The Beer Summit in Washington last week made for some interesting talk about what people choose to drink.  As usual folks who drink light beer, especially when brewed by a large brewery, get lambasted.  I was talking to a friend who works for a big brewery this morning and he made two interesting comments.  The first was his advice for craft brewers to chase the giant light beer market and pick up some low hanging fruit!  He was serious about his business advice and I am surprised that more craft brewers don't have light, but flavorful beers in their portfolios.  I guess some just cannot understand that some beer drinkers actually like beers with very little flavor.

His second comment was more of a funny story.  My anonymous friend works for AB and at one time in his career spent many years in LA.  After enduring the typical abuse from some local homebrewers who were affiliated with a club whose name is part avian, part disaccharide, threw down a challenge.  He gave these guys ingredients, yeast and the basic recipe of the beer that President Obama chose to enjoy at the Beer Summit, then asked them to come to the brewery's lab and tasting room when their brews were complete.  Long story short, brewing light beer is not easy and the samples were less than stellar.  And the proud raptors were forced to eat a little crow.

In today's climate of doom and gloom I think that beer brewers need to enjoy each others company, each others beer and be happy that we do something that makes people happy!