Generational Identity
Craft beer people vary in age. Some people become craft beer enthusiasts as soon as they reach the legal drinking age of their region and some craft beer people remain passionate about craft beer after retirement. Yet the stereotypical image of the middle-aged craft beer person might relate to yet another dimension of cultural identity. While it is undergoing important changes in this respect, craft beer is usually not seen as a typically “cool” drink by younger people in most parts of the United States and Canada. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the drinking patterns of different generations might cut across distinctions between craft and macro beer yet the craft beer market tends to target middle-aged rather than younger drinkers.
While homebrewing may be taken up at any stage in life, it represents an interesting activity for middle-aged men undergoing a mid-life crisis. Contrary to the whimsical purchasing behavior stereotypically associated with a mid-life crisis, the jump into homebrewing may represent a more calculated attempt to achieve a sense of accomplishment.
Local Identity
While craft beer people may be found in any location, suburbanites seem to make up for a higher proportion of craft beer culture than city-dwellers and members of rural communities. Homebrewing especially seems to involve more people from the suburbs than from large cities partly because of the perceived need for real estate to undertake homebrewing activities.
Whether or not suburbanites are over-represented among homebrewers and other members of craft beer people, the suburb is a likely locale for craft beer. Regional identities are a tricky but fascinating issue among craft beer people. Contrary to “macro” beer, craft beer is localized. In fact, it might be said that the “craft beer movement” is oriented against the beer globalization. Slogans like “Think Global, Drink Local” abound in the craft beer world.
Yet craft beer also connects people across local and regional boundaries. The bonds between craft beer enthusiasts from different regions are visible in interactions in national and international beer-related activities such as festivals and competitions.
Occasionally, regional identity is negotiated in such a context by boasts and rivalries. For instance, in the Good Beer Show podcast from Indianapolis, IN, statements about the superior quality of Hoosier and Midwestern craft beers expose the importance of regional identity for the people involved.
This type of regional pride resembles that of sports fans. A nationally-recognized beer from a specific region might have some of the same significance as, say, the Red Sox in Boston.
A certain degree of regional specificity exists in craft beer. In Europe, local, regional, and even national brewing traditions contribute to the cultural identities of different parts of the continent. In North America, regional styles and brewing practices have been either revitalized or even created through craft beer culture. 6/8 For instance, the Pacific Northwest region of North America is known in craft beer culture for their hops.
Not only do craft beers from that region often display distinctive hop flavors and aromas but craft beer people from other regions readily associate the Pacific Northwest with hops.
“Ethnic” Identity
In several parts of the United States and Canada, most craft beer people are of distinctively European origins.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, German origins often make up a significant part of a craft beer enthusiast’s cultural identity, especially in the United States.
In the United States, German-American identity is rarely marked. Given the high number of United States of German ancestry, German origins are simply part of mainstream culture. Given the association between Germany and beer, craft beer allows for the active negotiation of German-American identity.
Germany is well-known as a beer-producing country and beer is an important part of German national identity. The history of beer in the United States is often connected with German-American identity. For instance, most of the early breweries in the United States have been founded by German-American families and individuals. Later, Chicago’s German-American community was directly involved in the Beer Riots of 1855.
While the representation of German-Americans among beer brewers might be directly proportional to their presence in the general population, it is fair to say that people of several origins seem to be under-represented among beer brewers. For instance, Italian-American brewers exist but their cultural identity seems to be less significant in relation to beer. For the most part, African-Americans and Asian-Americans are conspicuously absent from craft beer culture in the United States and Canada.