Beer: What's after craft?

It’s been a runaway success, but the craft beer movement can’t rest on its laurels. Shay Waterworth takes a look at the direction it might be heading in

________________________________________

ABERDEEN-ANGUS steak burger topped with extra mature farmhouse cheddar in a brioche bun, served with triple cooked chips and homemade mayonnaise. Sound good? This is the kind of vocabulary found on the menu of gastropubs in the UK. The craft beer movement found the perfect home in the British gastropub, but will it prove as enduring as its foodie counterpart and what could be the next big thing in the beer industry?

Before predicting what might be ahead, let’s have a look at what craft actually means. The Oxford dictionary definition of the word is: “An activity involving skill in making things by hand.” Unfortunately for the beer industry, at some point in any brewing process someone will have to use their hands. This means that whether beer is brewed by two blokes in a shed in the Outer Hebrides, or produced in millions of hectolitres and shipped worldwide, everyone could claim the title of craft.

Supermarkets in the UK and Europe are now categorising anything that doesn’t taste like lager as craft, which makes it difficult for consumers to differentiate genuine quality from clever branding.

Something needs to happen to the craft beer movement to keep consumers interested and to separate true craft from the wannabes. So, does the movement need to evolve to keep consumers wanting more, or will another buzzword begin appearing on supermarket shelves instead of craft?

FRESH DEMAND

A recent article written by Pete Brown for Class magazine explains how beers will taste different according to the type of water used in the brewing process. A pint of beer is around 95% water. This explains why beers from different parts of the world can taste completely alien to each other – even if they’re from the same brand.

This means that demand for beers produced in certain countries is higher than in others. When traditional craft brewers begin to gain popularity, the pressure to export its beers rises. But the main problem with this is transport. There is no guarantee the product will taste the same once it arrives on the other side of the world in a different climate. Scottish brewery Brewdog, the poster boy for modern craft beers, has recently promised to transport all its beer at below 8° in an attempt to guarantee quality and freshness.

Ciaran Giblin, brewmaster at Meantime Brewery in London, joined Drinks International to discuss the direction of the craft beer industry. “Freshness is key. If consumers can taste a beer exactly how it was brewed regardless of how far it has travelled, then they will want more of it.

“Budweiser was very clever with its marketing when it introduced sell-by dates on bottles. Even though it wasn’t necessary, people do respond to fresh products.”

But it isn’t just breweries that are reacting to the craft trend. Canning companies, which have been at the forefront of the craft movement in the UK, have now begun tailoring production to buy into fresh-thinking consumers.

Martin Constable, chairman of the Can Makers says: “Perhaps the most striking development in can technology, from a consumer’s point of view, is the emergence of cans that change colour. This is made possible by the use of thermochromic inks or dyes: temperature-sensitive compounds that temporarily change colour.

“It’s not only a thermometer that tells you when your beer is cold enough, it also provides an opportunity to personalise by creating your own handprint.”

STAYING LOCAL

More and more craft breweries are now rejecting the idea of exporting beers and are turning attention to dominating the local area. This works better for breweries based in cities than the countryside for the same reason as transport.

Tom Hearn, a business director at marketing agency Nude Brand Creation, which has worked closely with craft breweries, says: “The essence of craft is built on locality and provenance, and it is much easier for a start-up or small-scale brewer to attract a local audience first.

‘Not only does it make financial sense to work locally (distribution, shipping costs etc), but current consumers have a huge sense of pride in where they come from or live and will be much more likely to adopt a local brand than one from elsewhere.”

Locality is under threat, however. A common theme developing in craft beer is bigger breweries such as AB Inbev and Asahi taking over popular breweries in cities such as London, which is jeopardising the craft title.

Meantime was taken over by Asahi in 2015, making it one of the largest craft breweries in London alongside Camden Town Brewery, but Giblin believes the positives outweigh the negatives.

“Having such a big company behind us gives us support. It helps us expand while maintaining our quality and consistency because of the access we get to technology.”

IMPROVING THE EXPERIENCE

In the Czech Republic, rather than breweries giving their beer to a bar or pub, they use what’s called a ‘tapster’. This is essentially a barista for the beer industry.

The tapster looks after the beer’s storage, knows the correct techniques of pouring different beers and understands the type of glass each beer should be consumed from. This gives consumers a greater on-trade experience and it could be something the craft movement turns to as a way of developing the premium aspect.

Steven Bewick from Purple Creative, which works with Czech beer Pilsner Urquell and Peroni adds: “Guinness is the only brand which has got consumers to buy into the quality pouring aspect of its beer.

“I think we need an attitude shift towards quality transport, storage and pouring. The big breweries don’t seem to understand craft beer because they’re brewing by numbers and spend more money on advertising than quality. However they may need to rebrand.

“I think the craft movement will evolve but I don’t think it will stop. The issue for consumers will be that it will become harder to spot good craft beers because anyone with a shed could claim to be craft, so only the good tasting beers will survive.”

MILLENNIAL TRENDS

The drinks trade’s favourite consumers, millennials, are putting more emphasis on healthy living, prompting the emergence of lower and non-alcoholic beers.

Nude Brand Creation’s Hearn says: “Low and no-alcohol beer is a category predicted to grow. This isn’t just aimed at beer drinkers who need a no-alcohol alternative on certain occasions.

‘It’s also targeting soft drink consumers and drinkers of other no-alcohol products and attracting them into the category.

“There is a blurring of categories across the whole drinks sector and this will only continue within beer.”

Of course, not every beer company wants to follow the craft movement. According to Bewick, Italian brand Peroni wants to become more of a fashion brand than a beer and wants nothing to do with the term craft.

It is important, therefore, to remember that not everyone associates the term craft with quality – some people associate the word with scruffiness or shoddiness.

Regardless of how people perceive the word craft, like gastro it will likely appear on pub menus for years to come.

Whether the word craft will be replaced by fresh or local is quite possible, but until then just enjoy a Sunday afternoon accompanied by a gourmet burger and a craft pale ale.