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Passion for the product can mint new customersPassion for the product can mint new customers

Words From: Charlie Duerr, web editor

2

July 11, 2011

3 Min Read
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WORDS FROM Charlie
Duerr
Web Editor

I’ll just come out and say it: I like beer. I always have. But what I always liked about it was the social aspect, not so much how it tastes or where it was brewed. You could tell me a beer was brewed deep in the mountains of Vermont with the finest hops, and I would nod, feign some interest and then reach for the nearest easy-drinking, mass-produced beer. That’s why I could never quite get behind the craft-beer craze that’s been going on the last several years.


People have been brewing their own beer since the process was made legal in 1979, but with the recent proliferation of craft-beer-only bars and “beer boutique” stores, the demand for handcrafted brews has never been higher. According to the Boulder, Colo.-based Brewers Association, 11 percent more barrels of craft beers were sold in 2010 than in 2009, and local beer was among the top trends for 2011 cited by members of the American Culinary Federation in a National Restaurant Association survey. 


Several times I have found myself bellied up to the bar at the wildly popular Pony Bar in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood with beer-enthusiast friends of mine. The Pony Bar serves an ever-changing array of American craft beers and, I must say, delicious food, but if you talk to my friends, there may as well not be any other bars in the city. They have the pint glasses at home and the T-shirts to prove they drank 100 different beers as part of the Pony’s beer club. 


I could always understand people getting really into food and wine, and even bourbon and scotch, but beer? That’s just the stuff we drink while watching football or catching up with friends. And I’m not alone in that thinking. Even as the popularity of craft beers rises, nearly half of all beer consumed away from home is from major domestic brands, Chicago-based research firm Technomic said in a 2010 report. 


I always liked that beer was untouched by the snobbery that is so prevalent among people who fancy themselves “experts,” so you can imagine my trepidation when a high-end beer store selling almost exclusively local and regional varieties opened up in my Brooklyn neighborhood. When I finally went in, the husband-and-wife owners couldn’t have been friendlier, offering recommendations, chatting about the neighborhood and, most important, never making me feel stupid. These people weren’t snobs. They were just passionate about something I wasn’t and eager to share their knowledge — the same way the owner and bartenders at Pony Bar were. I started to understand what all the fuss was about. If I can get a good beer while supporting local businesses, then maybe this craft-brew trend isn’t so bad after all.


I do have a new appreciation for beer and its connoisseurs now, but I still can’t help rolling my eyes at the bearded Brooklynite waxing philosophical about the subtle nuttiness of an Appalachian brown ale. So even as restaurants and bars experiment with craft beers on their menus, they’d be wise not to totally abandon the familiar favorites. Then both the beer experts and beer neophytes like me can happily coexist — and if the mood is right, perhaps try something new. Who knows? Maybe someday I’ll proudly be wearing my own 100-beer-club shirt. But somehow I doubt it. 


Contact Charlie Duerr at [email protected].

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