The Beer Attitude

Slugging them down for years, I’d love to know how much beer we have gone through since the first brew. Ever wondered about different statistics like that? Gallons upon gallons have been poured into glass and bottle for centuries. It could easily be argued that beer is the most consumed beverage of all time.

What would be its competitors? Coffee, tea, and soda might top the list. You can’t say water. Water is in everything. Every time you drink a beer you would up the consumption of water as well. So, that cannot be added to beer’s list of competitors. Not if you were going to be fair about it.

So, I said all that to say that beer is so popular that it will literally never go out of style. It will never lose fans. It will never have a drought. People drink more beer during a recession. People drink beer in celebration of a boom. People drink beer to get together and have fun. People drink beer to get together and talk over their issues.

What did Obama do when Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates was arrested at his home for “disorderly conduct” by Cambridge police officer sergeant James Crowley and it was attributed to racial profiling since Gates tried to show evidence that he did indeed live in that house that he was accused of breaking into? That’s right! He held a “beer summit.” Obama, Biden, Gates and Crowley sat down and drank their choice of beer together.

Beer will never go away! This is why it literally shocks me as Anthony Bourdain of No Reservations claims that Big Beer threatened to pull ads from the Discovery Channel if they didn’t pull the new craft beer focused show Beer Masters. Is it possible that small breweries and individual brewers around the world could actually threaten the bottom line of Big Beer?

In capitalism, there is an awful amount of greed. The people who have will fight tooth and nail to keep. They will kick people while their down and the will step on faces to stay on top. Nothing is ever enough. But, there is so much reward that momma and poppa shops can stay in business because of consumer need for variety, consumer choice of personal attention and consumer expectation of individuality. Capitalism is a consumer driven society. There will always be consumers who will flock for the mass appeal and there will always be an equally powerful amount of consumers who will refrain, looking for a more unique product.

Why does Big Beer have to think that a simple show can ruin its bottom line? Of course, small breweries brew because they want to evolve in taste and offer varieties that are unique. Individuals brew because it’s fun and rewarding. But, Big Beer will always have consumers. Big Beer might not be able to reach so far down in their huge pockets, but they will always have a surplus of income to cover their mansion mortgages, personal yachts and vacations gone wild.

I am going to cherish Beer Master’s Sam Calagione’s encouragement, “…to support small, truly-indie breweries! Last night I had Two Prima Pils, and an Aprihop. Today I had cask-conditioned Thyme Pale Ale, Baladin Nora, Birra Del Borgo ReAle, and am enjoying an Indian Brown Ale…” Instead of letting the small stuff get to him, Sam has the perfect beer attitude when he affirms that he is, “Focused on the goodness inside the bottle instead of the weirdness outside the bottle. Cheers.” Cheers to you Sam!