Craft Beer
"What is meant by craft beer?" The answer is much less simple and the definition can be discussed at length. To provide some clarity, we use the definition of the trade association. After all, who better to explain what craft beer is than the craft beer brewers themselves?!
A craft brewer is defined by four core concepts:
- Independent - up to 25% of the shares are owned by a non-craft brewer.
- Authentic - brews (main) beer on an undiluted basis and does not use corn, rice or other ingredients to save costs. No high-gravity beer is brewed.
- Honest - is transparent about ingredients, origin and production location.
- Volume - produces no more than one million hectoliters per year.
The fact that craft beer is so popular is mainly due to the abundance of variety. While large breweries focus primarily on the size of their production, craft brewers have more room to experiment with flavors. As a result, the beers often change and innovate, so they surprise every time.
