Use of Stereotype
Concerned primarily with cultural identity, this presentation centers on a stereotype.
While stereotypes may be harmful, they often help in the analysis of a social group.
Elements of this stereotype may help us identify important elements of the cultural identity of craft beer people.
It must be noted that this specific stereotype is a compound description of homebrewers and other craft beer people based on interactions with members of the culture. Some specific elements of this stereotype have been made explicit by either by members of the culture or by outsiders while this overall description is an analytical construct.
Because of my involvement in the homebrewing community, this specific stereotype relates most directly to homebrewers. Given the fact that many if not most professional craft brewers have been homebrewers themselves and the strong connections between homebrewers and craft beer lovers, homebrewers seem rather representative of craft beer culture as a whole.
The Stereotype
College-educated, middle-class, middle-aged, suburban, European-American, married men with a bald spot and a beer belly.
While this stereotype may sound like a caricature of craft beer culture, it does not represent a social stigma.
People described by this stereotype are fairly non-distinctive. In a way, they could almost be anyone’s uncle. As a group, they represent a very significant demographic and one that carries significant social power. In fact, the people thus typified are one of the main targets of advertising agencies.
These dimensions might not need an explanation. However stereotypical it might, this portrait of the craft beer person seems to make sense. Yet all of those dimensions contribute to the identity negotiation processes undergone by craft beer people.
Stereotypical Dimensions
Occupational Identity
In my experience, most homebrewers and craft beer lovers have undergone at least some college or university training. College and university students, including several graduate students, afford significant representation within the group. Post-secondary education makes sense in the context of craft beer production as brewing requires a fairly broad expertise on technical, scientific, and artistic issues. Craft beer consumption is easily associated with a degree of perceived sophistication often given to college- and university-educated individuals. In addition, a “thirst for knowledge” is likely to characterize craft beer lovers in their 4/8 quest for quality beer.
Through their appreciation of quality beer, craft beer lovers put forth the sophistication of their palate and knowledge of beer. A craft beer lover knows his beers and is unlikely to resist the temptation of flaunting this knowledge in public.
Social Network
Connected to their educational status, the socio-economic status of craft beer people as members of the so-called “middle-class” has several important implications in terms of cultural identity.
Middle-class status often implies social mobility. Craft beer’s emphasis on quality and sophistication may help maintain this social mobility as acquisition of a sophisticated taste may favor the achievement of a higher social status. A beer connoisseur might impress members of his professional and social milieu much the same way as a sophisticated wine drinker or cigar aficionado. However, given the image of beer as a more popular item, the prestige effect of beer connoisseurship is mediated by the notion that a beer lover, even a sophisticated one, is still a “regular guy.”
Related to social mobility is the fact that a craft beer person’s social network is likely to be rather sparse and often characterized by simplex relations.
Craft beer people may know many people but these people may not know each other and the bonds between members of the network are likely to be limited to a single sphere of activities. Such a network contrasts with so-called “working-class” networks characterized by dense networks with multiplex relations. Some craft beer people, in fact, lack the type of support system typical of dense network and come to rely on acquaintances made through the craft beer connection to satisfy some of their social needs.
In such a context, the bonds between craft beer people are likely to be rather fluid. A passion for craft beer connects individuals across different social boundaries and may lead to friendship as well as professional relationships. Yet such relationships are relatively precarious, if not fickle, and social mobility is preserved.
Clearly, a passion for craft beer benefits from disposable income. While not atypically wealthy, many craft brewers will devote rather important sums of money to beer-related expenses. These expenses might include expensive beers as well as “breweriana.” Similarly, homebrewers often make equipment purchases which take up a significant proportion of their budgets. In several cases, the apparent futility of such purchases prompts negative reactions on the part of the craft beer person’s spouse. Yet craft beer people often gain social capital through such purchases.
Craft beer people often undertake beer-related trips to different parts of North America and Europe. Those trips often increase the sophistication of the craft beer person and may further enhance his social capital.