Steve Skojec

I caught this interesting piece in the New York Times this afternoon on the growth of craft brewers (once micro brewers) in the United States:

In the 19th century, there were more than 4,000 breweries in the United States, brewing almost every sort of beer made in Europe and a few indigenous American varieties besides. By 1870, Brooklyn was one of the great brewing capitals of the world, with 48 breweries. People bought meat from the butcher, bread from the baker, coffee from the roaster and beer from the local brewer.

But by 1970, almost everyone shopped at the supermarket, frozen food and “TV dinners” were godsends, and we had about 40 breweries left in the entire country, all making the same bland beer.

Now Americans are moving away from spongy industrial bread, watery coffee, plasticized “cheese” and other wonders of modern food science. The top maker of white supermarket bread went bankrupt a few years ago.

Industrial beer is still the vast majority of the American market, and it’s not going away tomorrow, but there is no future in it. While industrial beers suffer flat or declining sales, craft brewers are experiencing double-digit growth. The big brewers now try to copy craft beers. European brewers, who once laughed at watery American beer, now look to the United States for inspiration.

This is a welcome trend, and not just from the perspective of beer lovers like myself. I believe that the return to artisinal food is such a huge element in cultural resurgence, even if I couldn’t quite put my finger on quite how or why.

The best comparison I can make is my wife’s cooking. Whenever dinner is really great and I ask her what’s in it, she will respond, “Love.”

I can taste it when the love’s not in it - when she is hurried, stressed out, or bored of whatever ingredients we have.

That’s what industrialized food is like. There’s no love in it. No passion. No sacramentality. Ultimately, isn’t that what makes food so stupendous? Good food is a physical, visceral reminder of the goodness of God. It’s a material thing imbued with things that delight the senses. It’s sublime.

No Manichean would have lasted through a dinner party at my house. Food-borne conversion would ensue.

All that being said, the winner here is clearly the beer-drinking public. I’ve noticed a rise in craft beers, but I admit I thought it was due to the quality of my area stores and the selection they carried.

So, to those intrepid craft brewers bringing the best that fermented hops, barley or malt have to offer to our lips, thank you, on behalf of every man who can’t choke down another can of swill made by Coors, Miller, Budweiser, et al. We owe you our happiness, in some small way, every time we reach for a cold one.