Beer Q&A: What defines 'craft beer'?

Sept. 6, 2018 2:49 PM PT

Q: You’re always yammering about “craft beer.” What the heck is that?

A: The Brewers Association, a national trade group, uses three criteria to define “craft beer.” This beer comes from breweries that are independent, with no more than 25 percent of the company owned by outside parties; traditional, using time-honored ingredients (primarily water hops, yeast and malted barley) in more than half of their alcoholic products; and small, producing fewer than 6 million barrels a year.

“Small” isn’t what it used to be. Originally, the craft designation only applied to breweries making fewer than 2 million barrels. But when Boston Beer Co., maker of Sam Adams and an industry powerhouse, blew past that barrier, “small” became larger.

How much larger? 6 million barrels equals 330 million six-packs.

Keep reading

Beer Q&A: How many calories are in my favorite beer?

Beer Q&A: Ales and lagers? What’s the difference?

Beer Q&A: What’s the best way to drink beer?

Beer Q&A: How long can you keep a brew?

Craft Beer

Peter Rowe

Peter joined The San Diego Union-Tribune in 1984. A native Californian who grew up in Encinitas, Rowe is a graduate of UC Berkeley and Northwestern University. He is past president of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and a former Fulbright scholar. He has won a few journalism awards, but would trade them all for a chance to avenge his 1994 “Jeopardy!” loss. Married to a terrific woman who has saved him from errors in writing and in life, he has three sons. At the U-T, Rowe writes profiles and features and is even paid to review beers, which hardly seems fair.