A great article by an imbecile that knows nothing about beer

These things are starting to become more prevalent as the craft beer market starts to grow but the written gems in this article are priceless. Let's start with this common thread in a lot of these types of articles.

"Young adults' buying patterns have changed," says Centennial senior vice president Ron Cockerham. "The second- generation baby boomers are more image-conscious and want to purchase brands that project a positive or cool image."

Ok, so this is from a large distributor in Dallas so you can get the idea here but come on. While I agree that some of this is occurring, dismissing the sector because they want to project a cool image is not wholly correct and is rather demeaning to true "geeks" that want a flavorful beer. This point is driven home when you read further on the beers that "they" like to drink.

Among the coolest right now are craft beers Blue Moon Belgian White and Fat Tire Amber Ale, both Belgian-style ales made in Colorado.

and this gem.

With a lot of today's craft beers, squeezing a wedge of orange or lemon into the drink is de rigueur. Orange brings out the orange peel that's part of Blue Moon's formula, and Widmer Hefeweizen, another trendy wheat brew that's made in Oregon, pitches the virtues of a lemon slice on its Web site.

That's not such a leap, when you consider the tradition of serving lime with Mexican beers such as the ever-popular Corona, Dos Equis and Tecate. Heineken and Heineken Light also are hot imports, Mr. Calhoun says. Mr. Cockerham adds Stella Artois, another Belgian, to the list.

Ok, so there is so much wrong with these statements, from a geeks standpoint, it isn't even funny, BUT there is some truth to it I suppose. While those that are doing this to be trendy will drink these beers listed, and add fruit to look cool or because the bartendar told them too, it doesn't mean that the craft beer growth we have seen is "trendy" or "cool" like the Zima craze of 1993.
It reminds me of quote recently from the CEO of Miller, I believe, where he mentioned that craft beer is just a "fad." Sure, it will be a fad for some but what will happen to many of those people that have a Blue Moon, out of trying to look cool, will learn that beer can have flavor and will try something else and so on. They won't go back to Miller, they won't drink their alcopops, they will seek out great beer.
So when I see articles like this written in such a dismissive way it chaps my hide knowing that I don't drink the beer I drink to be trendy, I don't homebrew to be trendy and I don't write this blog to be trendy. I do these things because I love great beer and I think others should see the light too.

Sorry for the rant.