Pete’s post this morning had me wondering a bit about what exactly the hell is going on in the UK with beer bloggers. Consider this:
I’m not the first beer writer to brew at Otley – not by any means. I would have been higher up the list if I’d got my shit together when they first invited me to brew, but since then Melissa Cole, Adrian Tierney-Jones and Roger Protz have all been asked to come down and get their hands dirty – Glyn from the Rake, AKA @RabidBarFly, was here before any of us – his Motley Brew has become a regular addition to the range… I’ve been asked to brew before – several times. But on most of those occasions ‘brewing’ meant I dug out the mash tun and basically got in the way. The notable exception would, of course, be Avery Brown Dredge – and my write up of that experience is long overdue – but Zak and Mark had much more to do with both the recipe design and the labour than I did. Like our ABD experience, Otley ask writers to get stuck in.
We’ve had a long and thankfully dormant discussion about propriety and beer writing and I am not wanting to go there again… at least not directly. But it is interesting to observe an apparent difference in the marketplace of ideas. UK beer bloggers seem to have become writers and organizers and collaborators and consultants while North American bloggers were originally beer writers or have been and will always be mainly consumers. The CAMRA and festival effect is undeniable, giving venue at all levels for the aspiring to go from digital to ink on paper as well as a great opportunity to be a useful guide for hire. Nothing wrong with these things as they are all about education… except they are also starting to seem to be about the educator as much as the lesson.
Beer thinking has often suffered from a few controlling voices which, as Ron’s work has pretty much proven conclusively, had it pretty much all wrong. While having a fun day is great and making a buck from skill even greater, is there an issue with associating name with someone else’s product under the guise of collaboration, an issue with getting too close to the brewer? Consider if some brewery years ago had obtained the rights to make Jackson’s Stout or Protz’s Pale Ale. Would the marketplace be different from that stamp of authority? Would beer writing and thinking not be lessened? Don’t we all have enough examples on our book shelves displaying rushed claims to expertise?
No, beer has an egalitarian quality and, I would argue, inherently encourages it. And by inherently I mean inherently. Say what you like about Protz – and God knows I do – the focus on the commonality of the wonder of good beer may be his real gift to us all. Beer is in itself egalitarian because it is a leveler, not only because of sociability but due to its incredible complexities. Brewer’s yeast sets a very high standard for those who seek to understand its ways, a standard that exposes those who claim achievement as opposed to become its student. For me, Oregon appears to be my preferred model. So much good brewing and so much good thinking for so many years that no one really could really suggest they stand above the others without be cut down or, more likely, laughed back into their chair to share in the next round. This may create a conundrum for those with interest and opportunity in telling the story. I don’t deny it. There’re pitfalls a plenty for the unwary – and Pete and those he mentions are among the best. Yet those trip ups are out there. It is in the nature of beer. Look, I’m just telling you what it’s telling me. It’s in the nature of beer.
[Original comments…]
The Beer Nut – April 19, 2011 10:06 AM
http://thebeernut.blogspot.com
I think personalisation is good for what I’ll call the craft beer movement, lacking a better term. Its human face is one of the things that craft beer has going for it: drinkers can relate to it in a way they don’t relate to big-brand products. Put the names of people whose bylines appear in the beer pages and on the beer bookshelves on the beer labels and customers will follow them.
I don’t think supposed authority has anything to do with it. And the UK is a long way from having any celebrity superstar beer writers at risk of being corrupted by unscrupulous microbreweries.
Alan – April 19, 2011 10:25 AM
Slippery slope alert! Slippery slope alert!!! That way leads to higher prices without any added value.
[PS – I am off to cross the border to NY state just now to, on one hand, buy good beer at good prices at a small town grocery store without any “personage” in view and, on the other, discuss some sort of beer related fund raising event for a public radio station I support… and which they suggest I host. Colour me hypocrite all you want. I just need to know where one’s feet should stand and no one is smarter than the collective readership.]
The Beer Nut – April 19, 2011 10:54 AM
http://thebeernut.blogspot.com
Why do you think that’s what lies there? This is the UK, remember, where craft beer generally costs less than mass-market.
And yes there is a campaign to change that — and rightly so, IMO. But there’s a serious value imbalance to be addressed already. If there’s slipperiness it’s because the ground is levelling; it’s far from being a slope.
Tandleman – April 19, 2011 3:49 PM
http://tandlemanbeerblog.blogspot.com
Why do you think that’s what lies there? This is the UK, remember, where craft beer generally costs less than mass-market.
Does it? News to me.
Jeff Alworth – April 19, 2011 4:19 PM
http://beervana.blogspot.com/
For me, Oregon appears to be my preferred model.
Make sure, if you ever pass through these parts, to give me a heads-up. I’ll buy you a pint and try to appear humble.
FWIW, there’s a local brewery here called Hair of the Dog. It was founded in 1994, and their third beer, released in ’96 (ish), was called Fred, for Fred Eckhardt. Mostly, brewer Alan Sprints sticks to four-letter first names (Adam, Rose, Greg, Ruth, Fred), but he violates irregularly, as in Doggie Claws and Blue Dot. The one time he violated it for a first name was when he called his Flemish Red Michael, after Jackson. (“Mike” apparently too irreverent.)
I’m prepared to lose all credibility, declare victory, and retire if he ever calls a beer “Jeff.”
Zak – April 19, 2011 6:13 PM
http://thebeerboy.blogspot.com
“Celebrities” – oh, purlease!
Personally, I don’t think too hard about it. I’ll happily brew with whoever for fun (there’s no money in those collabs, obviously), write or talk about whatever I want to write or talk about (sometimes getting paid, but never writing or talking just for money, or getting paid to say something I don’t believe), and sell beer to make up the shortfall in income that the other two inevitably leave.
