Nu op Netflix (tenminste als je een abbonement hebt en de zender nu daarop klikt, anders natuurlijk op een ander moment of niet...): Crafting A Nation is a feature length documentary and new media project about how the American craft brewers are rebuilding the economy one craft beer at a time.
Director: Thomas Kolicko (www.imdb.com/title/tt2576452/).
Over the last 10 years, there have been several documentaries which examine American craft beer. The first one I watched was American Beer, shot on a road trip to numerous great breweries. A few years ago I reviewed Beer Wars, which examined the economic struggle between large and small breweries. A couple months ago the production company behind Crafting a Nation sent me a DVD copy to review. I finally got around to watching the end of it during my flight to GABF.
Crafting a Nation’s focus is on the rather serious endeavor of opening a brewery. It paints a vivid picture of the time, money, and hope that craft brewers invest into their businesses. However, it fails to put much emphasis on the beer itself; the story it tells is primarily an economic and personal one. I understand that not everyone wants to watch 95 minutes about the brewing process, recipes, etc. but there was virtually nothing about beer itself outside a dumbed-down opening overview of the brewing process (www.themadfermentationist.com/2013/10/crafting-nation-movie-review.html).
User Reviews
Okay....
17 April 2016 | by planktonrules (Bradenton, Florida) – See all my reviews
I make my own beer and have done so for several years, so this documentary about the growing craft brewing craze in the States is the sort of things that I should love...but I didn't. Now I am not saying it's a bad film but I didn't learn a whole lot nor will most viewers. Instead, they hear story after story about folks and their passion to brew...which is nice but didn't sustain and entire film. And, if I make beer and felt Luke-warm about it, imagine how the average viewer who is NOT a craft beer fan will feel about it!
The film interviews many folks...ranging from tiny startups to successful microbreweries to mega-breweries like Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada. Along with this, there is a lot of loud folksy music...which to me was a bit invasive. Instead of watching this, just go out and find yourself a good microbrew and enjoy.
Overall, mildly interesting and mildly inspiring. (www.imdb.com/title/tt2576452/).
Ik ben benieuwd... De eerste 5 minuten gaan erg traag en zijn niet echt uitnodigend. Ik hoop dat het tempo omhoog gaat en de informatie iets diepgaander wordt. Na een eerste indruk van BSB (Black Shirt Brewing) die opstarten en aangeven hoe moeilijk het is, komt ineens iemand van Schlafly Brewing iets vertellen over hun gebouw?? Nadat hier de toon wordt gezet dat ondanks de moeilijke opstart en gebrek aan geloof van anderen, waaronder de bank, het toch kan slagen, komt iemand van The Civil Life Brewing aan het woord over de biercultuur van St. Louis. De woordvoerders van de verschillende brouwerijen komen afwisselend aan het woord en hun gepraat wordt ondersteund met melancholische muziek, zo van 'vroeger was alles beter'... Wel heel interessant is rond minuut 9 dat Budweiser wordt omschreven als een lokaal biermerk dat vervlochten was met de lokale cultuur, maar werd opgekocht door de grote InBev. Budweiser verloor de mondialisering aan InBev!? In de documentaire komt naar voren dat na de koop, de sterke sociale binding van Budweiser met St. Louis werd verbroken.
Na die opmerking 'verspringt' het verhaal ineens naar Denver, Colorado, waar iemand (serieus!) verteld dat hij een baby heeft gekregen en maar gezegd is met zijn vrouw en kind. De beelden die worden getoond zijn vooral landschappen. Weinig bier tot nog toe. De heren van BSB vertellen verder hoe ze hun pensioen hebben afgekocht en al hun spaargeld in de brouwerij hebben gestopt.
