When I came in from work the lovely Lisa was creating one of her lavish curries. And she'd got beer to go with it. She asked me is Dark Star a craft brewery? Thinking I know a thing or two about beer I didn't hesitate to answer "yes". But when she flourished the bottle and said "does it still count if it costs a quid?".
Since then I've been beset by doubts and I fear my sleep will suffer so can anyone help me out here?
I'd say it is still, though in some cases you can have a craft brewer or craft beers but not necessarily a whole craft brewery, eg the main products are brewed to appeal to a mass market and not very interesting: Fullers with london pride for example and sharps with doom bar
ReplyDelete+1 to the above really.
ReplyDeleteTescos Brewdog IPA ended up in my local at 50p a bottle because it didn't sell to their main bulk of customers. Same happened to a few of their other more unusual beers.
A quid? Bloody beer snobbery if you ask me.
ReplyDeleteShe's a classy bird, no cheap stuff for her.
ReplyDeleteHmmm … Fullers London Pride "not very interesting" - maybe it's because I live close to some excellent Fuller's tied pubs, but I can assure you it's possible to have a cracking pint of Pride. Now Doombar, on the other hand …
ReplyDeleteI wonder how much Tesco stocking Brewdog is to make their whole merchandising look better: people who wouldn't buy it may well be reassured by seeing it there that the chain seems to know enough about beer to not just stock toe mainstream brands. So actually selling it may well not be the point …
Pride does have it's moments, but the days I sought out Doombar are long behind me. It adds a further complication to 'craft beer' to say that an individual brewery can make both craft and non-craft beer though!
ReplyDeleteDon't know about Tescos but Sainsbury's have Brewdog bottles on the bottom shelf round my way so I don't think they're selling it as a gimmick to make the rest of their range look 'craftier'.