If people perceive me as having a bias as a result of any of this, well, I’m sorry. But not sorry enough to stop doing any of it.
Alan – April 19, 2011 8:50 PM
I would like to explain that I don’t write the headlines. I can’t but I would like to. The post drifted and then I was out the door. I thought the text was clear that it was not a bias discussion even if it was about this singular UK thing.
But what’s with the “obviously”? Why no money with the collaborations? I take it the label designer wasn’t an unpaid volunteer. And drinkers paid for the product. You know, I blog politically elsewhere and, as in the past, blogged during elections for media outlets. For pay. This year? Offers but it was apparently “citizen” bloggers this time so no $$. I declined the offer-like thing. I have mouths to feed so have declined offers to brew for the benefits of all but me, too.
Jeff, I can’t believe that you forget the entire Hair of the Dog drama of 2006: http://beerblog.genx40.com/archive/2006/december/hairofthedoga. Had the last one the other day. The yeast held on to the very last cap. Starting to think that yeast is quite tenacious.
The Beer Nut – April 20, 2011 6:30 AM
http://thebeernut.blogspot.com
Tandleman: Cask Report 2010-11, p.11.
Alan – April 20, 2011 9:29 AM
That is a good observation, BN, but I will never understand the lesson you draw, that craft brewers need more money for their product. We have an economy milk marketing boards, wheat pools and strict fishing licenses each of which systems give the holders economic rights no other sectors enjoy. As you can imagine, innovation is stifled, prices are set quite high and alternatives are sought. I buy my cheese in another country as much as possible and were some false floor introduced into the economics of craft beer pricing, I would act likewise. Well, I suppose I did yesterday when I bought a six of this for $7.99.
Tandleman – April 20, 2011 12:45 PM
http://tandlemanbeerblog.blogspot.com
No access to that. Define craft beer or even better cask craft beer. Or both. I tend to think of craft beer in the context of fancy bottles and kegs.
Zak – April 21, 2011 2:56 AM
http://thebeerboy.blogspot.com
Maybe money isn’t discussed because the tacit acknowledgement is that it will be turning us guest brewers into superstars?
The Beer Nut – April 21, 2011 6:37 AM
http://thebeernut.blogspot.com
Alan, no I’m not talking about a false floor or the adjustment of prices by anything other than the market. But I do believe that if craft brewers made more money at what they did, there would be more craft brewers out there. And that would be a win for me, the drinker. Plus, there’s plenty of room for value-brand craft beer too: one of our breweries does a great one, alongside the “premium” craft products.
Tandleman, at its most simple, craft beer is beer made by small breweries. Most of the British beer produced by small breweries is cask. Most of the beer produced by large breweries is keg. Cask is generally cheaper than keg. Ergo, in Britain, craft beer is usually cheaper than macro.
Tandleman – April 21, 2011 10:09 AM
http://tandlemanbeerblog.blogspot.com
BN. Well that’s one way of looking at it but not what is the usual perception. Nor would you be comparing under your method like with like, even allowing for your definition to be a reasonable one.
Alan – April 21, 2011 10:44 AM
BN, I just spent a half hour reviewing a US wholesalers price lists to advise a retailer. It’s a little thing I do for nothing as I then go shop there myself. And I have to say I am looking for price point rather than supporting a wide variety. Frankly, I think there are enough craft brewers at least in the US. National mega crafts like Dogfish and Stone are even retracting in some markets as there is too much choice leading to less marginal opportunity. They may well be squeezing out local brewers but at least in NE US and Canada I don’t see it. If anything, there is too much stupid beer out there. One can’t keep up with the nonsensically strong anniversary ales, the stunned faux historicalish brews and whatever gets this year’s fad ingredient. A win for me is a heavy (but not insane) selection of well priced (but not jacked up) well made beers.
Zak, I really should have used “generate” rather than “create” in the headline as I think it’s more of an innate thing happening. But if you are worth putting on the label you are worth being paid.
The Beer Nut – April 21, 2011 11:48 AM
http://thebeernut.blogspot.com
Not sure why I’d want to be comparing like with like, Tandleman. I’m comparing two very different products: beer from mega industrials (your Coorses and your InBevs) with beer from small breweries (your Hornbeams and your Greenfields and countless others around the country). Isn’t a pint from the former generally dearer than a pint from the latter? That’s the impression I got from the Cask Report.
Alan, yes it’s a different arrangement in the US I’m sure. But you don’t need me to point out that the beer culture in the UK is different, and in the UK craft beer is very often sold at a price which belies the effort and skill that went into producing it.
Jeff Alworth – April 21, 2011 2:18 PM
http://beervana.blogspot.com/
Jeff, I can’t believe that you forget…
Alan, if you knew me a little better, you could believe it. Sometimes I wake up in the morning and ask my wife, “do I know you, pretty lady?” Okay, it’s not that bad, but my memory is shockingly bad. When you’re as prone to error and typo as I, that’s not always a bad thing.
Tandleman – April 21, 2011 3:55 PM
http://tandlemanbeerblog.blogspot.com
BN. I really don’t know. Like all beer it depends on where you drink it and this discussion depends on context, so I’m going to leave it as I think I’m getting a bit lost in it.
Get the new personalities to answer. See what they’re made of. (-;
Alan – April 21, 2011 4:04 PM
I love that: “the new personalities.” Sounds like a bad 1960s folk trio.
The Beer Nut – April 21, 2011 8:09 PM
http://thebeernut.blogspot.com
Well one of the celebs wrote the Cask Report that I’m drawing my hypothesis from.