Bob Pease van de Brewers Association verteld vervolgens wat de klant wil (diversiteit en kwaliteit) en de Amerikaanse brouwmarkt (van circa 40 naar 1800 brouwerijen, met nog 700 bedrijven in opstartfase...!!!) BSB wordt vooral gevolgd in hun geploeter tijdens hun opstartfase. Beetje raar om te kijken naar brouwers die niet brouwen. Terug in St. Louis is er aandacht voor 4Hands Brewing en Urban Chestnut Brewing. Leuk om een korte blik in hun brouwerij te krijgen, maar het blijft helaas erg oppervlakkig. Het beeld dat wordt geschetst is dat die kleine brouwerijen echt familiebedrijfjes zijn (Amerikaanse droom e.d.). Sorry hoor, maar volgens mij is zo'n brouwerij zoals elk ander MKB bedrijfje.
Jake Hafner van The Civil Life Brewing uit St. Louis verteld wel iets interessants. Als je als brouwerij (bedrijf) wil beginnen moet je alle omwonenden in een straal van 100 meter van je voordeur uitnodigen voor een informatieavond. Hij geeft aan dat ze eerst sceptisch waren, maar na de bijeenkomst hun grootste promotors. Kijk dat is een goede tip voor in Nederland.
Na St. Louis gaat het verhaal terug naar BSB in Dever. Ik begin het te snappen er wordt tussen die twee steden geschakeld om bestaande en een opstartend bedrijf te tonen. Texas verschijnt vervolgens in beeld, dus mijn veronderstelling klopt niet. Er gaan meer plaatsen in beeld komen... Jester King Brewing en Freetail Brewing worden getoond en de strenge wetgeving wordt vermeld. Zo mag je als brouwer niet verkopen aan andere horecazaken, zoals het restaurant naast je brouwerij(??). Je kan als brouwer dus meer bier in Texas verkopen, door met je brouwerij buiten Texas te verhuizen!? Er volgen meer microbrouwerijen, waarbij wordt benadrukt dat de brouwers een gemeenschap vormen die elkaar het succes gunnen. Wat me wel opvalt bij de brouwerijen die in beeld komen, is dat ze vaak niet pas net een jaar of wat bestaan.
Na Texas wordt Minnesota besproken. Ook het verschil van en eigen taproom tegenover distributie aan horecazaken. Rond minuut 32 is de reportage in een bierwinkel en staat La Trappe Quadrupel op de achtergrond in het zicht als het gaat over hoeveel omzet zo'n bierwinkel maakt met de verkoop van bier. Beetje contrasterend om voor een achtergrond van Orval en Rochefort (voor Amerika buitenlandse brouwers) te stellen dat je gaat voor kleine lokale familiebrouwerijen....
In de reportage wordt er nadruk gelegd op het feit dat brouwerijen e.d. voor werk zorgen en economische input leveren. Ook zijn de steden eentonig geworden met winkelketens en die worden met de microbrouwerijen weer wat onderscheidender.
In Boston komt Samuel Adams in beeld en Jim Koch van Boston Beer Company, met 28 jaar brouwervaring, aan het woord. Jim Koch vergelijkt de situatie van craft beer en de grote brouwbedrijven met de situatie van Sam Adams die in opstand kwam.
Na Boston gaan we naar Boulder, Colorado, waar wederom een succesverhaal volgt. Niet enkel is een mcirobrouwerij uit zijn eerste pand gegroeid, ook komt een installatiebedrijf aan het woord, die speciaal voor de branche een inbliklijn heeft ontwikkeld.
Microbrouwerijen zijn geen bedrijven, maar mensen en als je maar hard genoeg werkt dan haal je het, Die boodschap is typisch Amerikaans en ik geloof 'm niet. Halverwege de documentaire is er weer die Amerikaanse countrybluesmuziek met wat beelden van BSB en de baby, het is immers een familiebedrijf.
Het is zoals ik ook lees op Joe Sixpack:
So, we're left with a bunch of identical-looking guys spouting the same platitudes about being bootstrap underdogs chasing dreams as American craftsmen, while that soulful guitar strums over gauzy scenes of steaming kettles and shiny tap handles.
I swear, you could take any 30 seconds of this film, add Clydesdales, and you'd have a Budweiser commercial (www.joesixpack.net/columnArchives/2013/052313.htm).
