Somewhere amongst the craft beer revolution the mass produced lagers that line supermarket shelves were demonised, no thanks to A-B InBev and a dash of UK lout culture. It probably didn’t take much for some people to come to this conclusion, not least those who’ve read anything by Naomi Klein.
I only drink mass produced lager at certain times, and I’m happy to tell people how much I prefer the wealth of beer styles beyond Carlsberg, Fosters and Carlsberg, but something about the portrayal of the big beer producers isn’t quite fair.
Part of the variance between attitudes to craft beer and beer produced on a much larger scale – and the clue is in the names of the former classification – is related to craftsmanship. Microbreweries are more hands on; they require the skill and ingenuity of a watchful brewer and they share the allure of slow food, local produce and a more traditional way of doing things.1
What strikes me as strange though is the lack of respect for the workmanship involved in producing beers at an entirely different scale, the macro scale. At the risk of pissing off the realms of craft beer lovers I’ve met over the last 18 months there’s a – for want of a better word – hypocrisy at work when it comes to mass produced beer.2,3
I stand shoulder to shoulder with those who praise the magnitude and sheer audacity of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, a modern wonder of engineering and a monument to the unbounded elasticity of human thought. I’m not expecting that people start to compare such a feat of human endeavour with a few dazzling mash tuns or a shiny new bottling line, but take it as exaggerated example of the way that craft beer production is praised whilst mass produced beer is mocked, something which doesn’t necessarily happen in other areas of human pursuit. In Three Sheets To The Wind Pete Brown visits the Miller brewery in Milwaukee and scoffs at the statistic-heavy-copper-light tour (rightly so, I’m sure). But Miller’s statistics hint at something oft forgotten: the efficiency of economies of scale and the brain power that helped achieve that.
It’s so secret that micro brewing isn’t exactly the most environmentally sustainable pursuit one can follow. I’m sure there’s good reason why rainwater and wind power aren’t viable solutions for the average craft brewery, let alone a home brewer. And mass produced lager travels a long way as its owners desperately try to monopolise every corner of the earth with their brand logo. But at a pure production level I think there’s something marvellous (in the truest sense of the world) at the way beer is brewed to meet the huge demand of Lloyd’s No.1 Bar and Tesco.
Having visited the maltings of Coors in Burton (just the maltings, not even any of the brewing buildings) I can vouch that the scale of beer production at that level is a feat of engineering and science that deserves praise up there with the best craft brewers. To build such facilities and maintain them is not something they should be ashamed of, in the same way that smaller, independent brewers are unerringly proud of their facilities and production methods, however quirky and different.
Where mass production loses its charm is in the kitchens and back rooms of budding home brewers across the globe. Because craft brewing is accessible. Anyone can set up a brewery. Perhaps few will ever nurture the skills to make truly great beer, but perhaps fewer still possess the aptitude to design the systems of mass production that make beer and countless other commodities on a scale that we take for granted.
Don’t get me wrong, in the course of praising the economies of scales of larger breweries I in no way want to disparage the work of any of the craft brewers that make the beers that I would argue are the best in the world. But even if you don’t like the taste, the marketing or the general arrogance of the mass producing oligarchs of the beer world, I don’t think it’s fair to leverage that viewpoint against the technology and expertise that goes into making them as tasteless and bland as the majority of the population prefer. I would argue when you (and I) do so, we do because of preconceptions (some but certainly not all of which are misconceptions) about who drinks what and where. Carling might be the drink of stag doers in Blackpool, but that doesn’t mean there’s no wonder in how they make it taste so much like corn and piss, so deliberately and so consistently.
I’m all for reducing beer miles, improving the quality of beer and encouraging diversity (something to be discussed shortly) and I reckon that to project negative perceptions on the larger brewers may at times in fact be a backwards form of justice. However I argue the case that mass production itself is not necessarily bad, and is in fact necessary for the sustainability of some beers. Mass production in fact can be something that deserves a little of our awe and appreciation. I believe it is a disservice to the engineers and scientists of days gone by and those of days yet to come as the population of the earth increases steadily.
