(Boulder, CO) – On Wednesday, BeerPulse published a press release from Mother Earth Brewing Company announcing that it is adding the Brewers Association logo on its packaging.
The idea, according to the release, came from a blogger who suggested that the BA’s craft brewery members “put the BA logo on their packaging to distinguish their true craft beer from ‘crafty’ imitators.” You do remember, “Craft vs. Crafty,” right?
BeerPulse pinged BA Director, Paul Gatza, to see if this could be the start of something bigger.
First, here is how the BA’s approval process for its logo works, according to Gatza:
“We currently allow one of two versions of the logo to be available to Brewers Association members. Voting members (based on our bylaws) can use the logo with the MEMBER designation below the logo. Associate members can use the logo with the ASSOCIATE MEMBER. Past requests were often approved with use of a PROUD MEMBER logo. By far, the majority of requests have been from allied trade members or brewery members for use on websites.”
Voting members of the BA come in all shapes and sizes, both craft and non-craft. So to approve the logo as an indicator that a brewery qualifies as ‘craft’ under the BA definition would send quite a message to those non-craft members. On that note, Gatza cautioned that people should not get the wrong idea about approved usage of its logo.
“The logo should not be interpreted a ‘craft’ seal or certification,” says Gatza. “Approved use is available to members upon request. What we are keen to avoid is any indication that BA ‘endorses’ a company or its products.”
So what about another way to show whether breweries meet the ‘craft’ definition on a label?
Says Gatza, “We have discussed a ‘craft beer seal’ off and on over the years. I recall seeing notes in this area back to the mid-1990s, but nothing has come of it.
“The areas of certifications and standards are tough terrain for a trade association, as we try not to avoid a perception that we say one company is ‘better’ than another.”
As evidenced by some of the activity around the craft vs. crafty debate and the growth of ‘craft’ beer in general, there is a market out there for some kind of seal/identification right on the package though it won’t be coming from the BA, at least not anytime soon.
Update: after publishing this story, the Brewers Association also blogged about the subject on its own platform.
I personally don’t like the idea of a seal that validates something as craft, with the implication that anything without the seal is not craft (This refers to the proposals that involve such a seal being created, not that current use of the Brewer’s Association logo, which only signifies membership in a trade group). The definition of craft is too open to interpretation, and too subject to change.
For example, some definitions of craft exclude “large” brewers. That would exclude Goose Island, now that it’s been purchased AB-Inbev, even though GI is very highly regarded in the craft community and I haven’t yet seen anyone indicate that they think it’s quality has diminished since it’s purchase. Then you have brewers like the Boston Beer Company and Sierra Nevada, which are sort of almost like the original craft beers, but which have grown big enough that some people don’t think meet the criteria anymore purely based on their success, which is a strange definition to associate with a movement that’s based upon better tasting beer in a greater variety of styles (What does how many barrels you brew have to do with it anyway?).
Then you get into things like a small brewer might call themselves craft and meet the technical definition, but be churning out things that taste pretty mainstream. There are also “beer styles” like Shandy’s that some would say are craft because they have an usual flavor and others, like me, would say not only aren’t craft, but aren’t even beer at all.
I say leave it alone. Let individuals determine for themselves what they want to call craft and what they think doesn’t meet the definition of craft, and also how much that distinction or characterization really matters. I think most people like a good beer that tastes good and doesn’t break their budget, and in the community of online beer drinkers, are additionally interested in having a variety of tastes and styles. “Non-craft” may figure in there somewhere for people.
This idea of logos and such seems designed to exclude brands like Shock Top that are somewhat questionable as craft and owned by macros. It seems very important to people that everyone knows they are “not craft” ™. But if it meets the right combination of taste and price and people want to buy them, why should that be derided? People can make their own decisions in life.
The only thing I don’t like is when something happens like the Shock Top Wheat IPA that not only doesn’t have enough hops to be considered an IPA, but also doesn’t have enough hops to even properly be considered a pale ale. It’s a blonde ale at best. Really, it tastes like an adjunct lager, and I wish there were some way to strip it of the word “IPA”, because it just doesn’t apply at all and is basically false advertising and confuses the market.
However, when it comes to a product like the Shock Top Belgium White to Blue Moon Belgium White, those are more borderline. Sure, they are kind of tepid borderline versions of the style described, but they are unfiltered wheat beers with some orange in them. I wouldn’t say they aren’t Belgian Whites. They aren’t top caliber ones, but they do meet the style description, if only just barely. And they’re widely available, and if there’s a sale… I mean, you can’t get any Belgian White at all in many stores apart from those two brands. Sam Adams doesn’t even make the one that it used to do seasonally in the spring anymore.
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