The Session No. 80: Is Craft Beer a Bubble?

Wow. We've now reached 80 editions of The Session. With each one it seems as if time goes too fast in between each month. For the October version of The Session, we turn to Derek of It's Not Just the Alcohol Talking. He poses yet another intriguing question relating to craft beer - Is craft beer a bubble?

I've heard and pondered the phrase "craft beer bubble" many times in my two years of posting on this blog. I found it Ironic that just about 20 minutes prior to writing this, I got a text from my uncle expressing his surprise at the fact that Shock Top and Blue Moon now had pumpkin beers on the market.

We can give the guy a break. He isn't fully aware of the entire craft beer situation as many of us are. To him, Blue Moon is exotic craft still since it was something new and creative before many of the breweries that we now love existed. He's still "crossing that bridge" ( i.e. the bridge between bad beer and what we consider to be good beer) as I always refer to it.

A lot of us are staunch supporters of our favorite craft breweries and maybe more are against the major American brewers. You know which ones they are. I found it interesting that my uncle spoke to me in surprise because I've always been one to say that the major breweries will always be there regardless of how much of the market share the craft brewers take up or how much some of us might hate them.

I just think that the reality of the situation is that the majors will always try to imitate the creativity of the craft brewers. An even harsher truth is that there are more goofs in this country that love anything the majors come out with. It almost doesn't matter what it is. The fact that they can come out with a "seasonal offering" now makes it that much harder to convert the sheep that already drink nothing but the swill that's produced.

I'm not entirely sure if I've described anything in relation to a bubble. I'll let you decide for yourself. These are just a few thoughts on the issue.