So,
you think you know beer? Unless you concoct it yourself, you probably don't
have a clue about the shady double-dealings, shenanigans and subterfuge widespread
in the big business of brewskis.
Beer
Wars tells
the story of suds in the U.S. since the founding of the very first brewery
to the current level of crazed competition for Americans' hard-working,
thirsty dollar. Director Anat Baron, herself a vet of the Beer Wars 行 if
you count Mike's Hard Lemonade as in the loop 行 takes us on an informative,
startling and incendiary journey through beer's early days of popularity
through to Prohibition, from the flowering of the beer renaissance and on
to modern-era brewing, with emphasis on the indies of the field.
Christopher Kirk's smart animation and simple graphics spice up the story,
shot through with interviews of the heroes and despots of this very, very
lucrative trade.
First
off, if you drink Bud, Bud Light, Miller, Miller Light or Coors anything,
you have done yourself a grave disservice. (The Coors anti-LGBT boycott
alone should cut that brand out of the mix.) With Anheuser Busch the
massive leader in market share, this watery dreck is foisted on the
American people with an endless bombardment of corporate advertising tying
these brews to 行 of all things 行 sports events, from NASCAR to the Super
Bowl.
Having
captured 78% of the domestic market, the Big 3 of Anheuser Busch, Miller
and Coors have stomped out any semblance of competition over the years.
Anyone recall Meister Brau, or Stegmaier's, Potosi, Hull's Bock,
Ballantine's? Lucky Lager, People's Beer, Walter's Bock, Trommer's Malt, or
Piel's? Bueller? The Big 3 killed them all off, and by 1978 had reduced
their number to just 45 in the entire nation. They also purchased the
larger indies such as Rolling Rock, gutted the brand, jettisoned its
hometown of Latrobe, Wisconsin, and sold the plundered gem as the original.
Others followed, from Grolsch to Kirin import, and now one of every two
beers sold in the U.S. is an Anheuser Busch brew.
The
first credible threat to this consolidation came about in the '80s with
home brewing, micro-breweries and craft brews. This burgeoning industry, a
counter to the Big 3 and now also in danger of absorption or co-option from
them, rose as a partial result of Americans' growing culinary
sophistication. Beer Wars tells the compelling stories of several craft brew vets,
from Jim Koch of Sam Adams to Rhonda Kallman's caffeinated Moonshot, Greg
Koch's Stone and the wondrous Dogfish Head's Sam Calagione. These indie
stars are overworked, stretched to the limit, fighting off the Big 3 and
investing every dime and more into their dream. Baron gives us a slice of
their lives, and deals with clarity on issues such as store placement (eye
level, make or break) and bar placement (schmoozorama night after night).
Baron's expose takes us from trade shows to bars to boardrooms, often
seeming to equate Big Beer with Big Oil.
Coming away from Beer Wars, viewers most likely will
crave a fine craft brew while they vilify the Bud Lights of this world. Oh,
yes, and don't drink your craft brew too cold 行 kills the taste.
Cheers!
