I’m not a brewer, that’s for sure. I know a few on a casual basis and they are an interesting breed, and that’s a bit of an understatement. But I think there comes a point where a brewer makes a decision on whether to brew what they like or go for what the public likes. That to me is the fundamental difference between the major brewers and the craft brewers. The operative word is “craft”. Not a process or an operation or manufacturing, but a craft. To craft something involves craftsmanship. Quality of design, artistry. I may be romanticizing the brewing industry a bit but sometimes I think I can taste the difference between a brewer doing what they love and a brewer brewing what they think everyone else will.
My real life pour, their marketing maven pour
Now let’s talk business. When a big business buys a smaller business they want to get a return on their investment. That just makes sense. So if a big business that has nothing to do with brewing beer, maybe a large producer of medical and recreational marijuana for example,* buys a brewing company, the only way they get their ROI is by selling more beer than the brewing company is selling now. Changing that brew from a craft to a commodity is the natural result of an acquisition.
Case in point (although I only had one), SweetWater IPA. They tell us this brew is the OG SweetWater IPA. And I was just getting used to three letter acronyms, but I think they are saying this is the original. It used to be “Atlanta’s OG IPA”, now it is “The OG IPA”, I suppose just in case anyone has something against Atlanta? They say it “delivers a kick-you-in-the-teeth hop chop”. Their website has a picture of a bright light golden pour for a “bright and flavorful character”.
My pour was a dark almost amber hue with a fluffy white chop of a top. An aroma of subdued juice and hops, all my teeth still firmly in place. The taste is a juice malt combo with some mild hops with a mildly hoppy slightly bitter aftertaste. The hop chop was not too hoppy or choppy to be honest. This is an easy going rafting down the lazy river craft, accessible to the general public kind of IPA. More malt than most IPAs but the malt juice combination works OK. A laid-back Atlanta Georgia kind of vibe, but without the peaches. It’s good but no over the top hops or jolly jumper juice, just a low risk IPA. Maybe a good intro to IPAs for the general public.
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