LGM Beer Talk: Bro Beer Culture
By 
As the endless move continues, blogging has been very light. But here’s some a beer story worth mentioning from a couple of weeks ago:
This weekend, a small Indiana brewery was generating tons of buzz in my social media feed—and not in a good way. The brewery-in-planning is called Lakeville Brew Crew, and a South Bend Tribune profile of the business mentioned some of the names of its forthcoming beers: Flint Michigan Tap Water, Black Beer Matters, White Guilt, and Mass Graves, to name a few. To summarize the reactions of many of the Midwest brewers I’m connected to on social media: “Fuck these guys.”
The Lakeville Brew Crew responds to criticism with the standard shitty defense of: We’re just bringing attention to these issues. Concerning the beer called Flint Michigan Tap Water, Lakeville Brew Crew co-owner Jon Duncan tells the South Bend Tribune: “…if you’re going to get mad about that beer name, you should focus your anger more toward the people that are letting that happen to Flint. If I can bring some attention to that, whether it be negative attention toward me, it still brings attention to that issue.”
Yeah, except no.
These beer names not only make light of crises like Flint’s water contamination and the police brutality against which Black Lives Matter has mobilized, they make money off them. I’m don’t think donating a portion of profits to causes would make the beer names any more palatable, but not doing so means the brewery is co-opting vulnerable people’s suffering to sell beer. One brewer I’m friends with called it “disgusting” on Facebook. Another called it “shameful.”
To Lakeville Brew Crew, I say: if you don’t have the support of your fellow brewing community before you even open, my dudes, you are fucked. Small breweries are built on community support from both customers and from other local brewers. I struggled to find one supportive comment for the brewery among the hundreds left on friends’ Facebook posts—this doesn’t bode well for the forthcoming brewery’s beer sales. Many comments drew comparisons to Route 2 Brewing out of Lowell, Indiana, which brewed beer with names including Leg Spreader, Horny Hefer, and Psychotic Blonde, with label artwork to match. Route 2 closed earlier this year—and many see a similar fate for Lakeville Brew Crew and its Flint Michigan Tap Water:
One of the worst parts of beer culture is that along with the beer fermenting, there is some yeast that goes along with it called “libertarian asshole who thinks the suffering of others is funny.” Maybe the different yeast species co-exist, I’m no scientist. The brewers backed off of this after massive criticism. But there’s no doubt that one of the worst parts of beer culture is the white dude bro side of it, with its anti-unionism and belief that workers should sacrifice for the beer, the sexist beer names, and the indifference for anyone who is not a white guy who likes the preferred beer of the brewer. While the brewery world isn’t quite exclusively white dude, it’s pretty dang close. White privilege works in so many different ways and that very much includes in beer.
With all the moving, I haven’t had much of a chance to check out a brewery. But today, I finally needed a break and so wandered out to New Bedford for the afternoon to provide grist for another series on this blog and ended up at Moby Dick Brewery. I am slightly disappointed they don’t have a White Whale Wit, but I guess that would be laying it on a bit thick. Although the name of the brewery does that anyway. On the other hand, what else does New Bedford really have to hold on to? I had two beers, the Quick Eternity IPA and The Pulpit New England IPA. These are completely quaffable brews in a bar with more than enough local New England color. While I had the two IPAs, this is a brewery with a good variety of beers. The beer snobs out there are going to be kind of whatever, but the person passing through New Bedford who is stopping to get their scrimshaw fix at the Whaling Museum or wants to see the first house Frederick Douglass lived in after he became free or visit various places Herman Melville mentioned will be satisfied. The Nashville chicken sandwich was also completely acceptable; certainly not as a spicy as in Nashville, but fine. And as I am forcing myself to like slaw since I don’t want the calories of fries, I get that was fine too. Oh, middle age.