

How to Define “Craft Brewer”


I hope 2012 is going well for you all thus far. I spent what little free time I had at the end of 2011 reading the Walter Isaacson biography of Steve Jobs. You might ask, ”What the heck does that have to do with beer?” On the surface, not much, but bear with me a few moments.

The book necessarily contains a lot of information about Steve Jobs’ business and marketing philosophy. A recurring theme was devotion to his products. A control freak by nature, he agonized (and tortured others) over design details that most people would not even notice. While some might fault his obsessive-compulsive behavior, in this regard it helped Apple turn out some of the coolest designs ever seen in the world of consumer electronics. It also helped Apple become the most valuable company on the planet.

Apple floundered during the time that former Pepsi CEO John Sculley headed the company. Steve Jobs believed it was because of his lack of passion for the product. To Sculley, the product was simply a commodity. It didn’t matter what was being sold, be it fizzy liquid or personal computers, it was just about profit.

Perhaps that is what really separates a craft brewer from the rest of the brewing world. Rather than defining “craft brewer” by the volume produced each year, perhaps we should be looking at each brewery’s mission statement (and adherence to it).

It is obvious that industrial brewers and the people selling their brands view beer as a commodity. The beers are all pretty much the same style and are all pretty bland. These beers offend few and excite none. They vie with each other for market share by changing their ads rather than introducing exciting, new flavors to their customers.

Craft brewers care about beer. Go into any brewpub or craft brewery and ask the brewer a beer question. Unless s/he’s really busy, they’ll probably tell you more than you ever wanted to know about the topic. You might even wish you didn’t ask (I’ve seen that look on a number of people’s faces over the years), but you’ll probably be impressed by their passion for their product.

Not all small breweries meet this definition of “craft.” One that leaps to mind is Great Sex Brewing Company. They’re certainly small, but one look at their website (or just their name) shows how much they care about great beer. Some larger breweries, like Sierra Nevada, build market share by introducing new beers of consistently high quality. I don’t care how big they get, they will always be “craft” as long as they remain true to their mission.

George de Piro

4 Responses

  1. Patrick says:

    George, this is easily the most simple to understand and yet profoundly useful description of what makes “craft”.

    The use of your examples, particularly Jobs/Apple and Sierra Nevada, is perfect. They are both great examples of businesses and their leaders who put the product ahead of “marketing” and yet still have often done great marketing of their product.

    That is the catch 22 of marketing, are you marketing a product you are truly passionate about that you can look someone in the eye and say “This is Great”. Or rather are you simply trying to create a borderline illusion of a terrible product and essentially sell an idea vs a product. Too often in my line of work which is marketing, I find that we engage in the latter, attempting to modify the story of a pretty poor product or service.

  2. I think Anat Baron, creator of the “Beer Wars” movie said it best: macro breweries really aren’t breweries at all. They’re marketing agencies that sell only one product and the goal is to out-market the other guy.

    It’s nice to see macro sales taking a drop and craft beer sales surging. Of course, we have to put it in perspective because craft beer still only accounts for less than 10% of the entire market. Sam Adams only accounts for 1% and they’re the biggest.

    But the entire beer market is contracting, allegedly. I think it’s due to people giving up the fizzy yellow stuff, but too scared of flavor to give something as mainstream as Sam adams, Magic Hat or saranac a try. With new bars and new brewpubs opening all the time – it doesnt seem to make sense. How can the market be contracting as a whole when everyone wants to get in on it? Do you foresee a “craft beer bubble”? Is the market saturated?

  3. David says:

    Beer Nut,

    Would you happen to know anywhere in the Capital District that I can find Bell’s Two Hearted Ale? I am going to be visiting the Albany area in a couple of weeks and I am desperate to find some. It is soooo delicious.