Craft brewing in America is booming, providing consumers a diverse selection from over 4,000 breweries. But some of those breweries have potential to offer the American public something else: A conduit for national (and personal) progress. If 2016 has taught us anything it is that America has communication problems
. From our private lives to political leadership, America is drowning in oceans of cynical opposition and blame; that differences equate to division, and division creates “sides”, and those sides must do battle to produce a “winner”. When we concentrate on debate, we sacrifice truth, accuracy, and finding and creating solutions. Debate often serves as a roadblock. Winning is not solving.America’s Founding Fathers knew that debating each other was perilous. As Benjamin Franklin stated, “We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.” Infighting and banter would have, literally, led to their deaths. Instead, they sat down, face to face, to discuss differences and create new avenues, which led to independence and, later, the Constitution. And they did this without telephones, telegraphs, planes, trains, cars, the Internet and social media.Their conduit was public spaces: Local taverns and inns, many of which were small breweries. While there, they engaged in Dialogue: In-person discussions that were honest, contentious and civil. They didn’t abandon debate, but they didn’t rely on it. They invited critical analysis and kept cynical opposition at bay (for the most part). Their dialogues contained more than critique; they invoked critical thinking, they looked for new insights and various perspectives, and cautioned against hubris to reac historic solutions. America today lacks the overall awareness of dialogue, acknowledgement of its benefits, and the skills to engage it. Thankfully, however, the safe spaces our Founding Fathers used have returned. Enter craft breweries. Many are local businesses. They are popular and public. They attract people from all walks of life. The ethos of a local craft brewery is community, and that of the craft brewing industry is comradery. Community and comradery are ingredients of a great recipe. When mixed with Dialogue they can generate progress, problem solving and unity.Yet, Dialogue is tricky and difficult, and should not be engaged haphazardly or on a whim. Since dialogue often includes contentious issues, emotions can run high and, if not managed properly, can derail the endeavor making matters worse. Dialogue participants must understand that their ideas, emotions, beliefs and interests will be challenged, not for ridicule, but for understanding. They should not see Dialogue as an opportunity to convince others and “win” the argument, but rather to understand perspectives and recognize obstacles. Cynicism may pop up, and it must be properly managed to minimize its impact. Participants must realize that Disagreement is required, but Division is not. They must also be flexible with their positions, consider suggestions, and allow for personal change (albeit not instant). And they must treat others with respect and maintain civility. But first, they need to meet, in-person, and in safe spaces. Using “out-person” conduits, such as social media and the Internet, we further our division by communicating to each other, not with each other. As a result, we focus on that we disagree, and ignore how we do so. In-person Dialogue aims not to eliminate disagreement, but to enhance how we understand, learn from, and overcome our differences so that they won’t divide us. Intense, critical, curious and civil discussions over a pint of craft beer just may save America. If dialogue participants disagree on everything else, at least they can agree on having a locally brewed, delicious beer. From there, once a commonality is recognized, anything can happen. More commonalities emerge and problem solving begins. Once again, America looks to local breweries to begin its (re)unification.To help spark the dialogue movement, we have created the Pub Dialogues in the Denver metro area. This somewhat monthly event has garnered large and small crowds, but after each session participants cheer the event. Many admit that they anticipated shouting matches and didn't know they could actually talk to "opponents". We applaud their openness and flexibility to experiment with face-to-face dialogue. Every "side" is allowed to speak uninterrupted. Participants gain insight to others and better understand various perspectives. Perhaps the biggest benefit is that they experienced civil dialogue; that they can get past disagreement and onto problem solving. And that is the primary goal of the Pub Dialogues; to help people recognize that people can resolve issues among themselves and not rely on social media, presidential debates and cynicism.
The Crux of the Craft Beer v. Crafty Beer Debate: It's Personal
--To better understand the arguments behind Craft v. Crafty, see links at the end--
There is a heated debate between a few large breweries (AB-InBev, MillerCoors, etc) and more than two thousand small breweries across the U.S. and some other countries. To get a quick outline of the situation, the large breweries bring in about 90% of beer sales, with craft breweries claiming 10%, but this share has grown over the last decade. With overall beer sales losing out to liquor, malt beverages and wine, big breweries have endured further losses of sales to craft breweries. As any company would do when they lose sales, they look to change the trend.Craft breweries are enjoying a huge boom. In a major recession, rarely do we find any company that enjoys profit, and here we have the craft breweries increasing their profits and share of the beer market. It's quite remarkable. How can the overall beer market lose shares to wine, liquor and malt beverages, AND the biggest breweries see sales down, but have craft breweries grow? There must be a secret.Many theories exist as to what this secret might be: hand crafted beer, sense of community, better tasting product, etc. Apparently, the large breweries think the secret is the image of craft beer. MillerCoors and AB-InBev have many smaller breweries under their umbrella (AC Golden, Leinenkugel, Goose Island, Rolling Rock…) or have specific brands under different names (MillerCoors has Blue Moon, AB-InBev has Shock Top). More brand names under this umbrella are popping up.In countering this maneuver from the large breweries, craft breweries are crying foul, and not because they feel the image of craft beer is being tarnished or stolen, although we'll see how this affects the situation. Craft breweries say that on an unequal playing field--where the big breweries have the advantages of money, marketing, etc--now they are bypassing the rules of the game: selling a product under their own name. Craft breweries are asking the large breweries, "hey, if your product is so good, then why are you hiding it under a different name? Step up and claim ownership. Be proud of your product".Ostensibly, the debate then is that Craft breweries want open and honest competition. That they feel the large breweries are denying this. Large breweries counter and say the consumer should purchase what they like. Craft breweries feel the consumer is being lied to by large breweries, and skewing the playing field. But this is the business translation of the core of the issue.*At the heart of this debate is that Craft breweries feel their hard work and precious investments of time, money, energy and lifestyle are being taken advantage of by the large breweries. Ask yourself, if someone took your idea and ran with it at your expense, how upset would you be? Now imagine the person doing this is already extremely rich. How do you feel? This is how craft breweries feel.With large breweries using the image of craft brewing, craft breweries feel cheated and robbed. Not about the image itself, but what that image represents; all the sacrifices craft brewers made to establish a small business around their passion. It is an internal assault on their being and this hurts more than market share, shelf space and financial losses. But, in the end, large breweries are correct: consumers will buy what they enjoy drinking. Who's right is the focus of the debate, but it shouldn't be…a debate.* Some craft breweries will remain outside this debate as their product is distributed by subsidiaries of the large breweries. The three-tier system in the U.S. is a complex machine that cannot be disregarded in this debateDefinitions: Brewers Association http://www.brewersassociation.org/pages/media/press-releases/show?title=craft-vs-crafty-a-statement-from-the-brewers-associationShort video: CBS http://beerpulse.com/2013/06/calagione-on-cbs-craft-vs-crafty-generated-over-100-million-media-impressions-video/Miller's response: http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/12/12/sabmiller-big-beer-craft-brewers/Another take: http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/11/15/big-beer-craft-brewers/Some analysis: http://cultivatedpint.blogspot.com/2013/02/craft-and-crafty-beer-brewers.html