Who makes better beer, David or Goliath?
Are mainstream or indie breweries producing better quality? Jessica Mason asks how things have moved on in the macro versus micro debate.
The long-held belief among craft beer fans that big mainstream breweries do not offer the same level of quality or credibility is being debunked, with many in the industry reassessing the simplicity of the argument and reframing the wins and losses.
Speaking to the drinks business, Siren Craft Brew head of marketing Andy Nowlan said: “There is good and bad beer available from small independent breweries and large macro breweries alike.”
The view, which chimes with many from across the wider beer industry shows how, now that so many big breweries own smaller breweries, along with their access to high end kit, brewing skillset, the gap between both in terms of quality is growing ever-narrower.
Utopian Brewing co-founder and managing director Richard Archer agrees that “there is sadly quite a lot of micro lager out there that’s not great quality. Big brewers know how to make consistent beer and they have made huge investments to ensure that.”
Archer hastens to add however that “on flavour and drinking experience though I think it’s a different story [because] taking the time to extract flavour from malt, slow fermentations and long cold conditioning” all help to “dramatically improve both the flavour and body” of beer and so that is “where micros can win out over macros”.
Days Brewing co-founder Mike Gammell explained how the “debate has evolved” since “you can find good, and not-so-good, beer on both sides. Some big brewers deliver incredible consistency; some smaller brewers offer creativity and character. It’s no longer a question of size—it’s a question of quality, care, and craft”.
Beer writer Adrian Tierney Jones told db that he believes that “a big brewery can make lots of well-made and drinkable beer beer but an indie brewery can deliver more exciting beer, maybe because it can take risks” but, he observed how “most indies are in the same boat as the mainstream so they have to focus on what sells such as hazy pales, but when the marketing chains that bind the imagination are loosened we see some great stuff from the likes of Kernel, Ideal Day and St Mars of the Desert”.
Vocation Brewery marketing manager Chris Mitchell highlighted how “major brewers excel at consistency, which plays a vital role in building consumer trust. However, while consistency is important, it’s not the full solution”. This, Mitchell pointed out is because “big brewers tend to pursue scale, which often leads to a narrowing of flavour to maximise mass appeal. The result is a more homogenised category”.
This, Mitchell told db means that even though the resulting beers from mainstream global breweries can be more “reliable” they often “lack distinctiveness, creativity, or a strong sense of place”.
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Mitchell flagged how “this is increasingly out of step with what many of today’s drinkers are looking for; flavour, discovery, and a deeper connection to the beer and the people behind it” and noted that “independent brewers who can match the reliability of macros, whilst also offering more characterful and flavour-forward beers, are well placed to drive real value – not just for drinkers, but also for retailers looking to differentiate their ranges and stay relevant”.
Lost & Grounded co-founder Alex Troncoso believes that “quality can be skewed many ways” and said that what we need to consider is how “for many people, quality means character, and what they are seeing in beer from small breweries is exactly this”.
Troncosco emphasised how “quality is actually a product meeting certain criteria – consistency of colour, bitterness, appearance, foam, packaging, labelling, etc” and “large breweries are much more set to deliver quality day-in, day-out, which means small brewers need to work harder”.
Beer writer Pete Brown explained how “technically the big guys are great” and admitted “I was surprised, for example, to find that the malted barley spec for Carling is far more demanding than for most craft brewers. Because Carling can’t afford flavour variation. But as a rule, someone working in a massive brewer only ever works on one beer, whereas small indies are always trying something new”.
Brown suggested that instead of looking at the question from just one perspective, it “might be interesting to frame it in terms of depth versus breadth of expertise”.
He explained: “I learned this when I was asked to do a workshop with a global brewing company about beer styles. Surely they knew better than me? Nope – they knew infinitely more about global lager than me, but not much about anything else. But you always find exceptions. Willem, global head brewer at Heineken, can brew pretty much anything within lager” he proffers as an example.
Brown said, maybe instead we should all consider the way we perceive the skills brought to the role of brewer as much as anything else and stated: “it’s about brewer as scientist versus brewer as artist”.
Tierney Jones highlighted the same approach, using bands as an analogy for what they produced and delivered, he added: “It’s like Joy Division versus Coldplay”.
Siren’s Nowlan pointed out that there are always other ways smaller breweries can win against the bigger companies. After all, “on the smaller independent side – we value our community, the incredible infrastructure of suppliers and on and off-trade customers that surrounds us, and we‘re driven to make the best beer we can possibly make. We want to create and provide interesting and exciting drinking experiences to people. We’re able to make our own decisions and re-invest profits to continue that vision”.
With this in mind, does that make independent beer taste better? “I hope so,” replied Nowlan and added: “We believe that, as an independent brewery, we can make the decisions truly required to prioritise beer quality.”
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