Poll: do you consider Boston Beer Co. (Samuel Adams) a craft brewery?
Time to do a spot check on this question since it has been nearly two years since we asked it. The Brewers Association defines craft brewers as “small, independent and traditional.” How do you define craft brewers and does The Boston Beer Company (makers of Samuel Adams, Twisted Tea and Angry Orchard Hard Cider) meet your definition?
Breweries: The Boston Beer Company
Boston Beer Co. is a craft brewery but it’s definitely not a microbrewery.
I think most would agree that it’s not a microbrewery.
What was the breakdown 2 years ago?
The original brewery in boston I’d consider a micro brewery as there are several beers there that don’t leave the Boston area. Sam Adams as a whole though is just a craft brewery.
I think they are a craft brewery, not because of size, because they still do things differently than macro breweries do. I mean they hold contests for homebrewers, they come out with some very experimental beers and they still seem to be interested in quality, not just making money.
Hell no. The company’s beer is aimed at a mass market audience. It has tried to carve out its place in the market by positioning itself as a craft brewer, so all its marketing efforts are aimed at supporting that image. But the quality of the company’s beer is hardly better than what is produced by the macro breweries. Perhaps it does produce some quality beers, But they’re special editions that are never available through normal outlets, and which seem, again, to be designed to impress bloggers and news outlets.
Boston Beer isn’t BMC but it’s not Founders or Great Divide either. They’re in their own category – “corporate craft.”
I guess it all has to do with perception. Ten years ago, the split would be 85/15 in favor of labeling them a craft brewer. The quality of their beer hasn’t changed, only the amount they sell has. The term ‘craft’ has to do with quality, not scope, so yes they are a craft brewer.
A case can definitely be made for there being more tiers to craft than regional (15k+) and micro (15k & under).
I want to preface this by saying that I really enjoy a few of the one-offs and limited release brews these guys have cooked up in the past (Imperial Pilsner) and that there is no denying the talent of their brewers. But I have a really hard time lumping a publicly traded company with extremely pushy/corporate/sometimes arrogant sales representatives (not the local distributors) into the same category as Shorts, FFF, or Russian River. Just my own opinion, not preaching here.
Ten years ago, what they were producing might have been among the better offerings that most consumers had access to. However, the fact that what they produce is somewhat better than what a macro produces doesn’t justify the label “Craft.” BBC wants to be perceived as a craft alternative to mainstream beers, but they aren’t committed to producing the kind of high-quality beers that people associate with the term “craft brewing.”
Incredibly biased framing of the question, especially with pointing out the cider, twisted tea, and focus on SIZE of the brewery in your question. Yay Beerpulse you got a skewed answer set by loading your question.
Actually, even after making that clear, a few people still asked if I meant Samuel Adams or the company as a whole. Wanted to make it clear that I meant the company as a whole. There’s a Reddit comment thread going on another story here where a bunch of people weren’t aware that Boston Beer produces Twisted Tea. Hope that helps.
It didn’t differ that materially from the poll two years ago.
I liked the comment someone used earlier that I think explains the brewery and I will be using it from now on. “Corporate Craft Beer”….
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