The Beer Road

Recognition can come in a variety of ways.  Sometimes it’s a pat on the back, and other times it shows up in the form of sheer statistics.  Certainly, craft brewers and fans alike deserve, especially considering craft beer’s continuing growth in popularity, a little fanfare.  American Craft Beer Week, which officially started yesterday and will run through the 20^th, is exactly that spotlight.  Events are planned at breweries, brewpubs, and just about every other nook and corner that serves craft beer throughout the country.  But the most sincere gestures are often the quiet, simple ones, when the gravity of the moment is understood without much being said.  So specifically, what is American Craft Beer Week, and how can we all truly show our appreciation – yes, other than the clearly obvious one of simply drinking some amazing craft beer?

This week offers an official chance to thank the brewers all across the nation who wow us with what seems like a limitless amount of possibilities in our beer, from the most complex of aged stouts to the most crisp, perfectly balanced lager.  Often referred to as part scientist and part artist, these are the men and women who bring those silent nods of first sip gratification and leave us wanting their next concoction.  Their creations pull us to the biggest of festivals for beers we’ve never tried and takes us to the smallest of pubs for times with friends over go to favorites.  For their work, and for all these moments, this week is certainly a heart-felt thank you.

For those who are already immersed in craft beer, the self appointed craft beer geeks and fans, hop heads and dark beer lovers, the week is a chance to celebrate the “works” of those brewers.  Perhaps that means revisiting one of those favorites, or trying something you’ve just gotten your hands on.  Either way, the week offers events from tap takeovers to nationwide, synchronized cask tappings.  Perhaps most importantly, perhaps the week will offer the new to craft beer curious a chance to find something that will absolutely blow their minds, and open a door.

If you’re lucky, you might be able to plan each day around events during American Craft Beer Week.  But amid the crowds at the brewpubs and the clamor at the bars, remember, during every meaningful celebration are generally a couple moments of focused clarity, when the emotion of the event comes over you at once, yet sublimely, and is often shared between others with just a single glance, a look on a face, or a gesture.  Often times, that simple gesture can sum up the mood of an entire crowd, somehow spelling out in that one movement what everyone is feeling – here, it’s gratitude, a huge thank you – to the brewers, the fans, and everyone in between who loves craft beer.  The gesture?  It may be incredibly obvious, but it’s fittingly perfect.  Raise a glass, everyone.

Cheers.

Click on the “Comments” at the top of the post for Roanoke area information!  Also, visit CraftBeer.com’s section on American Craft Beer Week, 2012 here for general ACBW2012 and nationwide info!

~ by thebeerroad on May 15, 2012.

Posted in Events., The (Beer) Road Less Traveled - Getting Into Better Beer.