An interesting international perspective was expressed in The Shout, an Australian trade publication covering “hotel, bar, club & liquor industry news.” The short piece, entitled “… as Specialist Hails Craft Beer Revival,” is about the International Beer Shop, a specialty beer store in Perth that carries 850 beers from around the world.
The shop’s manager, Cameron Stewart, has some great quotes about American craft beer’s influence on the rest of the world, to wit:
“Experimental US Craft Breweries have tipped the dominos, and they are falling throughout the Western World.”
…“Cutting-edge modern breweries constantly expand their ranges, developing and reinterpreting various beer styles to provide beer lovers with their next beer experience,” he said.
“These guys are constantly refining their art. They are the magicians of the beer world.”
Nice.
I’m still surprised when I overhear a learned visitor to our country enlightening everyone to the fact that the U.S. doesn’t brew any good beers and only makes those watered down lagers. Excuse me, did my vehicle just hit 88 miles per hour?!?!? It sounds to me like we just jumped back to 1984!
I think part of the challenge for the States is that very, very little craft beer makes it out of your country. It is relatively easy (but expensive) to get Sierra Nevada, Rogue, and Sam Adams and quite difficult (and more expensive) to get Dogfish Head and Stone – and this has only been the last couple of years in Australia. We’ve had BMC for ever! So the rest of the (learning) world only knows the big three. Just to hold up a mirror, I think most people still think Australian’s are a bunch of Forsters ‘Oil Can’ swilling drunks – which is only partially true. 🙂
Gotta love those Fosters oil cans!