What is a craft beer?: Part I: Craft vs big beer acting like craft

My parents would say that I was raised better than to drink cheap beer, because life is too short to drink cooking beer. Now by cheap beer, I don't mean that I have to spend a lot of money per beer for it to be a beer worth drinking. Cheap beer for me is a beer that has no real flavor. The only reason to have a light beer is to simmer a bratwurst in, that's why I call it cooking beer. But what is craft beer?

According to the Brewer's Association, you have to define an American craft brewer who by default makes craft beer. Their definition is that a craft brewer must be:

• Small:
  • Annual production of 6 million barrels of beer or less.
    • This is equivalent to 12 million kegs or 42 million cases of beer.
• Independent:
  • Less than 25% of the craft brewery is owned or controlled by an alcoholic beverage industry member who is not themselves a craft brewer.
• Traditional:
  • Generally uses ingredients to improve and enhance the flavor of the beer rather than lighten it.

In my opinion, this definition is very restrictive and categorizes a lot of beer as not craft beer.

1. A craft beer shouldn't be restricted to who makes it. Craft beer is craft beer.
• The contention that a large company can't make a quality product is similar to saying the Beatles couldn't write quality songs at the height of stardom.
2. The definition only allows for a brewer to produce 6 million barrels. This is only 0.1% of US annual beer consumption.
• The US consumes 20.3 gallons of beer per capita!
• A successful brewer by this definitions is no longer a craft beer maker.
• This punishes brewers who strive to allow more people to enjoy their craft.
3. According to the Brewer's Association, a sometimes wise business move to fund a life's passion means you are no longer a craft brewer.
• My local craft brewery gets an amazing infusion of capital and is able to expand it's market share and without changing their product, they are magically no longer a quality craft brewer.
• My favorite local restaurant expands with multiple franchises, am I not supposed to like them any more?
• Boulevard, Goose Island, Leinenkugel's wouldn't be considered craft beers by this definition.

I recently saw this image floating around the internet and twitter. This poster makes the argument that the Big Beers (i.e. Anhesuer-Busch/InBev, MillerCoors) are trying to grab market share in the craft beer segment. These Big Beer Companies have a wide range of brands, most of which used to be independent brewers before being acquired. As you can see this poster paints these brands in a very negative light.

WRONG!

I will start off by agreeing with the idea that quality or traditional ingredients that enhance the flavor of a beer are paramount to a craft brewer. However past that I would have to disagree with the conclusions and generalizations made by this poster. Defining a brewer strictly on how much it can produce, where financial assets come from, and where the ownership tree happens to go is kind of a ridiculous standard. If you wanted to stick to 'craft beers' that followed this definition you would miss out on a lot of beer, and you would spend more time researching breweries, than drinking beer. Leave the research to me.

Morals of the story: 

1. Drink beer that tastes good to you. 
2. Try new beers.
3. Read this blog to find them! <<< VERY IMPORTANT MORAL!!

Part II: Artistry in a Glass