I apologies for the stereotypes (unfortunately necessary in an attempt at succinctness) and I welcome your arguments for and against, partly in the hope I’m wrong and I can carry on hating A-B InBev unabated. 4
1 Although my mate Sam brews uses an old Hotpoint washing machine drum as a mash tun, which is more Scrapheap Challenge than medieval 2 Which many of the brewers I know acknowledge, perhaps with a hint of jealousy at one aspect of mass production: consistency 3 Digressing slightly, define mass produced anyway? Thornbridge: mass or craft? Brooklyn: mass or craft? Sierra Nevada…you get the picture. 4Where I make a distinction here is between economies of scale and production methods that save money to the detriment of product quality.
September 13, 2010 at 10:52 pm
Point 4 is key – there’s nothing wrong with mass-production per se – look at Sierra Nevada. But to put technical ability ahead of anything else is a bit like watching a technically proficient guitarist play a widdly-widdly solo vs. Jack White rocking out. What’s lacking is soul.
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September 13, 2010 at 11:30 pm
Soul is the reason I spend hours perusing the shelves of Beer Ritz. I merely think the expertise that creates the economies of scale is forgotten behind the anti-lager bandwagon. Industry and engineering are amazing…shame they aren’t used to make better beers.
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September 14, 2010 at 7:52 am
Interesting post. The key, I think, behind ‘craft’ brewing is the mentality behind it; whether you are brewing in a bucket or in a 200hl spaceship, what matters is the brewer’s intent.
Mass-produced beers aren’t bad, in fact, given that they make up what most people drink, they must be doing something right (other than just marketing). The fact that they manage to always get them to taste the same is a feat of the technical productions.
I think what’s interesting is that the brewers who work at the big breweries are likely to be people who love beer and are great brewers. They aren’t just button-pushing while they count their money (that’s for the directors to do) and they do it because they love it. Does it matter whether they brew half a barrel at a time or 500bbls?
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September 14, 2010 at 10:28 am
Some macro brewers produce good beers, but i can count UK ones on one hand. My mind wanders to America and Belgium for the best. I have no problem in businesses getting bigger, that’s the nature of the best, but if you are going to brew a beer for a nation, why not make it a good one? On that score, the bif brewers let themselves down terribly. I can’t imagine wanting my company to ever brew tasteless ales or lagers. Can’t even see the point. Ok the advertising obviously works, i see this everyday in my pub. The question i would ask is if you go to a restaurant would you order the blandest mass produced food on the menu, or would you order something local, full of flavour made with care and attention focused on your needs and wants, not on the needs of shareholders?
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September 14, 2010 at 1:26 pm
Pete, I actually know plenty of people who do go for the bland option, who don’t have the inclination to try new things. One man’s tasteless is another man’s refreshment. Personally, I prefer more challenging and interesting tasting things, especially beers, however they’re produced. What I’m trying to address is a generalised throwing of muck at the feat of mass production (perceived, perhaps wrongly, by me). And mass production doesn’t mean bad – just look at Pilsner Urquell for a Romantic vision of mass production. Or Marston’s Burton Union?
Mass production in itself shouldn’t mean poor quality, although often the two go hand in hand because of shareholders pushing economies of scale to their limits and because some people want or need cheaper goods. Maybe we need to re-evaluate our ideas of quality in the perspective of a growing population? How do we feed mouths and brew beer that ticks the boxes of sustainability, quality and soul? Mass production will inevitably be involved and why not? It’s actually quite marvellous in some of it’s manifestations and we will need it to become even better to meet our future demands.
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September 14, 2010 at 1:55 pm
i see your point, but i’m still backing my point of view. Mass produced usually means lower quality taste wise. And so i’ll back myself and throw that mud any time at those who produce it. They have the option to produce great tasting beers but instead choose to put their cash into advertising. I’m not saying don’t drink or eat what you want, i’m saying i wouldn’t go for it and i think i have the better end of the deal. If i have the choice of a well known coffee shop or an independent i go for the later, same goes for burgers, beer and pubs. BTW i sell 3 x 22’s of bland fizzy lager a week in my pub to punters who don’t want what i want. Each to his own, there’s no wrong or right.
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