As it is, one of the better small, independent and traditional breweries over actually here calls itself the Redoak Boutique Beer Cafe, so I’m not sure that Matt (the other one) can categorically state “boutique” is only used by the ignorant.

Yes, “craft” is a specific and important term in the States and I think Australia should have a similar definition developed to describe a particular niche of the wider brewing scene as the comparatively nascent domestic beer market develops. But in getting worked up and damning a TV talking head using a generic descriptor for beer with flavour seems to me pretty stupid. It was an CNBC article afterall, not All About Beer – but even then it seems not all brewers in the States believe you should get hung up on definitions either, see Fritz Maytag’s comments here – http://www.allaboutbeer.com/columns/fred3.html

Shouldn’t we be celebrating that beer is starting to get mainstream coverage and hope that it leads to people trying better beer and maybe even learning the lingo later? To get all snarly about the use of a word like “boutique” just creates the sort of linguistic divisions that give wine a bad name and act as a barrier to people coming to the party. It makes beer a private club that leaves people feeling stupid and excluded if they refer to it the wrong way…when we should be welcoming them with open arms and saying thanks for talking about it.

Oh, and Australians call “soccer” “soccer” too, not football. So while I would hope a US talking head would call it soccer on our TVs, I couldn’t really care what he called it if it is respectful and the meaning is clear…..

Thanks for that, good to know. She gave the impression that the universal term in Australia was boutique beer. I’m glad to know she’s a nutter.

Cheers,

J

http://www.microbrewing.com.au/

Boutique beer is what people who have no clue call Craft beer and they include premium beers from the macrobrewers and imports under this banner,

I was trying to find the article (I thought it was online) where Michael Jackson talked about how the boutique/micro terminology settles out way back when He used boutique extensively in his first pocket guide (1984).