Has Craft Beer Become Inaccessible?

By Julia Burke, Beer Editor

I spent last weekend at my best friend’s wedding in Los Angeles. We danced, we laughed and we drank good West Coast beer from top producers including Sierra Nevada and Deschutes.

What wasn’t on the list? The couple’s favorite local beer. Why not? I’ll back up.

When my friend called me to announce that she was engaged, I was thrilled to help her plan the wine and beer list for her wedding. Staunch locavores, the couple wanted to showcase great California wines and beers without breaking the bank, and I came up with a list of specific recommendations based on my favorite Cali producers.

But since I don’t live in LA, I encouraged the couple to try some of their smaller local breweries and explore more close-to-home options which may not be available to me in New York. I did some research and gave them the names of a couple of small breweries right in LA with good reputations.

Based on my experience in the beer community, I was confident that they’d have a great time taste-testing possibilities despite their relative “newbie” status in the craft beer world.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t quite the case.

While I was out of the country and thus unable to make calls to breweries on their behalf (to check on prices, ordering options and procedure, etc.), my friends checked out one of the local breweries, and were really impressed with the delicious, well-priced beers. The groom-to-be emailed the brewery to rave about the beer and inquire as to whether they might be able to order a keg or two for the wedding.

The owner, who answered the email, said to give him a call. "He seemed somewhat interested in working with me," said my friend.

On the phone, my friend began asking a few basic questions about the process for ordering beer for the wedding. The owner then said, “Look, I don't want to offend you or anything; I've been doing this for 17 years, and you don't really sound like a craftsman beer freak. I just don't want to waste an hour of my time to work with someone who isn't really into craftsman beers."

Apparently, they could've provided beer for my friend's wedding—if he had been less of a newbie.

I don’t know about you, but I’m a little horrified. The groom-to-be, whom I've known for five years, is not a jerk. He is not rude, pushy or ignorant. He is actually a really nice guy, with a passion for all things local and a genuine interest in craft beer (he nominated Deschutes Black Butte Porter for one of the wedding beers, which is hardly what I'd call an "entry-level" choice). No, he’s not a connoisseur—but if the time has come for craft beer to be about snobbery and exclusivity, to the point that well-meaning folks looking to broaden their beer horizons are treated like a Coors van at San Francisco Beer Week, well, hand me a Bud Lite Lime, ’cause I’m going on strike.

How much of a craft beer enthusiast do you need to be to get good service? Is this a California thing? A Los Angeles thing? Is it specific to this brewery, which is remaining nameless at the request of the groom (who didn’t want to “cause trouble”)? As he put it, "I'm not a craftsman connoisseur or anything, but I was a little surprised he didn't just lie and say he didn't have the time to do transactions with non-commercial clients. I mean, I can understand not wanting to deal with individuals/one-off transactions, but you don't need to put me down."

When I think of the breweries I’ve worked with in New York, I can’t imagine a single one showing a bad attitude to a new customer. The staff of every brewery I’ve visited in this state has been friendly, open, down-to-earth, and welcoming to newbies as far as I can tell. But would I have the same experience if I wasn’t in the industry?

Don’t get me wrong; I’ve been called a snob once or twice (albeit only in jest, by bar patrons who are forced to at least sample the craft pilsner on tap before they go macro). I judge lite beer drinkers, always choose restaurants and bars based on tap list, and insist on proper glassware (I’ve got two cabinets’ worth in my tiny kitchen). But I’ve also been known to enjoy a Molson with wings, a Blue at a baseball game, and a Guinness when I’m hungry and low on cash (you can take the girl out of Ireland, but…). And for me, nothing compares to the joy of introducing a new friend or bar patron to craft beer.

We all got into beer because it’s fun and relaxing, and as soon as respect for beer gets in the way of enjoyment, we’ve missed the point entirely. Insulting new customers because they’re not already certified geeks is ludicrous. We all started somewhere.

Is the concern that there are already too many people in the craft beer fold? Are we worried about losing our “tribe” vibe? If so, is this purely ego, or are we afraid that too large a craft scene will compromise quality?

I’d like readers to weigh in: how are New York breweries treating newbies?

Has craft beer become too snobby?

Comments

[Anthony]

I'd had to think that this is true everywhere. Most of the people I've met in the local (Upstate NY) beer scene are very nice and out-going. Maybe they're a bit too geeky at times but that doesn't mean that they aren't friendly. I'm hoping that this is just an outlier and not becoming the norm.

[Anthony]

Sorry, meant to say "hate", not "had"

[Julia Burke]

Anthony, I hope so too. I wrote this piece hoping to find that most NY drinkers have NOT had a similar experience. Geeky shouldn't mean insulting.

[Mark Rizzolo]

I've never had a bad experiences at any breweries being snobbish. I find wineries tend to be more elitist than breweries but I have noticed that craft beer drinkers as a whole tend to be much more judgmental than wine drinkers. I am definitely a craft beer lover but I have been criticized by fellow CB lovers for liking Sam Adams or having an affinity for Blue Moon. Beer geeks need to be inclusive not exclusive!

[Blahg]

should have gone with eagle rock brewery in LA. and I'm pretty sure I know the brewery (pasadena) that you're referring to

[Matthew mmWine Horbund]

I have a hard time thinking one instance makes the entire craft beer industry snobby. I was just out in Paso Robles, visited Firestone Walker brewery, and the staff treated us with respect, explaining every part of their process, their beers, etc. Perhaps they just came across one difficult person.

[Julia Burke]

Matthew, I've had the same experience. I did want to put this out there to see if anyone had any comments on New York brewery service, though, after hearing about it, since I tend to visit breweries with fellow beer geeks and don't really know what the experience is like for beginners these days. I'm glad to hear you had a good experience at Firestone Walker. They're awesome.

[Derek Peplau]

I appreciate taking this instance as an opportunity to write a blog post, but I really think the attitude your friend experienced is aberrant behavior on the part of one person who might have been having a bad day. If that's how that brewery conducts itself on a regular basis they won't be around for long.

I hardly think the concern can be that there are 'too many people' in the craft beer fold. In order to sustain the wonderful number and diversity of craft breweries we currently enjoy in the United States, we need to keep growing the number of people who enjoy and appreciate craft beer (and that enjoyment and appreciation comes in many forms and levels of intensity from the person who branches out beyond the macros to enjoy the likes of the occasional Sierra Nevada or Sam Adams all the way to the hardcore craft beer junky who has opinions about IBU and glassware.)

Making this a rarified hobby is just stupid. These breweries are in business to make money after all (and yes to create finely crafted products as well, but they need to keep the lights on too). The micro-breweries I've dealt with (including several in New York state) generally are very welcoming, friendly, and happy to introduce newbies to their world. It's good for business, and since most of them do little advertising, word of mouth is their most powerful marketing tool. You don't get positive recommendations if you're a d!ck about it.

Where you DO see prejudice towards newbies is among some of the real hard-core craft beer geeks who turn their nose up at anyone who knows less than they do about craft beer (which is just about everyone). They're an off-shoot of the same family tree which includes the music snob who does the same thing with music.

The best definition I've seen of beer snobs comes from Dogfish's Sam Calagione:

"Beer snobs try to know as much as they can about beer as a power point and to lord it over people, or to stick out as an expert in a field of neophytes."

These are the people to watch out for generally, not the brewers themselves.

[Derek Peplau]

And by the by, if anyone's interested in joining the welcoming ranks of the friendly beer geeks (who don't get overly technical about the subject), I invite them to join us over at our blog, http://craftbeersocial.com (or @craftbeersocial on Twitter). Come on in, the water's fine!