Go To:
Current Issue
Back Issues
Dining
Selected Events
Feedback
Submissions
Link To Us
With Beer
Enjoying Beer in the Kitchen and at the Table
What's Hot in the World of Beer this Month
Your Comments, Criticisms and Contributions
Want to submit a review sample to World of Beer? Here's how.
Put World of Beer on your homepage.
Subscribe to World of Beer Update
Details
Read More About Stephen Beaumont
American Beer Month: Controversial Again - July 2003It's American Beer Month, the 31 days of the year in which American breweries try to convince the general public that they should drink domestic beer simply because it is, well, American. Notwithstanding the fact that drinking beer because of its nationality makes about as much sense as picking it for the colour of its label, or my admittedly Canadian proclivity to distrust campaigns steeped in patriotism, I am in principle a supporter of this effort, as it might well convince some Americans to sample beers other than the ones they have been drinking religiously for the past fifteen years.Yet, this year a new spectre haunts ABM, and as ever, Roger Baylor, the unabashed proprietor of the New Albanian Brewing Company and Rich O's Public House and Sportstime Pizza, has something to say on the matter. That spectre is the Coors Brewing Company, which has for the second year running partnered in promotion with the Association of Brewers (AOB), the Colorado-based organization that developed the American Beer Month concept. In a press release announcing the relationship, Paul Gatza, Director for the Institute of Brewing Studies, a division of the Association of Brewers, announced: "Coors Brewing Company's support last year was the first ever national television exposure for American Beer Month. It was huge. We are thrilled to again be able to bring awareness of American Beer Month to the American public. This promotion is an example of a great American brewery with 130 years of tradition standing up proudly for the quality of American beers." Let's just say that this got up the nose of Roger Baylor, whom you might remember from last year as a vocal opponent of the sponsorship Michelob Amber Bock gave to the Real Beer Page's ABM Challenge Cup contest. (Please see: http://www.worldofbeer.com/brightbeer/challenge_1.html, http://www.worldofbeer.com/brightbeer/chalenge2.html and http://www.worldofbeer.com/brightbeer/chalenge3.html for details.)In his email newsletter, 'The Potable Curmudgeon,' Baylor wrote: "I have read and re-read Paul Gatza's words, and carefully contrasted his comments with the sex/youth-driven Coors advertising strategy (employed during the NBA playoffs). "Perhaps it is a failure of my craft-brewed imagination, but somehow it is difficult to imagine ads in which supercharged, semi-naked females cavort with leering young dunderheads, all of them engaging in earnest discussions of hop character or the merits of various microbrewing house yeast characters. "The AOB's notion to ride the televised coattails of a major brewer is laughable, but which part of the equation is more insipid: Coors as a brewer, or Coors as a marketer of beer? Coors' beer has little to do with beer, and the company's ads could be just as easily used to sell cars, condoms or Cheese Whiz. "And yet, Paul Gatza somehow is able to keep a straight face as he tells us that Coors is as representative of diversity and quality as the microbreweries that it, A-B and SAB Miller would grind into the pavement like so many discarded Gitanes if given half a chance. "Does Gatza in the giggly throes of his Rocky Mountain high really believe that in order to celebrate our brewing diversity, we must grovel at the feet of the brewing industry leaders whose every daily breath is devoted to building market shares that mock our passion for variety in good beer? "Quite simply, there's nothing in any of this that furthers the cause of genuinely good American beer. To repeat: Nothing." And so I put it to you, dear readers. Is the AOB right to take the sponsorship of Coors in the promotion of ABM, despite the fact that, as Baylor notes, that same company and its larger competitors would likely be quite happy to see the end of the American craft brewery movement altogether? Or is Baylor right in his objections and does this arrangement do nothing at all to further the cause of good beer? Let me know at beaumont@worldofbeer.com. Feature Articles
Feedback?We're very interested in your news, notes, comments and questions, so please feel free to contact SBWoB by clicking on the link below. Or you can add your comments when you sign up for the World of Beer Update, a mid-month e-mail newsletter that brings even more of the world of beer to your computer. Send Feedback To: beaumont@worldofbeer.com Bright Beer - Kitchen Table Tastings - Feature - Taste of the Month Copyright 1997 - 2006 © - Stephen Beaumont |