Thursday, May 29, 2008

The Colorado Beer Trail

You know craft beer has hit the big time when it gets talked about in Time magazine. But not just any craft beer -- Colorado craft beer.

Joel Stein wrote up an interesting article last month called "The Colorado Beer Trail" in which the intrepid, non-beer drinking reporter tagged along with the Big Beer Kahuna himself, Scott Kerkmans (Chief Beer Officer for Four Points by Sheraton), for a tour of Denver-area breweries.

It's a really good article, even if it's written by someone who - before going on this excursion - proclaimed not to like beer. Hey, it's OK not to like beer... my wife really doesn't, but too often beer articles written for mainstream media are done so by people who not only don't like beer, but can't tell the difference between a Hefe and an IPA. At least Joel sounds like he knows what he's talking about, thus he can accurately convey to readers what he was drinking and experiencing. There's nothing worse than a writer writing about something they know nothing about. It does a huge disservice to the writer, the magazine (or website), and most importantly... the very topic being written about. If uninformed, it might actually sway the opinion of someone who doesn't know better.

While you're reading the article be sure to check out the accompanying photo montage taken by David Bowman. There's some really good pics in there.

Oh, and Mr. Kerkmans... about that bus tour of Denver-area breweries - call me! ;)

3 comments:

Dave said...

This is the article that got all the Oregonian beer lovers up in arms. They don't believe that Denver should have gotten this honor. They say Oregon has the most craft breweries in the nation. While Colorado puts out the most beer by the gallon in the US (if you also include the Coors and Bud plants), Oregon puts out a bit more craft beer. Still, being in Colorado, gotta love it.

Eli the Mad Man said...

This whole "Us versus Them" thing brings up an interesting point... it's stupid. I equate it to the "PC versus Apple" debate that forum trolls have raged on about for a thousands years (or it's approximation).

Fact is, there are a lot of corollaries between gaming, computers, and the beer industry (which I'll save for another diatribe).

It all boils down to the same thing: people who actively argue over these moot points have nothing better to do with their pathetic little lives so the make shit up to to argue about to feel empowered.

There's enough people out there in the world for every brewery in every state to keep on producing beer. So to them I say... grab a brew and shut the hell up. Please.

Anonymous said...

Great Article. I have consumed Budweiser for over twenty year. After moving to Colorado several years ago, I fell in love with craft beers. I have not touched a Bud since.