Cambridge Brewing Comments On Contract/Gypsy Brewing & Possible New Brewery

From the Cambridge Brewing Blog:

We’ve done this to ourselves. By making Craft Beer welcoming to all by design, we’ve made it a desirable industry in which people want to play a part. This includes the inevitable number of beer marketing companies, aka contract brewers (a few of whom call themselves “gypsy brewers”), who either feel that there’s money to be made in this fad or who genuinely love craft beer but don’t want to invest the capital in their own brick and mortar breweries. This lack of skin in the game shows me that they value short term gains over long term personal investment and hard work. And I truly believe that there is no such thing as a gypsy brewer. In fact I know of only one couple, our friends at Pretty Things, who “reside” at another brewery but who actively create every drop of their own beer, each and every brewday. There’s a big difference between having that level of commitment and integrity, and claiming to be a “gypsy” because you occasionally show up at a brewery on days your beer is being made for you. If you’re not there, every time, doing it entirely yourself and if there are other people physically making your beer for you (sometimes in your absence), you’re simply not a brewer in my book. It’s more than just cutting open some bags of grain or making a ceremonious addition of hops or cacao nibs or some other exotic ingredient and Tweeting about it. I’m sorry if that offends some folks, but this is something that our industry – producers, retailers, consumers, everybody – will need to struggle with as time goes on.

There’s significant pride (yeah, I know it’s a sin) in knowing that CBC has become a well-respected brewery internationally, and certainly pride in seeing our little brewery grow into our Bottling Project, where our very special beer can meet a wider audience. Hopefully this will lead us to the construction of our own brick and mortar brewery in the future, with an expanded barrel cellar, corked-and-caged sours, and more sexy stuff. Dare we dream?
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