Sunday, August 17, 2014

About that wasteland of craft-drinking promiscuity.

I would like to be the first to thank Summit Brewing's Mark Stutrud for coining a phrase that's destined to make me smile more often than a well-turned Ordinary Bitter.

America Now Has Over 3,000 Craft Breweries—and That's Not Necessarily Great for Beer Drinkers, by Joshua M. Bernstein (BON APPÉTIT)

... Endless choice is not always the be-all and end-all. “The promiscuous drinkers are never satisfied,” says Summit’s Stutrud.

Let's consult the dictionary -- not the primary definition of promiscuous, which is outdated and derogatory, but the second line down.

pro·mis·cu·ous
prəˈmiskyo͞oəs

adjective

demonstrating or implying an undiscriminating or unselective approach; indiscriminate or casual.

"the city fathers were promiscuous with their honors"

synonyms: indiscriminate, undiscriminating, unselective, random, haphazard, irresponsible, unthinking, unconsidered

RateAdvocate reviewers nationwide may now angrily reply as one:


Yawn.

Here's another excerpt.

... On a recent summer morning, you could plop beside Dogfish Head president Sam Calagione and discuss craft beer’s coming bottleneck.

“We’re heading into an incredibly competitive era of craft brewing,” he says. “There’s a bloodbath coming.”

It seems plausible to me that the growth rate of "craft" beer can be maintained, as better beer continually erodes the American monolith of swill. But there really isn't a metric for predicting which among the 3,000+ stand to enjoy the benefits of growth. I'm no mathematician, but it also seems plausible that there could be an increase in overall "craft" beer sales even if 20% of the breweries ceased functioning -- if the ones closing were small breweries.

Sierra Appalachia's volume alone would make up for how many failed nanos?

That's why the coming bloodbath is worrisome to me.

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