This is a comment that happens way too often. “Why do you drink that frou-frou stuff? Why can’t you drink normal beer?”  Well, because I don’t like the taste of corn in my beer for a start.

Historically beer contained 3 ingredients: water, malt, hops. It was very simple, and naturally fermented. Now we add cultured strains of yeast for more consistency in flavor and brewing time, but that’s a minor issue. I’ll explain more about the history of brewing and why corn isn’t good in another post, but the real problem is that billions of dollars of advertising have persuaded people that “beer” is fizzy, yellow, interchangeable, and cheap. People asking why someone else drinks craft instead of industrial beer is like asking why they go to Hamburger Heaven or Five Guys instead of McDonalds Dollar Menu burgers. Technically they are the same… but they aren’t.

Another phrase used is “I want to drink American beer!”. Um… Anheuser-Busch is owned by a Brazilian-Belgian company. Miller is owned by South African Breweries. Coors is owned by Molson, who are Canadian. The beers I drink are brewed by my friends, my neighbors, by the guys who live down the street from me. If you want an American beer, buy local.

I will leave you with this very entertaining video from an Alaskan brewery.