Top Ten: Craft Beers of 2011 | Washington Times Communities
communities.washingtontimes.com/...brew.../top-ten-craft-beers-201...Jan 5, 2012 – Wrapping up an outstanding year for the craft beer segment in ten beers is no easy task.

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Note added at 34 mins (2012-08-25 23:24:53 GMT)
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What Is Craft Beer?
What Is Craft Beer?
By Danner Kline

This column is focused on “craft” beer, as opposed to the big brands that still dominate beer sales worldwide. The terms “craft beer” and “micro-brew” are sometimes used interchangeably, but they are actually distinct from one another. Micro-breweries produce less than 15,000 barrels of beer per year, while craft beer can be produced by breweries of much greater size. So what exactly is “craft beer?” The Brewer’s Association (the trade group for craft brewers) offers their own definition that many folks (including me) take issue with. They say a craft brewer must be small, independent, and traditional. By small, they mean annual beer production of no more than two million barrels of beer—Boston Beer, maker of Samuel Adams, is teetering on the brink of this limit and has about a one percent share of the U.S. beer market. Many local brewers produce less than a thousand barrels a year. By independent, they mean that no more than twentyfive percent of the brewery can be owned by a big brewery like A-B, Miller, or Coors (the Big Three). Traditional is the hardest to pin down, as they state a traditional brewer is one that has “an all malt flagship” or which uses “adjuncts to enhance rather than lighten flavor”—a subjective matter. That’s a dig at the Big Three who use adjuncts (corn or rice) to lighten body and flavor and increase mass appeal.

http://bhamweekly.com/birmingham/article-1899-what-is-craft-...

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Note added at 1 hr (2012-08-26 00:07:47 GMT)
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What is Craft Beer?

And how is it different than the yellow fizzy stuff people drink at tailgates? Well there is a technical definition and there is the “everyday” definition. First the technical jargon..

Craft beer is made by craft brewers that possess 3 key traits. They are:

Small: Their annual production is less than 2 million barrels ( 62 million gallons) 6 million barrels (recently changed)
Independent: Less than 25% of the brewery is owned by a non-craft brewer
Traditional: Greater than 50% of their volume comes from all-malt beer, instead of using mostly adjuncts (e.x. rice, corn) like that mega-breweries use. This basically means they use higher quality ingredients.

You can find more details on the Brewer’s Association website, but let’s talk about some of the more common ways you may hear craft beer referred to in day to day conversation:

Specialty Beers, Artisan Beers, Gourmet Beers, Boutique Beers, Microbrews, and Dark Beers (very common although not very accurate).

There are many different terms to describe it, but we’re all essentially talking about the same thing. You know it when you see it…it’s beer that is different. It has complexity, uniqueness, and variety. It’s beer that has flavor. It’s Craft beer.