Dan komt Sam Calagione van Dogfish Head Brewery (volgens mij ook een grote naam) aan het woord en hij geeft aan dat er in de jaren negentig rode cijfers werden gedraaid. Vervolgens verteld Ken Grossman van Sierra Nevada verder over hun gezamelijk gebrouwen bier Life & Limbs. Vervolgens zie je de Dogfish Head Brewey nu, ze brouwen nu in 17 uur het jaarvolume van hun begintijd. De brouwerij zijn ze begonnen met een paar honderd dollar eigen geld en duizenden dollars aan leningen en die leningen van toen zijn vergeleken met hun omzet nu een peulenschil.
Ik vond x hectoliters brouwcapaciteit nooit zo interessant, maar nu vraag ik me af hoe Dogfish Head zich verhoudt tot Bavaria of Gulpener of Texels of Jopen.
Het gaat verder op de link tussen lokale boeren, lokale restaurants en lokale bindingen. Er wordt ook vermeld dat de New Belgium e.d. de lokale brouwers steunt!? Er komen steeds meer plaatsen voorbij en ik ben na een klein uurtje een beetje kwijt waar we nu zijn. Er komen steeds nieuwe brouwers aan het woord voor een verhaaltje van 5 minuten of minder.
Dan komen we weer bij Sierra Nevada en zien de brouwerij nu, terwijl je hoort dat ze begonnen met oude tweedehandse zuivelapparatuur. Ze hebben nu naast de brouwerij eigen zonnepanelen en brandstofcellen, waardoor ze energie terugleveren aan het net.
De documentaire sis zo'n 5 jaar oud en destijds was de crisis nog, de brouwerijen waren destijds een van de weinige solide bedrijfsbranches die voor werkgelegenheid zorgde. De kleine brouwerijen, zoals Russian River, vormen het hart van de gemeenschap.
Na 70 minuten zijn we terug bij BSB die aangeven dat de schuldeisers in zicht komen, maar de bouw nog niet af is en hoe spannend het is, want hun huis kan worden ingenomen. Ik verbaas me dat ze daar niet aan huurbrouwen doen, zoals hier. Je kan dan via gehuurde brouwruimte voldoende omzet genereren om zo een verbouwing zelf te financieren.
Als we in het laatste half uur van de documentaire aankomen, wordt gewezen op het feit dat de brouwers zo enthousiast zijn en zie je veel mensen, waaronder best wat hipsters, hun bier ruiken. daarna komen de heren van BSB weer in beeld met problemen met de elektriciteitsinspectie, want zou hun bedrading wel worden goedgekeurd? Voordat daar uitsluitsel overkomt is er weer aandacht voor het feit dat in Texas circa 50% van de werknemers in de brouwbranche werken bij kleine brouwerijen, die maar 0,7% van de markt produceren!? Met andere woorden kleine brouwerijen zijn goed voor werkgelegenheid. Tijdens dat verhaal zie je iemand bostel uit een tank halen. Dat is zwaar handwerk... Uiteindelijk eindigt het beeldverhaal waar het ook begon: bij BSB...
Leuk detail tijdens de aftiteling wordt er gesproken over hop en in de ondertiteling wordt dat vertaald als 'er zitten drie soorten hop in, waaronder een honderdjarige...' Volgens mij werd centennial bedoeld. :)
Ik vond het wat trage kost, maar wel een redelijk interessant verhaal. Er zijn wel wat kritische kanttekeningen te plaatsen:
Consistently the message of Crafting a Nation was that craft breweries are good for the economy and that buying local is the big reason. However, there really isn’t much about why the beer these brewers produce is better than macro-brewers. I think the movie may oversell the economics. As the percentage of craft beer by volume increasingly comes from large expansions by the top 20 craft brewers, the number of jobs per barrel of beer will decrease with economies of scale – 100,000 jobs at 5% of the market, doesn’t mean 500,000 jobs when and if craft beer reaches 25% of the market (www.themadfermentationist.com/2013/10/crafting-nation-movie-review.html).
I’m unclear exactly who is the intended audience for this movie. It doesn’t seem like a movie that really tells you much if you are already invested in craft beer. I'm not sure there is enough there to convince someone who drinks only Bud Lite to change their buying habits. In many ways Crafting a Nation seems like a lobbying effort. There is no discussion of the final product, just the people who have taken financial risks to open breweries. There is a slight “government get out of the way” bent to several moments, but that isn’t the real focus.
