Andy Crouch's BeerScribe.Com

The Increasingly Heated Debate Around Contract / ‘Gypsy’ / Resident Brewing…

Andy — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 22:53:41 +0000

Fresh back from the annual Craft Brewers Conference in Washington DC, I am struck by the looming tension and sense of anxiety presently bubbling to the surface in this industry. The conference played host to a number of interesting seminars and a few fairly repetitive ones. Mixed among the nearly 100 offerings were multiple courses [...]

Save Your Money, Westvleteren XII Really Isn’t Worth It…

Andy — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 15:33:11 +0000

The ominous day of 12/12/12 is upon us and it brings to the world of better beer a flurry of special events, including the final release in Stone Brewing Company’s Vertical Epic series. Stone’s ten year aging project will however likely find itself overshadowed by the highly anticipated release of Westvleteren XII, the widely touted [...]

The Craft Beer Middle Class…

Andy — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 16:20:38 +0000

We often hear about the three tier system in the beer business, often castigated as a post-Prohibition relic or as a needless by consumers and some small brewers. But there is a new caste system developing in an increasingly stratified craft beer world. On the low end is the rise of the small brewery, including [...]

The Politics Of Defining Gluten-Free Beer…

Andy — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 14:54:27 +0000

I have written extensively about gluten-free beers from their first appearance. I always make a point of trying every gluten-free beer I can find, especially during the GABF. I have several friends who suffer from/have to deal with Celiac’s or are gluten intolerant in some form and they all say the same thing: “We miss [...]

A 10 Point Plan To Improve The GABF or A Few Thoughts On GABF 2012…

Andy — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 00:51:52 +0000

I’ve just returned from a whirlwind trip to the 2012 Great American Beer Festival. I’ve now been to the festival for 16 straight years (in fact it was the first beer festival I ever attended) and have seen both the fest, the craft beer community, and the City of Denver change greatly during that time. [...]

Craft Beer Evolution: It’s Time To Put ‘No Crap On Tap’ To Bed…

Andy — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 00:11:11 +0000

Craft beer promoters love their slogans. Slapped onto bumper stickers, t-shirts, and bottle coozies, they help define the narrative for the craft beer movement. Whether they be a fabricated quote never uttered by a founding father or a call to support your local brewery, such sloganeering is often harmless if not particularly clever. There is [...]

Death of the Flagship…

Andy — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 13:50:56 +0000

There comes a time in the story of every generation when the end draws near and a new chapter begins. In the craft beer industry, it has taken nearly thirty years for that page to turn but a new story of is about to be written, one where many of the beloved main characters are [...]

Is The Beer Blog Dead? And Did The Beer News Aggregator Kill It?

Andy — Thu, 31 May 2012 03:53:23 +0000

I’ve just received the first email from the new BeerPulse service that Adam Nason is putting together and it sort of captures the new world of the online blogosphere in my mind, one in which original content is largely aggregated from other sources, including mainstream media. It also immediately raised to mind a few issues [...]

On Bars And Beer Gardens…

Andy — Wed, 30 May 2012 14:06:15 +0000

A folding chair and a patch of dirt is all I need to be happy. Oh, and a can of beer of course. While shiny new gastropubs and deluxe beer bars open from coast to coast, a few choice spots are celebrating a return to simpler times, when drinking needn’t be surrounded by trappings more [...]

Redefining Local In A New Era Of Craft Beer…

Andy — Tue, 08 May 2012 19:05:34 +0000

Support Your Local Brewery. Drink Local, Think Global. For more than a decade, brewers have doled out countless bumper stickers, coasters, and stickers with these and similar slogans promoting their community-based beer offerings. And the campaign served them well, helping to build a connection to area consumers. After years of communal camaraderie, things are about [...]