Is the beer you are drinking "Craft" or just "Crafty"?

With the increased interest in Craft Beers, the big brewers (you know, the ones famous for their fantastic light lagers) are seeing the trend and making moves to get into the action.  This may be nothing new, after all 95% market share can never be good enough, right?

This is again a topic of conversation this month with several pieces by the Brewers Association.  Anyone familiar with homebrewing will know the name Charlie Papazian.  I'll let the story speak for itself.  "Craft or Crafty? Consumers deserve to know the truth".  The Brewers Association (BA) followed up with another statement on the same.  Here is that statement.

Perhaps the most interesting is the list of breweries which are non Craft Breweries, or in other words "Crafty".  The BA posted this list for download, which I swear I saw earlier in the week.  When you download this list now, this is what you will find.  It almost seems like they caved.

I wish I had saved the original list, showing the breweries which may look Craft but are really owned by the bug guys (Crafty).  The BA does have a list of true Craft Breweries.  So instead of seeing what not to buy, you will have to check to see what is truly Craft Beer. 

Or you can refer to my modest list of Craft Breweries, which may be quicker.

On another note, I'm a small business guy, and the independent and small business nature of the true Craft Breweries is very attractive to me.  The fact that someone can come up with an idea, and successfully take it to market, is still very exciting, especially in today's world dominated by the big corporations.