Storm’s threatening

…or, at least, I hope so.

I tweeted yesterday about a St. Louis Dispatch article by the Brewer’s Association’s Charlie Papazian, Bob Pease, and Dan Kopman on the increasing prominence of faux craft beers, put out by the likes of A-B InBev and MBC/SABMiller. I wrote about my own experience with this bait-and-switch crock a few weeks ago. Today I see via Beer Street Journal that the Brewer’s Association has put out a press release, calling attention to the multinationals’ shameful marketing practice; I have to fistpump the core message:

“The large, multinational brewers appear to be deliberately attempting to blur the lines between their crafty, craft-like beers and true craft beers from today’s small and independent brewers. We call for transparency in brand ownership and for information to be clearly presented in a way that allows beer drinkers to make an informed choice about who brewed the beer they are drinking.”

If folks want to drink the products of A-B InBev and SABMiller, then by all means please do so. That’s a personal choice to make. But passing off their product as the fruit of some small brewer’s blood, sweat, and tears effort is bullshit, and it needs to end.