If you’re a regular beer drinker, you might’ve heard high praises for craft beers from your friends. But what makes craft beers so enjoyable, and what do they have that mass-produced beer doesn’t?
Wider Flavour Profile
Making regular beer takes four ingredients: hops for bitterness and stability, yeast for fermenting, water for diluting, and grains for the colour and aroma. Most commercial beers stick to this formula and only have malt or wheat options.
By drinking craft beer, you open tons of avenues in flavours and beer styles. All craft breweries have their own take on loved beer flavours and source organic, unique ingredients that give each craft beer a distinct taste.
Quality Taste
Craft breweries focus on the quality of their product, unlike mass-produced beer companies. They explore and experiment with different ingredients and avoid additives such as caramel colouring and corn syrup. This is precisely why craft beer simply tastes better.
Less Watered Down
That’s right, craft beer in New Zealand actually has a higher ABV% (average alcohol by volume) than commercial beers. Craft beer is less watered down and has an ABV% between 5% and 10%, while big-label beers have an ABV% of 2% to 4%. Craft beers also have a higher percentage of ingredients for flavour.
Beneficial Minerals
Drinking good craft beer in moderation is good for your health. Surprising, right? Well, craft beer contains various antioxidants, vitamin B3, silicon, and fibre. The silicon helps improve bone strength, while antioxidants boost your immune system and lower the odds of you developing cardiovascular disease. Craft beer doesn’t add to the chances of Type 2 diabetes showing up, as normal beer containing corn syrup would.
That being said, it’s not a healthy or detoxifying drink, and certainly shouldn’t be involved in a diet fad. Craft beer is simply enjoyable alcohol that gives you some helpful extra minerals when you drink it in moderation.
Seasonal Flavours
Just as how coffee shops do seasonal lattes that coffee junkies wait a year for, craft breweries do seasonal brews, meaning that you can get refreshing fruity beer in the summers and roasted barley in winters. Most craft beer drinkers go for seasonal alternatives as well.
Better Cocktails
After you make a delicious and fun cocktail with prosecco or rum, you need the perfect topper. Craft ales and lagers are perfect, as they have distinct and strong fruity, refreshing, or roasted notes. For cocktails made with traditional lagers, such as michelada, craft lager adds better quality of colour and flavour. If you enjoy cocktails and serve them at parties all year, experiment with craft beer cocktails.