THE 7 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CRAFT AND INDUSTRIAL BEER

Industrial beer is everywhere and at a cheaper price. But more and more bars, restaurants, and establishments have craft beer in their beer offering, made here in our land or imported from other countries. We have an ever-expanding range to drink craft beer and to choose between these and industrial beers.

Therefore we will review the great differences between craft beer and industrial beer, which are found in the brewing process, in the quality of the ingredients and the formula of the master brewer. But there are more aspects to consider. We give you 7:

1. NATURAL INGREDIENTS Craft beer is made from totally natural ingredients, which do not contain artificial additives or preservatives, simply water, yeast, malts, and hops. Instead, industrial beer is pasteurized and contains preservatives. Traditionally, beer has always been made from barley malt, a high-quality, high-cost material. To cut costs, large industrial producers use other additives such as rice, corn or millet, which are less expensive, but which produce a beer of much lower quality. Therefore, on the label of craft beers, we will never find artificially added preservatives or antioxidants.

2. THE RECIPE OF THE MASTER BREWER Industrial beers are produced from a basic, standard recipe, which has been studied extensively and which is the result of a great effort on the part of the company, but which seeks economically viable ingredients and processes. By contrast, craft beer is tested and modified endlessly by the master brewer to find the right blend with the desired taste and smell. Each master brewer develops his formula to achieve what he and his clients like best. For this, there are different varieties and each beer is unique, making it a more expensive product than an industrial beer.

3. THE ELABORATION PROCESS The process of making craft beers is done manually or with minimal assistance from machinery, unlike large industrial brewers, where the process is automatic and human participation is minimal. Industrial beers undergo a pasteurization process, where they lose the nutritional properties of the beer.

4. THE FILTER Another difference is found in the filtering. While craft beer is manually filtered, without the intervention of large machinery, industrial beer performs chemical filtering, which removes residues but also destroys yeasts and proteins in beer, reducing its taste, aroma, and properties. Even so, it must be said that more and more craft brewers are choosing to remove these sediments in order to make the beer visually more attractive.

5. MORE TASTE, MORE SCENT, MORE VARIETIES Craft beer is a completely different beer from industrial beer, more attractive and complex in taste. All this makes a craft beer always have more body, flavor, and aroma than an industrial beer. For this reason, more and more, consumers value beer tastings and have realized the quality of the product, the immense possibilities it has, the wealth it can bring to the kitchen and the different varieties that can be created.

6. LOCAL AND PROXIMITY PRODUCT It is evident that craft beer is a local and local product, while the industrial production of beer responds to a model of globalization that large companies use to expand and export throughout the world. Craft brewers are usually small and medium-sized companies close to consumers, who have the will to grow, but in an orderly, coherent way and without harming the quality of the final product.

7. THE OBJECTIVES The goals of craft beer brewing are taste and aroma, while industrial beer brewing aims to reduce production costs as much as possible. The microbreweries that make craft beer seek to bring their customers a product of the highest quality and made with art and enthusiasm. In contrast, industrial beer companies seek to increase sales and position brands, despite the fact that the product offered to their customers is of really lower quality. It must be said that a large brewery can create a great beer in a special or limited edition, but in general they do not because they exceed market costs. Not necessarily craft means good and industrial means bad, but certainly, today's society looks for more natural food, and increasingly rejects artifices. We are facing a natural evolution of the market, in which craft beers are increasingly incorporated into our diet. Remember that great beer is one created with passion, with quality ingredients and with the minimum of chemicals, and that, ultimately, it has life and is a craft. If good beer lovers reject carbonated, cold and tasteless beers, for some reason it will be.