Friday, March 21, 2014

I think you should join the #beerchat Thursdays at 8pm CST

I was browsing Twitter last night when I found out about #beerchat as it was going on. I noticed this discussion from a few people on twitter just randomly posting opinions about beer last night around 8 pm CST with #beerchat in the tweet. This was just a bunch of people across the country even with some in other countries having good discussion about craft beer and the craft beer industry. This week's topic was:


This is an interesting topic because I wrote about who I think a craft beer expert looks like. I haven't written about who are beer drinkers. This discussion really opened my mind to ideas I haven't thought of before.



This question seems simple but in it's simplicity the question exposes the difference between what is a beer drinker and who should be a beer drinker. As L Allen points out, my first thought was not a black man nor was it a woman. Admittedly I am a middle class white man and just short of the "craft beer drinker" by a reluctance to grow a beard. The community has been defined by white men with gnarly beards, but it should be defined by a mixed group of people all smiling each with a different craft beer in hand.



Unfortunately, a woman who enjoys craft beer, let alone is knowledgeable about it, is still a pleasant surprise. The sad state of affairs is that a bartender or server at a restaurant is more often then not correct to offer a lighter or sweeter beer to a female who doesn't know exactly what she wants (no pun intended). Some would call this a "girly beer." However, I really liked on a recent brewery tour, where the female tour guide said that a "girly beer" to her was good imperial stout or really whatever is in her hand at the time. While it would make a single guys job harder when ordering a beer for the pretty woman across the bar, I would love for women to be as prevalent in the craft beer community as that beard guy.



I like Vanessa's sentiment in that everyone is welcome and I know I would raise a glass with anyone around. We all know there is a lack of racial diversity drinking craft beer. I have met a few great individuals of diverse backgrounds, but they are few and far between. I feel there is just a lack of exposure to these groups. So how can you become interested in something if you don't know it is an option?



Mr. Friendly is absolutely correct when he says "Variety is the spice of life"! And this is the most important reason why diversity would be of great value to the craft beer industry and the consumers of craft beer! From a business mind frame more people, means an increased demand, bigger markets, and more opportunity to share craft beer with those who have never been exposed to it. From an innovation standpoint we know that more people with diverse backgrounds and differing tastes would mean brewed beer changes, expanding styles and challenge preconceived notions. Most importantly, assuming the interest is great enough for craft beer to expand into areas that haven't had it before, increasing brewery's and brew pubs into the rural and urban markets can have a HUGE economic impact, maybe in the billions of dollars not to mention jobs. This would be great for those areas!



Right before I heard about #beerchat I was at a free beer tasting at a local liquor store provided by Nebraska Brewing Company and their distributors. This regular tasting featuring different brewers is a good way for me to find new beers and new brewers. This doesn't happen in some areas, I might be considered spoiled with that sort of thing. Sara is right. We need to be more accessible and call out snobery and encourage discussion. Craft beer, despite huge progress in gaining market share from big beer, there are still a vast majority of people that are stuck on the dark side of light beer. Some actions that need to happen are:

  1. Restaurants need to offer more craft beers on tap and combat AB/InBev and MolsonCoors dominance on the taps.
  2. People need to engage more on social media in an effort to remove stigmas on craft beer.
  3. Like Sara says, individually we need to stop using jargon or exclusive language.
  4. Industry and craft beer drinkers need to help others find transition beers regardless of who makes them.



The community around craft beer is very well connected and once you find a way in, people rush to share their passion for beer and a good time. Dan is right! Bars and Brew pubs are popping up all over the place and giving craft beer enthusiasts ever increasing quality options for craft beer.

Please find this group of people, every Thursday night 8 pm CST look for on Twitter the #beerchat and you could even follow @ActiveBeerGeek to find out more about these gatherings. Great discussion and you could even find new beers to try and make some friends while you are at it!
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)