I'm not feeling this, some of the brewdog bottled beers I've had are among the best I've tasted.
I'm not criticising them really, certainly not for that. I agree with Will that their disagreement with CAMRA is just that, all they want to do is have a disagreement with CAMRA. At the recent CAMRA Manc beer fest there was a keg bar that did very well. No CAMRA complaints there.Marketing nonsense aside, I think most of their beers are meh to my tastes, but I like some stuff and wouldn't write them off simply for being them. Others seem more militant about it.
So hang on, we're saying the criticism of brewdog is that people don't like 100% of the beers they brew? Jeez, tough crowd.
Quote from: rossydoodle61 on March 02, 2016, 03:12:36 pmI'm not criticising them really, certainly not for that. I agree with Will that their disagreement with CAMRA is just that, all they want to do is have a disagreement with CAMRA. At the recent CAMRA Manc beer fest there was a keg bar that did very well. No CAMRA complaints there.Marketing nonsense aside, I think most of their beers are meh to my tastes, but I like some stuff and wouldn't write them off simply for being them. Others seem more militant about it.I'm not a fan of any of their beers that I've tried, they are not to my taste in the same vein that I don't understand what all the fuss is about with Thornbridge, I will drink Thornbridge if it's that or Carling but if I'm in the Bath hotel I'll always go for one of the guest ales. One of my favorite breweries is Woodfordes which to me is good beer.The term craft beer fills me with rage, it's fucking beer!! It's made the same way as beer produced by Inbev or Skinners or Coniston and the same way it has been done for hundreds of years! It's not even a defined style like a Belgian blonde or American IPA. It's like craft bakeries, you're making bread the same way as other bakeries and the same way bread has been made for thousands of years. If I grow a beard and start riding a fixie can I have craft sex?
The term craft beer fills me with rage, it's fucking beer!! It's made the same way as beer produced by Inbev
I've only ever had Woodfordes from a kit that someone made. I've never had the chance to try their beer on cask as I've never seen it on anywhere really, certainly not Manc way.
Inbev definitely don't make beer the same way as Brewdog or other "craft" breweries.
They probably use hop oils instead of whole hops but I'm sure some microbreweries are experimenting with them particularly in the copper, how else does the process differ?
Quote from: chris20 on March 02, 2016, 04:53:06 pmThey probably use hop oils instead of whole hops but I'm sure some microbreweries are experimenting with them particularly in the copper, how else does the process differ?Inbev do what is called "high gravity" brewing. To make the most of their tank size they brew a very strong beer and then water it down to the correct alcohol percentage, and then correct flavours with hop extracts and correct colour/malt character with malt extract. The new "Guiness Golden Ale" that's being promoted at the minute has been made for years, it's just guiness without a colour/malt correction at the end. An example from cider is strongbow and frosty jack's. They are made from the same source. Strongbow is just watered down a bit more with some tannins added to produce a bit more bite.Inbev will also recycle waste from lots of sources to reclaim the fermentable sugar to lower production costs. One of these sources is the dregs in the bottom of all the kegs and casks they receive back from pubs. They just pasturise it and use it again."Craft" breweries will do none of the above. Except maybe Camden now they've been sold.Also, when it comes to kegging, many smaller breweries will just use a filtration plant to remove the majority of the yeast. This means (contrary to what many people believe) keg beer from smaller breweries is still live. Inbev will use a high temp pasturisation.
Bearing in mind that these breweries are producing for a larger market and are thus not going to try and brew crazy tasting beer anyway, they want to brew beer (maybe deemed boring by some) that lots of people will drink - do these specific practices of reusing materials have a clearly demonstrable negative impact on the quality of the product?Because if not then surely the defining feature of a craft brewery is that it is inefficient?
they want to brew beer........that lots of people will drink
Because if not then surely the defining feature of a craft brewery is that it is inefficient?
Studies have shown that branding has more influence than the actual beer when it comes to people's perception of quality.
Quote from: Will Hunt on March 02, 2016, 06:37:49 pmthey want to brew beer........that lots of people will drinkYou've hit the nail on the head there. Most people don't give a shit what they drink as long as it's cheap and involved in some sort of sports sponsorship. Studies have shown that branding has more influence than the actual beer when it comes to people's perception of quality. In my opinion;Acorn barnsley bitter is better than John Smith'sPunk IPA is better than CarlingIlkley's Mary Jane is better than Greene King IPAI would argue that when it comes to producing mass market beer, you cannot dis-entangle efficiency and bland-ness of character as drivers of the end product. I think "craft", although slightly pretentious by design, gets a bad rep due to it's association with hipster-dom.
However despite a brewery like Sierra Nevada being huge (Brewdog in 2015 was still less than 7% the size of SN) they still produce exceptional and consistent beer.
The key to Brewdog's success is in their marketing and timing. They explicitly tell their customers that if they don't like the beer then its because they're Tennent's Super swilling idiots. They play up their disagreements with CAMRA because it makes them look edgy and anti-establishment.This at a time when trendy urban bars are rammed to the rafters with bearded Nathan Barleys who would drink anti-freeze and muse about the quartzy aftertaste and undertones of slaw if they saw that cool guy with the rad beard doing likewise.Personally, I do like the Punk IPA but find a lot of the other stuff, and in fact quite a few other over-hopped horrors from different breweries, to be utterly undrinkable.It could be five years, it could be fifteen years, but the craft beer fashion will blow over and at that point Brewdog will have to change or shrink significantly.
Inbev do what is called "high gravity" brewing. To make the most of their tank size they brew a very strong beer and then water it down to the correct alcohol percentage, and then correct flavours with hop extracts and correct colour/malt character with malt extract.
Ilkley do a lemongrass and ginger saison. The craft line is pretty blurred these days. When considering competitiveness of smaller breweries it is worth remembering that duty paid on beer is relative to production volume. Therefore smaller breweries can use more expensive ingredients without passing on that cost to customers/landlords.When it comes to "craft" as a definition, i just find people use it as a shorthand to insult hipsters. If the beer is good, its good.