Craft Beer from an Assembly Line?
This article in the Huffington Post details some interesting and controversial changes to the way craft beer is classified. The Brewers Association has decided to allow beers that use rice or corn malt to be labeled as craft. More significantly, it raised its limit for a “small” brewery from one that produces less than 2 million barrels a year to one that produces less than 6 million barrels. This allows breweries like Yuengling and Narragansett to classify their products as craft beers.
Needless to say, not all craft beer aficionados are happy about this. Yuengling and Narragansett are not large corporations, but their methods of brewing are distinctly different from most independent craft breweries. Also, this ruling could eventually be used by massive interests like InBev to sell their products as craft beer. Could Budweiser be next? What do you think?