Can beer save America? Can it save River View?

Black or gallows humor can come when you've reached a point of terminal frustration with those who must be obeyed.

For example, in New Albanian terms, it's the realization that no matter how clearly you explain a position or point, councilman Bob Caesar's view of it will come as the result of an ingrained reflex calculation of (a) utter incomprehension, (b) concern over whether the "right" people will be offended, and (c) what it has to do with selling more diamonds.

Consequently, as the debacle of the River View "condo-non-condo" downtown development creeps forward into inevitable irrelevance with no end in sight, rendering the resulting stain ever more difficult to scrub out of the body politic's frayed carpet, I've gotten quite a lot of mileage about how the $12 million in parking garage pump-priming obligations might be better spent as the foundation of a big damned craft brewery.

Of course, these references are little more than the stuff of an inveterate blogging provocateur's arsenal when it comes to the chances of my own brewing company, NABC, ever accomplishing such a project. I'm a realist, and we haven't yet digested the investment in Bank Street Brewhouse. New bar stools must come first, and so on.

But ...

Given the current position of American craft brewing as a whole, the thin gruel of my satire is somewhat enriched by the growing sustenance of genuine truth. Today's snapshot of American craft beer depicts not a solid image, but a blur, because it is a market segment moving so quickly that it's difficult for anyone to keep up.

Locals are becoming regional, regionals are going national, and expanded exports to other countries look soon to follow. It is reckoned that most Americans now live within 10 miles of a brewery, a condition not experienced since the 19th-century. For a few other craft beer headlines that reinforce these points, visit the Potable Curmudgeon.

Following is a link to one of the clearest explications I've ever read of the economic connotations of the craft revolution, and why my eyes probably should not be rolling when I playfully suggest that $40 million spent on a big damned brewery next to the Y is not anywhere near as dumb as it seems.

To me, David Sirota's article also exposes the many cultural reasons why macro vs. craft is, in fact, an evolutionary/revolutionary struggle, one that demands we espouse principled positions and just plain take sides, because it's only a short step from the philosophy of craft beer to matters like placemaking, complete streets, transport policy, sustainability, and so many other notions of what we might do to make a better community.

Can beer save America? The redemption of the economy may start with the type of brew you keep in your fridge, by David Sirota (Salon)

 ... Nowhere, though, is the battle between the low-price/quantity business model and the higher-price/quality business model more clear than in the world of beer. In the fevered battle between the macrobrew behemoths and the craftbrew insurgents, both sides are digging in for an epic confrontation ...

... A Macrobrew Economy — a high-volume, low-price model — asks us to compete with other such economies throughout the world, and the problem is that countries like China will always have lower-priced labor, more lax environmental regulations and lower production standards to win a battle that rewards more and cheaper for more’s and cheaper’s sake. By contrast, a Craft Brew Economy — a high-quality, lower-volume model — is a different proposition. It follows the German model, which, as Time magazine notes, is all about being “committed to making the sort of high-quality, high-performance, innovative products for which the world will pay extra.”