I’m less interested in beer based on who brewed it, and more on the processes, ingredients, and results (www.themadfermentationist.com/2013/10/crafting-nation-movie-review.html).
May 23, 2013 | Nation-building is thirsty work
THE NEW documentary "Crafting a Nation" spends about an hour and a half fussing over exactly what makes America's craft beer so special.
It's hard work by small businessmen.
It's all-natural ingredients.
It's fresh, locally made and produced with care for the environment.
It's about overcoming the odds and the local building inspector.
Apparently, though, it's not about actually drinking the stuff (www.joesixpack.net/columnArchives/2013/052313.htm).
Even if the goal for the movie wasn't to spend too much time on of the nitty-gritty of production, I would have been interested to hear why these brewers chose to brew the styles/recipes they did. What inspires them? What did the brewers who’d succeeded wish they’d done differently? What about brewers whose breweries failed?
The movie is worth seeing if you want to hear a few personal stories behind breweries, just don’t expect to take anything away from it in terms of how to brew, or what to drink. I’m still waiting for a movie that really captures what craft beer is about, clearly beer needs to be a big part of that!
(www.themadfermentationist.com/2013/10/crafting-nation-movie-review.html).
Notably, almost everyone interviewed is a white male (with requisite scruffy beard).
Possibly this is an accurate reflection of the industry's demographics. But that hardly explains the film's shoddy treatment of Carissa Miller, Chad's wife and one of Black Shirt's co-founders.
She's properly introduced at the start of the film, then completely ignored for the next hour as the men whine about the bankers. Carissa, who is described on the company's website as its chief financial officer, might have had some insight on this matter. Instead, she reappears late in the film - but only to dutifully carry in the couple's baby (www.joesixpack.net/columnArchives/2013/052313.htm).
Website? Ik zal daar eens kijken...
SPOILER ALERT
Op http://blogs.denverpost.com/beer/2013/05/ vind ik nieuws over de brouwerij (en andere in de documentaire getoonde brouwerijen).
In 1999, brothers Chad and Branden Miller sat in the backyard and sketched out the rest of their lives. Winemakers by trade, they always drank their own homebrews while making wine. Eventually they figured out they liked hanging around people who drink beer more than people who drink wine, Chad recalled.
As their vision for a brewery began to take shape, words from their father guided them.
“Our father once told us as kids, ‘Boys, just do one thing and do it better than anyone else and you’ll find your success,'” Chad Miller said. “Instead of a brewery that offers a whole plethora of styles and do them all OK, we wanted to do one thing and do it better than anybody.”
And Black Shirt Brewery aims to do just that, building an entire business and a lineup of beers around a single recipe for a red ale that took three years to develop. After all those years of planning – and the usual bureaucratic red tape – the city of Denver granted Black Shirt a certificate of occupancy this week.
To celebrate, the brewery at 3719 Walnut Street in Denver’s River North district will open its doors for a sneak preview Saturday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. with $4 flights and $5 glasses of that meticulously crafted red. A grand opening is planned for mid-October, with details to come, Chad Miller said.... The brothers settled on a red ale because they were after an all-season beer, one with a strong enough backbone to stand up to a cold winter and also be citrusy and light enough to enjoy in summer, Miller said. He won’t delve into what distinguishes the beer – keeping it secret make sense, given the time involved in making it and the recipe’s singular importance to the brewery.
Yet the original red ale will not be the only beer on tap on Walnut Street. Black Shirt takes the same malt bill from that recipe and builds on that using different yeast strains, hop varietals, aging techniques and vessels “to showcase what we can do with our main recipe,” Miller said.
So alongside the original, Black Shirt will offer a saison, an imperial red IPA and sessionable pale red. (http://blogs.denverpost.com/beer/2012/09/21/black-shirt-brewing-open/6187/).
WTF!? Dat is toch wel eventjes nieuwe informatie toch? Ze brouwen rondom een centraal recept?
