The NYTimes has an interview with their own Joshua Bernstein who “was writing about bars and nightlife when the craft brew wave started to rise.”
More breweries closed than opened last year, explains the intro, “the first time that has happened since 2005.”
In the interview, Bernstein recalls when he recognized the craft brewing trend beginning.
Probably around 2003 or 2004, I started seeing this big wave of craft breweries opening up across the country. It felt like something was happening.
I guess the beer writer for the paper of record should know when the craze began, but I’m proud to say that I recognized the trend in 1997 when I featured 10 small breweries in a spread in Northern Ohio Live, the magazine I edited.
I blogged about that spread in 2013 here on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Great Lakes Brewing Company. (I have Great Lakes beers in my fridge even now.)
I’m still trying new brews. On my recent trip to Minneapolis, I visited three breweries (Modist, Fair State Brewing Cooperative, and Inbound BrewCo) and enjoyed the Lift Bridge Mango Blonde at the airport. My NOL spread and blog post highlighted a different Lift Bridge brewery. I’m glad the name lives on.
My brother-in-law Tom introduced me to the Untappd app for keeping a beer journal. Tom has me beat by hundreds and hundreds of check-ins (he’s partial to IPAs). Since 2019, I’ve had 102 check-ins on 97 beers with an average rating of 3.74. The styles I’ve tried the most are American pale ale and lager, German-style pilsner, Kölsch, and fruited sour.
I’m just back from pick-up soccer and on a high from scoring a hat trick. I’d love a beer right now, but Erin and I are pledged to a dry January.
© Anton Zuiker