Big Beer v Indie Beer
SIBA the trade organisation that represents many independent brewers has launched a campaign to promote genuinely independent brewers.
They rightly note, and commissioned a YouGov poll to underline it, that many people who drink what they think is craft beer are in fact drinking beer brewed industrially by outfits such as Camden and Beavertown who are owned by global big beer.
If the campaign gets people who drinking beers like Camden Pale and Beavertown Neck Oil because they want to support indy beers and brewers to look further it will be a good thing.
Of course there is nuance but nuance is not a campaigning issue.
Fullers, owned by Asahi are rightly seen as big beer, although some of the beers they produce such as the annual Vintage Ale are most definitely craft by any addition. Similarly while Greene King Abbot recently won CAMRA’s Champion Beer of Britain, GK are not an indy brewer.
Finally it does need to be noted, ahem, that the brewer probably most associated with craft is Brewdog. Private Equity owns a good chunk but it remains currently independent.
That of course begs further questions still like employment conditions and beer quality..
Still SIBA’s campaign deserves support and the nuances can be argued about in a corner of your favourite bar.
Guardian report
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