9 Reasons You Should Drink Craft Beer

If you’ve been on our blog before, it’s no surprise that we’re advocating for craft beer.  We’re biased.  We admit that.  We want to scream from the rooftops all of the reasons your should drink craft beer.  We whole heartedly believe that craft beer is far superior to the “water beer” our parents grew up drinking.  Don’t get me wrong, we can still muscle down 3 or 10 bud lights if that’s all that’s available but when given a choice we will always choose a good craft brew.

 

Craft beer, by definition from the Brewers’ Association, is beer that is made by a brewer that is small, independent, and traditional.  Craft beer is sweeping the market and even the “water beer” die hards of our parents generation are slowing jumping on the band wagon.  So much so that the heavy hitters like Labatt and Molsen are buying up smaller craft breweries to stay relevant in a quickly evolving marketplace.

 

We’ve been exploring the wonderful world of craft beer extensively for the last couple of years and here are our top 9 reasons we think you should make the switch (if you haven’t already).

VARIETY

Arguably the number one reason to drink craft beer is the sheer volume of different brews you can try.  No matter what the occasion, food, time of year, time of day, occasion…there’s a beer for that!  Each brewery makes has their own unique way they create their brews and they are constantly testing new recipes which means the options are endless.

 

SUPPORTING LOCAL BUSINESS

Craft breweries are popping up all over the place.  In fact, you likely live within a few miles of one right now!  Rather than pouring your dollars into giant corporations, you can support your local brewers while enjoying far superior beverages.  We also love the craft breweries also operate under a fairly transparent model, allowing you to tour the facility, meet the staff, brewers and owners, explore the history of the brewery (and the family behind it) and make local connections.  We all know that supporting local is a great thing.

 

BETTER INGREDIENTS

Mass produced beer isn’t known for it’s organic and high quality ingredients but visit any craft brewery and chances are they’ll happily show off the ingredients they use.  Craft breweries also tend to lean towards more local ingredients, supporting their local economy even further.

IT TASTES BETTER

It just does!  If you’ve only ever tasted the mass brews, you’ve gotta get out there and live a little!  There’s an incredible range of craft beers to choose from whether you like a lighter ale, something with fruity undertones, or a thick, chocolately stout on a cold winter night.  No matter what your tastes, there’s no doubt you’ll be able to find a craft beer that’s just the right fit.

 

HIGHER ALCOHOL CONTENT

5-10% (abv) is standard in the craft beer world but there are brews that go as high as 20% (and even higher).  There are plenty of benefits that go hand in hand with higher alcohol content but here are our favorites:

• More efficient.  Translation: You reach your desired effect much faster
• Less washroom trips because you’ll drink fewer beers
• Less money spent because you’ll drink fewer beers
• Less calories consumed because you’ll drink fewer beers

 

CULTURE

Craft beer drinkers and brewers and just as passionate as the notorious wine snobs (like us) of the world.  The culture has grown and people who are serious about their beer have a never ending supply of conversation starters.  There are beer clubs (just like there are wine clubs), subscriptions, meet-ups, and more.  You’ll never be alone again once you step into the culture of craft beer!

FOOD PAIRING & TASTING EVENTS

Yep, we’re making the wine comparison again (because we’ve got a ton of experience).  Everyone has heard of wine pairings for food and, don’t get us wrong, we love a great pairing but craft beer offers another dimension to pairings.  Like wine, different craft beers can completely change the flavour profile of a meal and take the experience to the next level.

 

Not to mention the thousands of tasting events, craft beer socials, and craft beer festivals around the world.  Love to travel?  Chasing craft beer is a fantastic way to pick destinations!

HEALTH BENEFITS

You heard right!  There are growing bodies of research touting the benefits of moderate alcohol consumption, specifically craft beer.  Now obviously, over consuming alcoholic beverages of any kind is a bad thing but moderate consumption has been linked to a variety of health benefits such as weight maintenance, improved bone mineral density, and even decreased risk of disease.  Go Figure!  Don’t believe me?  Go fact check for yourself here.

 

SUSTAINABLE BREWING PRACTICES

Our final reason you should drink craft beer is because most craft brewers have a green streak.  Reducing their eco-footprint is important to most craft brewers and they take action to use sustainable practices like offering refillable growlers, composting, and even offering spent grain to local farmers.  We’ve interviewed over a dozen craft brewers this year and they are all more concerned with environmentally brewing than they are with making huge amounts of money.  We love that!

 

This post was sponsored by the Salty Dog Brewing Company in Truro, Nova Scoita.  As always, all opinions (and photos) are our own. We started drinking craft beer a few years ago and developed a serious love affair with it so partnering up with a local brewer was a natural fit!

 

Did we miss any?  Let us know in the comments why you choose craft beer!