San Diego Craft Brewers Guild introduces membership identifiers
Club ties, school ties, even signet rings bearing a mark, crest, motif or symbol, are bog-standard insignia indicating membership in an exclusive club. They have been around like forever.
With over 130 breweries San Diego ranks among the top 10 US craft beer destinations. So it’s kind of remarkable that the San Diego Brewers Guild (SDBG) is only now thinking of introducing identifiers, after the Big Brewers have bought several of their former brethren, thus blurring the line between independently owned craft breweries and corporate craft breweries.
The San Diego Brewers Guild is convinced its best weapon is consumer education. As they see it, many consumers aren’t even aware that there is a dividing line between “independent craft producers” and producers who appear to be “craft” but are really owned by the Big Brewers (AB-InBev, Constellation Brands, MillerCoors).
Having pondered the question how to teach consumers who’s who, they think they have come up with a solution. Over the summer, the Guild will introduce a number of items that are designed to help craft breweries identify themselves – not only as independent, but also as members of the SDBG.
According to media reports, the planned items include window clings and flags for hanging in tasting rooms and for use at events. There are also tap danglers in the works, which will identify local, independent craft beer tap handles at bars and pubs all over the county.
Jill Davidson, President of the Guild, was quoted as saying that they want consumers to have an understanding of exactly what they’re walking into when they go to a taproom or brewery.
The new identifying items will be an important step in helping breweries make their identities known, and they will also help to engage the public in a conversation about big beer versus independents.
This is all fine and dandy, but why do the identifiers come so late? Why didn’t craft brewers think of creating their own label before if independence is the outstanding criterion for real craft breweries? After all, independence is stated in the Guild’s by-laws for membership.
Several others have done it before. Just look to the Belgians. In order to differentiate themselves from the corporate brewers, 20 Belgian family brewers launched their label several years ago. Displayed on packaging and elsewhere, the label signals to consumers that these beers stand for an unprecedented level of authenticity and craftsmanship.
The most prominent example of a label signalling membership of an exclusive club is the “Authentic Trappist Product” label devised by Trappist monks. Even before World War II, Trappists were trying to protect the name of “Trappist beer”. According to their website, the monks of Orval were quite conscientious in taking the interests of the Trappists to heart by hiring a lawyer and instituting legal proceedings.
The “Authentic Trappist Product” label was created to ensure the consumer of the origin and authenticity of these products, especially in the beer market, where a considerable number of brands (“monastery beers”) portray themselves using a religious image even though the products don’t come from a monastery. Today eleven Trappist beers carry this label.
Of course, having a label does not mean that the distinction between independent craft beer and beer owned by conglomerates is an issue for every consumer. The same goes for “organic” or “GMO free” food labels. But for those consumers who seek to support local businesses and know the provenance of what they eat and drink, the Guild feels they should have all the information needed to make their purchasing decisions.
But the membership identifiers serve another purpose too. After all the heated debate and the frustration over how to battle the encroachment of the Big Brewers, it seems that the simple step of issuing official Guild identifiers could go a long way toward making independent craft brewers feel a tangible sense of progress in this fight.
The Brewers Association, which represents US craft brewers, must have come to similar conclusions as the SDBG. A few days after the Guild, on 27 June 2017, the BA also announced the launch of a new seal to designate beers that are produced by independent craft brewers. The BA says that the seal is available for use free of charge by any of the more than 5,300 small and independent American craft brewers that have a valid TTB Brewer’s Notice; meet the BA’s craft brewer definition; and sign a license agreement. It is available to both member and non-member breweries of the BA.
