In this weeks video we answer the question – Is Blue Moon Beer? This popular beer from Coors Brewing Co. in Colorado is widely available and marketed heavily. The result – it is what most Americans think of when you talk about Hefeweizen or Wheat Beers. Is that a bad thing? We don’t think so.
First of all Blue Moon, despite the immediate beer snob reaction of “that’s a Coors beer”, is a decent beer. It’s even earned itself a solid B- with over 1,000 reviews on Beer Advocate. Is it the best interpretation of a Belgian White? No. But it IS a great gateway beer. I can’t tell you how many people in our pub, when confronted with not a single macro choice, try (and love) the Ayinger Hefeweizen because they recognize the style name from Blue Moon. From there they often ask what other beers they would like that are similar – and thus a craft beer lover is born.
Face it, craft beer is not likely to outpace the big boys anytime soon. But as long as the big boys are dabbling in the craft market, they are helping transition the macro beer drinker into a craft beer experimenter.
If AB or Coors was to try to market a new macro as an “American IPA” can you imagine the crossover that would happen as people start to gain recognition of the style? Once they were hooked on the big guys marketing message, there are so many great craft IPAs that they could transition to. It would probably be the best thing that could happen to the craft beer industry.
So while our video is short and fun and addresses a funny question of “Is Blue Moon Beer?” the reality is that we owe Coors a thank you for helping turn some of the fizzy yellow water drinkers into craft beer lovers like us.
