Indeed. And this ties to his first point which is that the playing field is far from level so it's not as if those crafty beers are competing on flavor. In many cases that's all one can get, or at least they've set the true craft beers up to fail - e.g. there's a lot of money involved in where on a shelf a particular beer winds up and that affects purchasing.

There are many people out there who have heard about the craft beer revolution, don't know any better and will grab the first thing they see. Sure, if they like the product that's AOK. But the effect is that would have been money going to one of the smaller breweries. What do we think will happen once those breweries are extinguished?

I agree that controlling the supply chain/shelf space is generally bad (see #4 in my original point, like most economists I'm at best very wary of vertical integration). In spite of my original post, your post has inspired me to buy some true craft beers. Any recommendations? I prefer Lagers, Pilsners and wheat beers. (EDIT: for New York area)

Most of the best craft brews are fairly local in distribution so it depends on where you live. (I'm more of an IPA and stout drinker anyway so my recommendations on lighter beers aren't going to be all that informed.)

I agree that the original piece seems overblown. In my experience, even the "craft brands" of the big brewers cater to pretty mass market tastes and aren't really that interesting.

Completely missed that there were responses, but in case you all see this ghaff is right that distribution is so spotty for most craft breweries that it's better to find some local folks.

Along w/ your last sentence I'd also say that most craft brewers' flagships can be pretty plain jane as well for the same reason.