I used to hate beer.  Most Americans experience beer and alcoholic beverages as a rite of passage into adulthood, but I refused to follow the crowd.  Despite their fowl taste, most of us are introduced to beer through the cheapest, most processed versions available.  I remember someone once explaining to me a kind of golden rule to appreciating (bad) beer, in an attempt to get me started: after ten cans the foul taste will go away!  Even hardcore vegetarians and vegans can be found making exceptions for these beers, many of which contain animal products like bone, bladder, and dried blood. But I wanted nothing to do with them.

Then I moved to Portland, Oregon.

The wet city in the Pacific Northwest contains more brewpubs per-capita than anywhere else in the world, even Germany.  I was surrounded by exotic Scotch Ales and fruity Lamics.  It wasn’t long until I was trying beers left and right and attending such world-class beer events as the Oregon Brewers Festival and the Holiday Ale Festival.  So then with so many great beers out there, why did it take me so long to find them?

Last year’s documentary film, Beer Wars, answers my question with a sobering story.  Through an inside glimpse into the beer industry, the film illuminates how the giants of the market reinforce their dominance and squelch micro brewers using every tactic available.  Distribution companies and grocery stores are manipulated to ensure that the smaller companies have little to no room in the trucks or on the shelves.  We watch as the humble brewmaster of microbrewery Dogfish Head is served with litigation from Anheuser-Busch.  Even though the suit is bogus, it is obvious that the corporation is aiming to simply bankrupt the little guys in legal fees.  Why?  Because they can. Continue reading →