Fish live in the water. Sam Calagione; master brewer at Dogfish, can be controversial. Statements of equal value.
I’ve met Sam. I’ve read more than a few of his rants. No matter what anyone thinks of his opinions about beer; and I admit I agree with most of his rants that I’ve read, we need brewers like Sam to keep speaking out… as much as we need those who defend brewing less extreme. Otherwise we might return to that mostly one style brewing hell we had, back when only pterosaurs drank beer; boring beer.
Yes, I am that old. I’ll skip all the drinking with Barney and Fred stories and the secret life their wives didn’t know about. I’ve typed too much already. Shhh!
Sam does a great job defending extreme brewing in this piece published in The Ale Street News. I did notice those who responded mostly used the overblown weapon used by those who unable to rationally defend their own opinions: the personal attack.
Yawn.
Variety is a good thing.
“In 2008 the U.S. beer industry grew 0.4 percent in barrels, the entire craft beer segment of our beer industry grew 5.8 percent. But according to the IRI study, the Ultra Premium segment of the craft category (where almost all imperial beers reside) grew 17.6 percent in 2008. Three times the growth rate of the Craft Economy segment.”