Beer. Women. Sexism. Um. . . .

UPDATE: About two hours after writing this, I arrived at An Opinion About It: The core of the ad is so stunningly --- stupid. So banal. So "doh" --- that I have to wonder about the guy who owns the company. I've long said that where the Big Brewers went wrong was in their insistence on using sex, sexism, boobs, babes, bikinis to market beer to young men. The BB rarely, especially after about 1960, aimed for any other audience. So for a "craft" brewer (there's that word!) to do so just seems, well, dumb. Utterly lacking in imagination.  

And that's why, unlike my young friend who alerted me to this story, I was less outraged than baffled. Because, ya know, how could a business owner be so lacking in smarts and imagination?  

In any case, what follows below is what I originally wrote; my spur-of-the-moment response: 

In light of my recent full-bore rant about knee-jerk reactions and whining, this uproar about a Texas brewery's advertising is fascinating.

Having just learned of this, I'm not sure what I think but I was alerted to it (indirectly) by a smart young woman. And the fact that I don't have a knee-jerk reaction of my own (as I did to the situation that provoked the aforementioned rant) means, well --- hmm. This is complicated -- and in part by the response of the brewery owner. 

In any case: Read? Discuss? 

Get Over Thyselves. Please.

You know what I say? I say cheers, etc. to Coors (now MillerCoors in North America) and Blue Moon.  

Because the man is dead right: Blue Moon's been around longer than a whole lotta "craft" breweries. And like Jim Koch and Boston Beer Co., both Coors and Blue Moon have served as gateways to the world of craft beers.  Back in the 1980s, when the "real" brewers scoffed at the fledgling crafties, the people at Coors reached out and helped.

So get over your crafty selves, people. Get over. 

Craft Beer History --- Live and in 3-D

As many of you know, I wrote a history of beer in America, a project that deposited me smack dab in the middle of the craft brewing industry. The last two chapters of the book examine the late 20th-century beer renaissance known as craft brewing --- including a long section about the godfather-grandfather-guru of that moment: Jack McAuliffe. (Okay, one of the two 3-Gs, the other being Fritz Maytag; the book also covers his contribution.)

Jack's original beer, New Albion Ale, is once again available, courtesy of Jack's daughter, Renee DeLuca. You can learn more about her new enterprise in this story from Sean Scully of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. (Why that particular newspaper? It's in Sonoma County, home of many superb craft breweries, including one of the world's finest, Russian River Brewing Company. Among RRBC's claims to fame is that owners Natalie and Vinnie Cilurzo also own the original sign from Jack's original brewery, New Albion Brewing. It hangs above the bar.)

As I've told many reporters over the years, although I'm proud of the book, I am perhaps most proud that it enabled Jack to get the credit he's due as the (inadvertent) founder of today's craft brewing industry. And to see his beer return, well, okay! I can die happy.

And by the way: As Renee notes in the article, the beer will strike many geeks as simplistic. It is! It's a basic, delicious beer. No bells. No whistles. Simply a tribute to the art and craft of brewing.

Thanks to both Renee and Jack for adding a bit of 3-D history to history.

My Reign Has Ended (And On To the Next Chapter)

Since early 2007, I've been the American-beer-history, go-to person in the U.S. (And, for that matter, often abroad as well.) (*1) That wasn't my goal when I wrote the beer book. Rather, that was an unexpected but happy consequence. A payoff for my hard work and the years devoted to amassing knowledge.

My reign is over. Craft beer has a new historian, and I hereby hand my crown to him (and do so with good cheer). (*2)

Tom Acitelli is the author of The Audacity of Hops: The History of America's Craft Beer Revolution, a new book whose title describes its contents.

I loved the book. He did the topic justice. (*3)

From here on, a journalist looking for info about craft beer (which is more groovy than ever and certainly more so than when my book appeared in 2006) can turn to Tom for what he/she wants to know.

Tom, here's to you and the future of good beer and good writing and good history. It's all yours. (Don't fuck it up, okay?)

Having said that --- I'm slightly sad about the end of this part of my life. Slightly. Because, no surprise, I'm on to other stuff (and as some of you know, when I'm on the trail of new work, I'm jazzed). (*4)

If you will, please join me in applauding Tom and his accomplishment.

And now Tom: over to you. Godspeed.

______________

*1: No, I don't mean I'm the ONLY PERSON EVER that journalists have consulted on the subject of beer's American history. There are others. But I had a particular niche, and had it more or less to myself, and I did it justice. No apologies at my end. Indeed, I've crusaded and proselytized for craft beer's passion, ingenuity, and creativity since 2006. I'd like to think I converted a few skeptics in the world of reporting.

*2: Some of you may be thinking "What the fuck kind of egomaniac is she?" I assure you, and as those who know me will attest, egomania is the least of my flaws.

*3: My [possibly too glowing] review of it is in the new issue of All About Beer magazine. Alas, it's not available online. (But you could track down a copy of the magazine, right?)

*4: I believe that some of that "stuff" will be concerned with beer, or beer's recent history. But oooh, boy, I'm glad Tom's handled the heavy lifting for what I have in mind for my next long-form commentary on beer and history and so forth.