Craft. Oh for goodness sake. #3

It's a way of doing things, isn't it? It's in the making. It's not, as such, a property of the made thing. It's not a style, or kind, of thing. So why look for it in the product? It's in the process.

Craft. Oh for goodness sake. #2

And now it's kinda kewl to put yourself on the outside of that old "craft" debate. You know the one: Does "craft" mean anything? Does it mean anything in the UK brewing "scene"? Can it mean anything specific to our industry / tradition? It has been going on for a while now.

But the alternative (that isn't an alternative), Huh , who cares, I know what I mean when I say "good". I know what I like. That's an asocial, narcissistic way of looking at things, isn't it? And to imply that anyone still engaged is dumb, well that's like: "Is that thing still happening? It's like so yesterday, I am so over that." Amusing in a teenager, but pitiable in a grown-up.

Craft. Oh for goodness sake.

Ok then - a craft brewery is a small, independent producer of beer.
Why small? Because craft is NOT about mass-production.
Why independent? Because it's about the beer, and the brewers, not about the financial targets of the parent company.

What do I mean by small? Well, we're fortunate enough in the UK to have a definition for a small brewery: i.e. one that makes "Small Brewery Beer", i.e. less than 60,000 hectolitres of beer per year.

What do I mean by independent? That the brewery should be owned (mainly) by its management / workforce.

Update: This would have been a good place to suggest (as Boak & Bailey did), that "The brewers are the management".

But what does Craft mean? How about asking the V&A? http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/w/what-is-craft/. Do they have a beer collection? Should they?

Update: Small-ness & Independence are necessary, but of course, not sufficient conditions for craft-ness.