"Good" Craft Brewers v. "Bad" Craft Brewers? Real v. Not-Real?

I've long been fascinated by the way craft beer "insiders" (aka beer geeks) perceive their perceived "enemy": Mainstream Beer. Logic and reason seem to fly out the brain's window when fans of craft beer contemplate who ought to be allowed into the craft beer club and who ought not. (A point I contemplated at length in the last chapter of my book Ambitious Brew: The Story of American Beer.)

A prime example is a fascinating blog entry just posted by the ever-contrarian Andy Crouch -- a followup to a blog entry he wrote a week or so ago.

This is all apropos of another example of the illogic of the beer geeks: The desire of some of them to oust "foreign" beers from the Great American Beer Festival.

The GABF is just what the name implies: a festival devoted to American beer. Last year, there was rumbling that Anheuser-Busch, MillerCoors, and Leinenkugel all ought to be booted from the festival because  they're "foreign owned." (Leinenkugel is owned by SABMiller.)

What I wondered at the time was: Do critics want to go that road? Because that would also mean booting Mendocino Brewing Company, one of the oldest craft brewers in the United States. It's been foreign-owned since the late 1990s. That, by the way, is not a criticism of Mendocino's original owners; in the late 1990s they faced a choice: sell or go under. They opted to sell --- to save the company --- and to continue to make great beer.

Of course the more interesting question is this: How many people who drink Mendocino know that it's no longer wholly-American-owned?

More to the point, if they did know, would they suddenly decide that the beer is undrinkable? Hard to know. Worth pondering. (And if you're up for more beer-related ruminations, check out Stan's latest blog entry, in which he asks people to comment on "extreme beers.")

You Want to Support An “Indie” Artist? Here’s Your Chance

The internet is full of chatter about supporting independent entrepreneurs. About “buying local.” About supporting self-published writers and indie films that flout Hollywood. About supporting open-source software.

You get my drift.

Time to put your money where your mouth is. I’ve mentioned Beer Wars here several times -- and to repeat the full disclosure: yes, I’m in the film. Yes, I’m friends with Anat Baron, who financed, produced, and directed the film.

But even if that were not the case, I’d still say: Support this film. Buy a ticket. See it on April 16.

Why? Because this documentary is the work of an independent film maker. There are no big names, and definitely no Big Bucks, involved. This film came straight out of Anat’s desire to tell a specific story.

No, not a story about Big Beer versus Pure Beer, as many people seem to think. Rather, she wanted to explore a larger, more universal matter: the nature of personal vision, ambition, and entrepreneurship.

Because Beer Wars isn’t about beer. She only used “beer” as a lens through which to document what happens when ordinary people pursue their dreams. As a result, it’s a film about both success and failure. (This is not a totally-happy-ending film.)

I’ve heard lots of chatter in the beer blogosphere from people who don’t want to see the movie. They object to Ben Stein as moderator of the live panel discussion that will follow the film. Fine. Leave when the film ends.

Some say they won’t bother to see it because the story of  Big Brewers versus Small Brewers is Old News. To which I say: it’s only “old news” if you’re ensconced in the beer world. But most Americans are not part of the beer world.

Finally, the beer-geek critics complain that the world keeps ignoring Craft Beer. They’re frustrated that 97% of Americans still drink Big Beer rather than local craft beer. But when someone tries to tell a story centered on craft beer, well, see the critiques above. Ain’t no pleasin’ some people.

But I hope you'll see the film for another, more personal reason. I'm a writer, and I know how hard it is to create something from nothing. To have an idea and pursue it from vision to printed page. Making movies, I've learned, is exactly like writing books: It requires self-discipline and dedication. It requires thousands of hours of work, oceans of blood, sweat, tears, and an infinite capacity for frustration, depression, and despair.

In short, making movies, like writing books, brewing beer, editing Wikipedia, or creating open-source softeware, demands personal passion.

It's hard for me to find words to express how much I admire Anat for her devotion to this project. She's spent three years of her life, and a whole lotta money, pursuing her vision, creating something from nothing.

So I hope you'll support an indie artist and her work. Beer Wars. April 16. In a theater near you. (And if it’s not in a theater near you, don’t blame Anat. The event will be beamed via satellite, and not every American movie theater is “wired” for satellite.)

Another BSG-Related Piece

This in today's New York Times. Judging by the headline and photo, it's BSG-related. But again, I did not actually read it because I'm afraid it might include spoilers. But if you've already seen the end of the series, have at it. Just don't tell me anything, please!

Six episodes to go.

Inaugurating the New Site With A Photo

I had great intentions of launching this new site with something "new" -- namely, adding a photograph to a post, which was something I could not do at my old blog.

In fact, I couldn't do much of anything at the old site. I had nearly zero control over the contents, and that ancient version of Moveable Type was hard to work with. (Not complaining, mind you, because every new technology moves through generations and changes with each. Think Kindle.)

Anyway, I'd planned to include a photo in the first post, but obviously that didn't happen. (Because dealing with hundreds and hundreds of dead links.)

But now? Well, why not? So apropos of absolutely nothing except that now I can do things like this, here's a photo taken two weeks ago while I was speaking at an event at Living History Farms in Des Moines.

Yes, I often look this manic when I'm speaking to a group.

Thanks to my pal Ginger Johnson.

The Alan and Andy Contrarian Show

There are few things I enjoy more than a solid contrarian. (*1)

Two of my favorite such animals are Alan McLeod at The Good Beer Blog and Andy Crouch at The Beer Scribe. I've never met either of them; wouldn't know them if they walked in the door and smacked me over the head, but they enjoy high ranking on my List of Favorite People.

Recent evidence at hand: Apparently there's some controversy raging in the beer world about beer "styles." Alan weighed in here with a dollop of common sense.

Andy weighs in on a different matter when he questions the craft brewing party line about who is and isn't a "craft" brewer.

(While you're there, read his previous post about the blog "love fest" surrounding the upcoming Beer Wars film.) (Again, full disclosure: I'm in that film and will be at the live panel that follows the April 16 debut.)

Contrarians. You gotta love 'em.

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*1: Never mind the dictionary definition. Mine is that a contrarian is one who, while all around her others are drifting with the tide or furiously swimming against it, stops, treads water, and says "Hey, folks, before you're all hurled to shore or drowned, why don't we stop, ponder the situation, and apply some common sense and logic." Or words to that effect.

Your National Economic Crisis in Action

Jeremiah McWilliams explains why Lager Heads will go "dark" for a few days.