As this is my first post I will keep it short & sweet, I want to try and set the tone for the kind of things you'll find on my blog, I will attempt to chronicle the goings on in the world of craft beer.
As a beer blog reader you will probably be well aware of the kind of transition the beer world is going through from the huge volume downturn from the multi-national conglomerates and the huge explosion of the Craft Beer movement all over the world.
We are in very important & exciting times in our embryonic industry what happens in the coming decade or so will lay the foundations & framework for the future proliferation of Craft Beer worldwide.
The craft scene in the UK, US & mainland Europe is already diverse & wonderfully complex leading the the very thing that is driving this amazing phenomena: variety & choice!
The sheer number of styles and strengths of beers appearing the world-over have really given the consumer a never ending stream of new exciting beers to get to grips with & most importantly availability has exploded, this must surely be a product of the simple forces of supply & demand through a plethora of beer retailers both on-line & shops like the fantastic Beer-Ritz at Headingley in Leeds. The customer is now demanding more choice than ever before, the very word 'choice' must be the buzzword of our burgeoning industry right now.
No-ones beer holding need ever be dictated by large volumes of unremarkable ubiquity again, flavour & availability are now in the driving seat, I foresee years & years of enlightening the masses to come, you may have experienced it yourself, the moment a friend tries one of your beers and their eyes widen & glaze over as they hand you back the glass whilst savoring the flavours & utter the very words that are music to any craft beer lovers ears...
"WOW! I didn't know beer could taste that good!" at precisely that moment your conscience whispers "my work here is done..."
I will never forget the look of amazement on our fantastic new draymans face (a lowest common denominator lager drinker of 25 years) face when he chugged back his first mouthful of our our American Pale 'Apache' and uttered the immortal words after a long pause... 'all those wasted years!'
As you probably well know once your senses are opened to the world of craft beer there really is no going back....
The Revolution has begun.
5 comments:
Hear, hear. Welcome to the revolution.
Many thanks Dave, you have the dubious honour of the first ever comment on 'Raising the Bar'!
I've never heard brewing called an embryonic industry before.
I was of course talking about the UK microbrewing sector which is still very much embryonic particularly since the introduction of progressive beer duty just ten years ago, which has led to a new explosion of new micros in the UK, many of whom are still finding their feet.
Just had a day out with my cousin riding the rails and drinking many beers from different local real ale brewers.All that I had were over 4% and tasted fine.We ended up at Head of Steam,Huddersfield and had SWB Meridian at 3.8% and was bowled over by the taste of this easy drinking golden ale. Thanks for finishing our day in style.Gerry,Roberttown.
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