It's a bit of a no-win situation, as Dogfish Head founder Sam Calagione (his brewery is in the middle of a major expansion project) eloquently outlined in a recent BeerAdvocate thread about "the most overrated brewery." Calagione writes:
Flash forward to today, and true indie craft beer now has a still-tiny but growing marketshare of just over 5 percent. Yet so many folks that post here still spend their time knocking down breweries that dare to grow. It's like that old joke: "Nobody eats at that restaurant anymore, it's too crowded.” Except the "restaurants" that people shit on here aren't exactly juggernauts. In fact, aside from Boston Beer, none of them have anything even close to half of one percent marketshare. The more that retailers, distributors, and large industrial brewers consolidate the more fragile the current growth momentum of the craft segment becomes.
Is it the fear that the public won't appreciate a beer as you do, or is it that the potential sellout of the handcrafted approach, which made you fall in love with a brewery, leads to this growth backlash?
Showing 1-4 of 4
dogfish head is one of my favorite breweries, and to those people that have opinions like Ted and Abe above should read the whole post by Sam, and consider my statement below: http://beeradvocate.com/forum/read/4343008…
ultimately I think the complaint made by the "hardcore" beer enthusiast (I would define myself in such a way), is that many quality craft brews have now found appreciation outside the bounds of the smaller hardcore community and is receiving some mainstream appeal. Thus those detractors who formerly would pride themselves on being "in the know" or having a select taste for something those lesser citizens were ignorant of now has something in common with those lesser citizens, and they find it unsettling.
Since its inception DFH has existed to push the boundaries of brewing and expose its customers to a celebration of that. Their slogan is "off kiltered ales for off kiltered people". Some of these are more accessible to less off kiltered people than others some are not. Just like many West coast breweries (like Stone) make very hoppy, aggressive beers for their customers, not everyone enjoys that style of brewing. Likewise for belgian-style breweries like Omegang.
brewing (or rather, brewers) should be looked at like drinkable art. some artists will be widely accepted, others will have a smaller cult following. Some are renowned for technique and precision, others for pushing the boundaries. not everyone likes Picasso, Monet, or gets Pollock, but they are all artists in their own regard and made contributions in many different ways (in some cases not just through their painting). Similarly, many of the beers that DFH brews are technical accomplishments (like 120) and others may be more creative (like some of the beers described by Sam in his comment).
For myself, I sometimes find it annoying when the people at the next table asking a waitress about those Boulevard "tank beers", but if I'm the only one ordering craft brews at my favorite restaurant, they probably won't have as many for me to choose from. What should be celebrated is not just the quality of the beer, but the acceptance and appreciation for something that is hand-crafted by passionate people for others to enjoy, and work to increase the knowledge of your fellow consumer. Ultimately that will make all beer better, but I imagine people will still say someone is over-rated.
Dogfish Head is always experimenting. Throw a pot of spaghetti against the wall some of it will stick. The 60 & 90 minute IPA's are solid beers and I happen to enjoy some, not all of the Ancient Ale series. I think the collaboration between Sam Adams and Dogfish Head brewing with rose water has really pushed brewing with different liquids. There is a great tendency among beer nerds to try out geek each other and write off a brewery once its known. That is unfortunate and often shallow. A great beer is a great beer no matter who makes it.
My friend in DC also says Dogfish Head is overrated. He explained it to me as they make so many different and limited releases they've over saturated the market. He says because they release so many they are placing variety over quality. He still likes some of their main beers, just not the plethora of the off the wall stuff. Dogfish Head is interesting, they've kinda become the quintessential microbrew that is famous everywhere it's not distributed. If you keep releasing quality products people will praise you. The tricky part is maintaining that integrity if you suddenly have to up your production by 200% or more.
like
dislike
