Is this the end of craft beer?
Initially, a craft brewer was defined as small, independent and traditional (i.e., no adjuncts to cheapen the product). But since adjuncts are as traditional as any ingredient, out the window it went. Small also changed (increasing from an annual production of 2 million barrels to 6), but on’t worry; beer ain’t going anywhere. Neither is independence did not. To be a certified small and local, but craft beer — as a whole and craft: no more than 25% of the brewery can be owned “by a as a movement — could be nearing its conclusion. beverage alcohol industry member which is not itself a craft The Boulder-based Brewers Association (BA), brewer,” sayeth the BA. the non-profit trade group representing small and The BA planted its flag on that percentage, excommuniindependent breweries, announced another round of layoffs cating breweries that sell to bigger breweries and branding — 17% of its staff, or nine positions — on June 26. This the faithful with a seal: An upside-down beer bottle with the round adds to April’s initial 23% staff reduction, both motiword “independent” written inside. vated by the loss of revenue generatHerz was by far the most promiBREWERS ASSOCIATION ed from annual BA events (Great nent face of the campaign when the American Beer Festival, Craft seal launched in 2017. According to Brewers Conference, Homebrew the BA, 5,000 breweries adopted the Con, etc.). According to the BA’s seal, many of them because of Herz’s 2019 stewardship report, those tireless campaign and ceaseless eduevents accounted for 58% of its cation. annual revenue. The seal works: It provides trans“The Brewers Association’s fortune parency when it comes to ownership mirrors the fortunes of the American (though a craft brewer need not list all craft beer community,” president Bob its private investors). And, as was eviPease wrote in a press release dent with the hubbub about SoulCycle announcing the layoffs. True, but so is in August 2019, ownership matters a the inverse, and if the craft brewing lot to customers. movement manages to make it out of At least it does in a healthy busiCOVID alive, it’ll have to do so without ness environment. But in a pandemic? the BA’s program director of craft beer Thanks to economies of scale, bigger and the movement’s biggest champibreweries can provide better price on: Julia Herz. points than smaller breweries. And Craft beer. Herz spoke the two what moves more units: a seal certifywords as if they were one. As if no ing independence or a lower price? beer existed beyond craft beer. For The two need not be mutually exclusmall and independent brewers, it sive, but they often are. sounded like a call to arms. For the brewers who built the With no end in sight for this virus, it’s possible that where industry before selling up, her emphasis on the modifier must we’re at now, we can’t even imagine what the bottom will be have sounded like a serrated knife cutting through galvanized like. With a BA chopped at the knees, education, enthusiasm steel. and advocacy for craft beer is bound to diminish. And the allAs Westword’s Jonathan Shikes reports, when Herz start- important “craft” designation is bound to erode until it’s as ed in 2010, there were 1,800 U.S. breweries. Today, the num- diluted as the thin mass-market lagers it bucked against in ber is almost five times that. What’s more, a lot has changed the first place. The beer you will always have with you. What in those 10 years, especially the definition of craft beer. we call it is a different story.
Another round of layoffs at the Brewers Association
by Michael J. Casey
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Missing the old days? Read ‘Denver Beer’
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estword’s Jonathan Shikes is one of the best beer writers in the Centennial State — if not the best — and his new book Denver Beer: A History of Mile High Brewing is a must. But don’t let the title deceive you; Shikes’ history of modern-day brewing extends well beyond the Mile High City. From Charlie Papazian and the birth of the Great American Beer Festival to the groundbreaking work of Boulder Beer Co., there’s plenty of Boulder brewing history to discover. Shikes also incorporates the innovations and advancements of Ska Brewing and Oskar Blues Brewery to illustrate further how we got here. But the book’s heart and soul rest in Denver’s Tivoli Brewing, which, coincidentally, closed the year Shikes was born. Metaphorically, Tivoli is back in business, and Shikes is still breaking brewing news along the Front Range. Pick up a copy at arcadiapublishing.com or wherever books are sold.
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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE
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JULY 2, 2020
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