I checked out their website and I was impressed by Black Shirt Brewing Company’s exhaustive list of brews. They are a Red Ale Project, meaning that all of their beers start with a Red Ale base, but the assortment within that class is unparalleled. There is a high standard at BSB and I wish it was the same everywhere (http://denverhopper.com/black-shirt-brewing-company/).
The two brothers, originally from southern Colorado near the Sangre De Cristos mountains, come from humble beginnings and spent much of their childhood apart when their parents split early. At the age of five, Chad began washing dishes as a means to simply feed himself. While that work ethic remained, by 1999 Chad was working three jobs and the two both realized they were without much personal direction. “I was searching for a more meaningful existence,” remembers Chad. “He and I were sitting on his porch and while drinking one night and came to the realization that we needed to be more deliberate about our lives and our lifestyles,” echoed Branden. “Back then that vision was a little different and it evolved over several years before we finally landed on Black Shirt.”
Originally intending to open a winery, Branden quickly fell out of love with the snobbery associated with the wine industry. Instead he took notice that the beer movement was one that was similar, but with more “fun and laid back people.” “This is something that is 100 driven by that craftsmen, we can the control color, mouthfeel, taste of beer,” explain Branden. “You create and control everything that goes into this drink.” Branden explains how that played perfectly into his personality of being part OCD and part creative.
The two also drew inspiration from their own family lines. “We started to look at ourselves and knew it had to be in our blood, wine wasn’t in our blood. Our uncle was a brewer and distiller in Germany, and Chad’s godfather had been homebrewing for over 35 years in Santa Fe,” said Branden. The two would eventually spend several months brewing with Chad’s godfather, which laid the groundwork to their beer education.
From the onset, the two set out to create something unconventional, while remaining true to their own identities. “Our father’s advice was to do one thing and do it better than anyone else, it was something he instilled at an early age,” said Branden. Even then, Chad and Branden knew they had to do something to differentiate themselves from every other brewery, so they drew inspiration from the red glowing mountains they saw each day while romping wild as children. “It’s easy to draw a lot of inspiration, the word Colorado translated comes to mean colored red,” said Chad. “If we’re going to create beer that speaks of the place we call home, why wouldn’t it come in the form of a brewery that took one style of beer and really moved it forward.”
The brothers explained that red ales at its most basic definition consists of a beer that exhibits red hues, fermented in ale yeast. “We may look at it a little differently than everyone else’s preconceived notions,” explained Chad. That interpretation has lead to distinctly unique takes such as their Red Porter, Guava Red Saison, Citrus Red Farmhouse and their Red Evelyn Imperial Red Rye IPA named after their grandmother Evelyn, who helped raise them.
.....
From the onset, the Millers sacrificed everything to build their dream. As beautifully documented in Crafting a Nation, Chad and his wife Carissa sold their homes and much of their possessions to help self-finance their dream.
During construction, Chad worked a day job from 4 a.m. to 6 p.m. before joining Branden each night to physically build out the brewery themselves. Ten months prior to opening the brewery Carissa gave birth to their son Rob, which only upped the stakes for their success. “Knowing that I now had a little one to take care off served as even more of a driver and motivator to make sure I put everything I had to finishing this place out. I knew I had to build a future to support my family,” said Chad.
“I think experiencing struggle is extremely important. When you struggle, you appreciate the outcome more and you’re more likely to take care of it,” explained Chad. “When times got tough here, it would have been really easy to say it’s just too much to handle, but we put everything into it so we couldn’t afford to just give up and let it go.”
“We drive old vehicles, we live in small houses, but we’re happy,” explains Chad Miller. “For me that happiness and that freedom to not go to an investor or board to get an ok to try weird radical wonkey ideas is more valuable than anything else we’ve had to work towards.
The craft beer industry has undergone a complicated transformation in the three years since Chad, Branden and Carissa opened their brewery. But to the Millers, Black Shirt represents more than margins, expansion, distribution and demand. This was their salvation song. It was their way of doing what they loved, in a way that remains true to their own values. In speaking with the brothers it all comes back to family, sacrifice and protecting that meaningful existence they so desperately sought nearly 15 years ago (www.porchdrinking.com/articles/2015/10/09/brewery-showcase-black-shirt-brewing-company/).
