18 Oct Craft vs. Import–What’s the Difference to You?
By Andrew Dickey for Indiana On Tap
The term ‘import beer’ has meant a lot of different things over the years. And if you’re like me and frequently look at beer menus, craft/import is often its own category. In today’s world, import beer is often a mass produced lager or such made abroad that restaurants can charge more for because Beck’s, Heineken, Corona, and the often mis-labeled Colorado-made Killian’s are thought to be premium. Compared to American-made light lagers, they are. Still, at one time imports carried a much different connotation and believe it or not, were usually thought of as high-end beer.
I know I have said this before, but some of us turned 21 long before 2007 or so, and remember when craft beer was not as prevalent as it is now. Twelve years ago, there was very little Indiana-made beer in the liquor stores, much less the grocery stores. Indeed, most of the craft beer I enjoyed back then was at brew fests or brewpubs, which may have been one of the reasons I started homebrewing. My brewing partner was into nearly forgotten European styles, some of which probably went out of vogue when the Prussian Court dissolved! Some of the things we did like Alts are just now being tinkered with by Indiana Brewers. It was a very different scene back then, and anything that was not made by the big American breweries was considered top-notch. Having said that, I don’t feel the quality of craft beer was overall where it is today, and often times buying beer at the liquor store was a crapshoot. Circa 2005, only a handful of American craft brew interests were bottling and distributing their beer. Indeed, at the first beer fest I attended in 2001, in Decatur Georgia, over half the beers there were European.
When I went to my neighborhood beer store at that time (which was then called Castleton Wine and Spirits), I viewed imported beer the same way I did craft beer. As I explored their beer catalog, I tried beer and beer styles from all over the world. I had visited Belgium several times and was happy to slowly see Belgian beer on the shelves. And I remember discovering Bitberger, and then reading about it in Michael Jackson’s book. A friend told me to try Jever, and I was taken back by this dry northern German-made Pilsner. I was told this is what American beer tasted like over 100 years ago, and this made me scoff at American taste in beer. Most people drank domestic beer, and that’s what bars sold. If you were lucky, Sam Adams was on tap, and their beer was a standby for me for many years. In his book, Jim Koch says Sam Adams was up against the import beers back then, and he was offering a fresher product–which was true.
Slowly I became interested in Michigan-made beers. They were available here, and Founders, Bells, New Holland, and others were offering a lot of great products. As I found more and more American-made craft beers in the store, I became drawn to what was seemingly the freshest. A case in point was Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold. It was fantastic and as long as it was available in Indiana, I rarely bought the German-made ones. I did make it to Germany a few years later, and appreciated the fresh quality of drinking there. I was turned onto Hefeweisen and Berliner Weisen, both fantastic summer beers. Happily for me, American breweries had started making these beers early on, so it wasn’t long before I could enjoy fresh examples of these styles.
So I have brought us up to about the time I consider the birth of the current craft beer wave. It started small, but as of my writing this piece, there are very few styles of beer that are not experimented with on some level in Indiana. We have 150 breweries, with a great many of them bottling. Most of the rest offer their beer in growlers. There is ample opportunity to drink local as most people in Indiana can say they live near a brewery or tap room. And of course, hundreds of other craft breweries nationwide offer their beer in this state too. I firmly believe that the quality of craft beer made in this country is as high right now as it’s ever been!
So if you did not start drinking before 2007, and have not been abroad, good imported beer might be foreign to you. Still, most beer stores have a good import section, usually heavy on Belgian labels. It’s a great opportunity to learn more about the kind of beer you like, and there’s a good chance you can find an import in the same style. One of my favorite styles of beer is the Flemish Sour Brown, and while a few decent ones are made stateside (New Glarus’ Enigma and Rivertown’s Soulless to name two), I feel the best ones are still made in Flanders (the northern section of Belgium). Yet a lot of sours currently being made in Indiana give me hope that someday a Hoosier-made Flemish Brown will taste perfect to me.
So I realize that my definition of imports means imported craft beer, and I have done that purposely. We all like craft beer, and I support breweries worldwide, all the while enjoying locally made beer as much as possible. I travel this country extensively, and try to take in local beer scenes while I am there. And at home, I couldn’t be happier with all the variety of excellent beer offered to me!
So for me, there is no debate. Every imported beer into our state, whether nationally or internationally, is a hometown local favorite to somebody, and I hope the Indiana beer exported elsewhere is viewed with the same love and appreciation. I guess my open view of beer comes from the hours spent in my early 20s pouring through beer books and reading about beer and beer styles, many of which I never expect to see, much less try. We have access to a lot of great beer here in Indiana, and there is some novelty to the few great beers we can’t get here. Drink what you like, and as long as it’s craft beer, I salute you.
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