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Achin' To Be
I'm jealous of Portland, Ore., and of Denver, San Diego, Seattle and even little Asheville, N.C. I'm jealous because they have thriving beer cultures. Beer culture, to me, is created when a community, a town or even a state embraces local craft beer, fostering a sense of pride and loyalty. In Portland, craft beer has a larger market share than anywhere else in the country. Denver is host to the world's largest beer festival. San Diego is becoming a destination for not only the beach but for its beers. Try to order a mass-produced light lager in parts of Seattle, and you'll be served a glass of water. Asheville is so into its local beer scene (eight breweries in a town of 80,000 people) that it has been named "Beer City" USA by the Brewers Association. I didn't see a single Arizona town on the list of finalists. Why? Arizona is home to more than 20 breweries. Good breweries, award-winning breweries, with more on the way. It has some of the best beer bars in the country. And it is home to one of the largest homebrewing clubs in the United States. But still we lag behind in terms of beer culture found in those other cities. Maybe what Rob Fulmer, president of the Arizona Society of Homebrewers, says is true: We're too spread out, too homogenized, especially in Phoenix. The common thread with the cities mentioned above is that each has a dense urban core, which tends to attract younger, more craft-oriented people. People who also take great pride in their local businesses. But we have those things, too. Maybe not to the extent of those other cities, but I think there is a great deal of local pride, even if we don't have a bustling downtown. Our situation also has to do with location. It seems that a great majority of Arizonans are from somewhere else. Few things cause people to be loyal more than a good local beer. When someone moves to Arizona, it's hard to give up what you knew and jump on the bandwagon of a new beer. Distributors know this and they bring in a variety of beers from out of state. That's great. But it may also limit the number of taps that could (and should) go to local breweries. The answer to the question may also be that there is no answer to the question. As Ron Kloth, owner of the Papago Brewing Co. (one of the fine beer bars I mentioned earlier), said, "Beer culture is a matter of perception." Beer bars in San Diego or Denver aren't better than those we have here, he said, and there aren't better breweries in other places either. Arizona does quite well in national and international beer competitions. We're just not perceived as being a great place for good beer. Not yet. The point is that we're a young industry here, but we're growing. The longer we stick around, the more fans craft beer will have. A beer culture doesn't sprout up overnight. It needs to be nurtured, and that will take some time.
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