Black Shirt Brewing Co is a progressive, artisanal, music-driven brewery located in the RiNo Art District in Denver, CO. The brewery was founded by brothers Chad & Branden Miller & Chad's wife Carissa. Our focus is on creating unique, vibrant, nuanced, and ultimately perfectly-balanced beer. We do everything by hand, in small batches.
We call it The Red Ale Project. No gimmicks. No bull shit.
Stop by our tap room and taste for yourself!
You’ll also find our hand-crafted, small-batch beers in fine restaurants and select retail establishments throughout metro Denver (www.blackshirtbrewingco.com/about).
CHAD MILLER
CEO
Devoted husband and passionate father. Michael Jackson impersonator with an insatiable hunger for hot wings and bacon. Deep. Analytical. Craves knowledge, tradition, and the occasional fishing trip. The Thinker. The Do’er. Does it push us forward or hold us back?
CARISSA MILLER
CFO
Colorado Native, volleyball dominator, and doting mother and wife. Master of accounting, peacekeeping, taproom laughter, and Super Bowl commercial reenactment. She was once asked what her favorite food is and replied, “side dishes.” She insists that she need not get more specific than that. Crowned Little Miss Princess of Colorado yet can drink the boys under the table when challenged. Avid lover of all things funny, fermented, and family oriented. Are there hops in it?
ROB MILLER
THE BOSS
Chad and Carissa’s son and ‘The Boss’. Schedule coordinator and director of rhythm. With his huge personality and swagger, you’d never guess he’s only 3!
BRANDEN MILLER
CMO / HEAD BREWER
Creative visionary of The Red Ale Project who would do anything for his lady and his “pups”. Bearded Wanderer. Hippie at heart. Inspired by all that Colorado has to offer and a secret drumming badass. Beer, bacon, and black coffee inspire the depths of his creative dreams. Anyone know of a hot tub close by?
AARON HOLSTAD
ASSISTANT BREWER / BAD MOTHER F*CKER
BSB’s original promoter and avid two-planker. Built entire taproom one piece of boxcar flooring, and one joke, at a time. Human keg crane. Craftsman. Has broken many a hand high-fiving and craves ice cream when it’s snowing. Works hard…plays real, real, real (maybe too) hard! Wanna see my business card?
STACY STURDY
TAPROOM MANAGER
ALEXIS SWANSON
TAPROOM BARTENDER & SERVER
COURTNEY FREISMUTH
TAPROOM BARTENDER & SERVER
JACE LEEDY
TAPROOM BARTENDER & SERVER
BLACK SHIRT BREWING CO
3719 Walnut St,
Denver,CO (www.blackshirtbrewingco.com/team)
Wat brouwen ze (met enkel een red ale?)? Ze brouwen o.a.:
Common Red (5,5%); kölsch.
American Red Saison (8%); Complex and full-bodied farmhouse.
Blood Orange Double IPA (8%); Double IPA conditioned atop fresh blood oranges & double dry-hopped w/ Mosaic hops.
2016 Red Evelyn (9,25%); Our beloved Imperial Red Rye IPA - brewed once/year.
Black Shirt Bourbon Barrel-Aged Quad Nitro (9,5%); Aged 2.5 years in assorted Bourbon barrels.
Black Shirt Bourbon Barrel-Aged Quad on Chili & Chocolate (9,5%)
Black Shirt Bourbon Barrel-Aged Quad on Huckleberry Coffee (9,5%)
Frontman IPA V1 (7,75%); IPA brewed w/ Chinook, Simcoe, and Mosaic hops. Specify V1 or V2.
Bourbon Barrel-Aged Saison (8%); Aged 2.5 months in Buffalo Trace Bourbon barrels.
Dus, wat mij betreft had er in de documentaire wat meer aandacht voor het bier mogen zijn. Het concept van BSB is toch veel intrigerender dan al hun problemen en geklaag over de waterleiding en elektra?