Monday Rant: Definitions, Definitions

As I'm a well-known cynic, I take exception many things in both life and society.I complain like an old man. Everyone tells me that I'm pretty much a 60-year-old man in the body of a what is now a 25-year-old. Many issues irk me within the beer community. I threw a fit when there was a big push to exile the English Shaker Pint. I did much the same when everyone drooled at the thought of purchasing the Dogfish/Spiegelau hop-forward glass which we eventually found out was simply an updated wine glass.

One issue that makes me have to remind myself to breathe, as comedian Lewis Black would say, is the craft vs. craft debate and defining of craft beer, craft brewers etc.

I came across a CNBC article that kind of pointed out that the definition of a craft brewer has been expanded to cater the growth of certain brewers such as Boston Brewing Co. At least, that's what I took from reading it.

I'm just tired of the Brewer's Association laying down it's own law. It's all just beer. Who cares how many barrels a brewery produces per-year? Why does it matter if a brewery like August Schell uses corn as an adjunct in some of its offerings?

The Brewer's Association says that you can't be considered a craft brewer if you use corn or rice. The major American companies use corn and rice, but most of the beer that comes from said companies simply is repulsive. I've had beer with corn that tastes great. Craft beer should be a very loose term. A personal definition for each of us that drinks beer we like. That's what craft should be.