim Taylors.

 

[mx wcfc]

Talking of Youngs - I remember going to Young's pubs in the 90s and drinking Ramrod and Special - a bottle of Ramrod and a half of Special? I asked about it last night in my local (now owned by Youngs) and they'd never heard of it - is it still a thing?

I used to like a Ramrod. (Ooer, missus) but haven’t been in a Youngs pub for years.

Before my conversion to real ale, I used to drink half a lager and a bottle of Special Brew in one pub.

 

[two sheds]

used to love Young's Winter Warmer, not seen it for 40 years or so.

 

[mx wcfc]

A mate in the pub has just told me he paid £6.35 for a beer at a local brewery.

Two days later, he went into Wetherspoons (I know) and paid £2.60 for the same ale.

“Craft” “independent local” brewers are guilty of taking the piss sometimes.

I mean, drinking at a brewery tap is clearly a “premium” experience compared to Wetherspoons but…..

 

[hash tag]

I guess spoons can't partly cut costs because of low staff wages and overheads and also because of high turnover of ale. A good ale, once opened, needs to be drunk in a few days so a high price compensates on part of a barrel being wasted.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

Not necessarily. If they brew the same beer, same recipe, same facility I think it's unlikely to change. Unless they start changing supply lines for ingredients etc in the name of profit.

I'd agree with that (although I've no technical knowledge of the brewing process)

And keeping the water supply the same will probably make a difference - even with the same ingredients, fairly sure it will make a difference if you move a beer from one end of the country to the other.

The other thing that can happen when a beer becomes a 'national brand' is it can end up at pubs where the standards aren't up to keeping it properly - when whitbreads took over boddingtons, it was still (generally) a decent pint in a former boddingtons pub or one who knew what they were doing, but crap when it was in one that didn't know what they were doing with it or where they didn't clean the pipes out properly.

 

[Bus Honeygun]

A mate in the pub has just told me he paid £6.35 for a beer at a local brewery.

Two days later, he went into Wetherspoons (I know) and paid £2.60 for the same ale.

“Craft” “independent local” brewers are guilty of taking the piss sometimes.

I mean, drinking at a brewery tap is clearly a “premium” experience compared to Wetherspoons but…..

One of my pet annoyances.

Verdant produce some great beer, but it's always expensive and not much cheaper at their own tap. It's not made with gold and it's only come a couple of metres. How can it still be £6?

 

[UnderOpenSky]

One of my pet annoyances.

Verdant produce some great beer, but it's always expensive and not much cheaper at their own tap. It's not made with gold and it's only come a couple of metres. How can it still be £6?

I assume they don't have the economies of scale?

 

[hitmouse]

Isn't part of the problem that craft beer was a meaningless marketing term in the first place?

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Isn't part of the problem that craft beer was a meaningless marketing term in the first place?

I'm not sure. I think there's been a huge improvement in the quality of beer and it's availability, and I think "craft beer" has a lot to do with that. Even if it's not brewed by 1 person in his shed.