The death of craft beer (and why I’m not mourning)

If I have to listen to one more customer ask whether our pale ale is “authentically, artisanally craft” before they order, I’m going to pour it, then pour it over my head.

Rejoice! The hospitality sector has finally reached a collective epiphany – and it’s about time. According to a brilliant piece on Startups.co.uk, industry insiders are universally calling time on the phrase “craft beer.” What once stood for independent, scrappy, quality brewing has been turned into a meaningless over-commercialised and corporate buzzword.

If I’m completely honest, I think the word “craft” has been dead for years. It died the moment global mega-breweries started buying up independent operations, keeping the quirky label design and mass-producing under the guise of an “indie start-up.”

When a multinational drinks conglomerate is churning out millions of barrels of a liquid that sits on a supermarket shelf for £2.50, calling it “craft” is surely against the Trades Description Act?

And, genuinely, this isn’t me just making a a semantic argument for beer snobs. For independent pub owners, bars, and restaurateurs, the dilution of the word has created a massive operational headache.

Because the big guns have adopted the phrase, consumers are approaching with massive choice fatigue and scepticism. They have been burned by overpriced, mediocre “craft” cans that taste like carbonated grass clippings. Obviously, this has made it harder for the actual independent local breweries – the ones truly experimenting with high-margin, high-quality, small-batch beverages – to justify their premium price point to a cynical beer fan.

So, what do we do? We ditch the word completely. Here’s how:

• Stop writing “Craft” at the top of your menu boards (it’s dated and corporate). Replace with Provenance, Style and Flavor profiles.

• Train your front-of-house staff to talk about the actual drink, not the marketing category e.g. who brewed it, where the brewery is located (bonus points if it’s within a 20-mile radius), and why the flavor profile pairs beautifully with your menu.

The modern beer consumer is canny (no pun intended) and not fooled by vague, buzzword badges of honour on their glass anymore. They want transparency and an actual experience in return for their hard-earned cash. Let the supermarkets and the global macro-breweries fight over the corpse of the word “craft.” As independent operators, our job is to sell great beer made by real people. We don’t need a corporate adjective to prove that.

This content is contributed by a guest author. Startups.co.uk / MVF does not endorse or take responsibility for any views, advice, analysis or claims made within this post.