Craft Beer is Serious Business

The best thing about craft beer, besides the beer, is the people. Beer people are laid back, non-pretentious, and friendly. This goes for consumers and brewers alike. Consider, also, the names of beers: Chasing Fluffy Pink Unicorns by Ghost Runners Brewery, for example. There are so many more great names but I have chased fluffy pink unicorns and cannot call them to mind.

But craft beer is serious business. There are conferences addressing beer marketing and tourism, beer blogging, and every facet of growing and producing hops. There are more certifications and college level degrees relating to beer than I can name (although one such list exists here).

Occupations in the beer business go far beyond brewing which is serious enough. If you really want to get technical, you can become a brewing chemist. (The American Society of Brewing Chemists has a great website full of good brew news, btw.) You can get paid to buy beer as a Alcohol Compliance Auditor. There are also brewery auditors with the Department of Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. Doesn't get more serious than that, does it?

You could be a beer historian at the Smithsonian but that job's been filled.

Less serious, but just as real, are "Drink It Interns." Job requirements: drink beer, travel, use social media. (Check, check, and check.)

Also real are these news items: Taco Bell will now be offering beer and Dunkin' Donuts will offer beer on the darkest day of the year. While Dunkin' Donuts won't actually be serving beer, Wormtown Brewery in Worcester MA will be serving DDark Roasted Brew, a stout made with the Dunkin' Donuts coffee beans. Meanwhile, Taco Bell will actually be selling beer (from Four Son's Brewing) in their Newport Beach location.

But, seriously?