April 17 update: Why Isn't Against the Grain's Beer Available at Louisville Slugger Field's Concession Stands?, at Eater Louisville.
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Courtesy of the Louisville Bats club and its conniving henchmen at Centerplate, there's the "Best of Belgium" at Slugger Field, now with Bud Light, too, which is about as Belgian as Ronald Reagan.
And what of American-made craft beer, the world leader in innovation, as so richly represented in the territories comprising the Bats' fan base?
It's just as sad a situation as during the last couple of years, with craft beer restricted to the virtual ghetto of the roasted peanut stand on the main concourse near section 115, with signage limited to table tents so as not to offend the behemoths who grease the wheels.
As craft beer and baseball fan JZ reports at the Slugger Craft-Beer Facebook page ...
Opening day choices: BBC APA, Kentucky Ale, Magic Hat No. 9, and Leinenkugel Summer Shandy.
Of course, the latter two are crafty, not craft, but there's even more from our friend DH:
Inside the park I opted for a Bats Brew, which was described to me as "an Amber out of Tennessee". Sort of a poor man's Fat Tire.
In 2012, a fan encountering Bats Brew was told that it was ABInBev's Amber Bock in crafty disguise. Rather like putting the Louisville Slugger name on a piece of wood lathed in China, although the Bats never would be able to grasp the analogy.
As baseball clubs at all levels begin to see that the very best reason to vend locally-brewed craft beer is market-based -- because fans want locally brewed craft beer -- our Bats and their Centerplate hatcheteers continue to succumb to the simple avarice of pay-to-play dealings with multinationals.
At least we're not the only fan base with this difficulty. Here is what the New York Yankees believe is craft.
The Yankees’ “craft beer” stand is anything but
Amanda Rykoff went to the Yankees home opener and discovered that they have a stand called “Craft Beer Destination.” And what sorts of good craft beer do they sell there? Maybe Six Point? Maybe Brooklyn? Maybe something from Ommegang upstate? There is a lot of good beer in New York! What is it?
These so-called “Craft Beers” — (from left to right) Blue Moon, Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy, Crispin Cider, and Batch 19 lager — are all products of MillerCoors. Miller and Coors aren’t exactly niche products.
3 comments:
Bud Light is more Belgian than it is American.
I think putting it in the Belgian tent is a surprising amount of honesty.
That's a very good point.
They only put Bud Light with the Belgians because they couldn't put it in the urinals.
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