If you missed the Beer Wars Live event that marked the debut of the movie, shame on you! If you titled yourself as a beer geek, you must now renounce the title. Well, OK, maybe that's a little harsh. You can keep your title, you just have to admit that the BeerLady is way cooler than you are.
But between Anat Baron's movie and the live panel discussion afterwards, it was well worth the price of admission. In some ways, the movie was preaching to the choir. The audience was made up largely of beer geeks, and most of these fine folks have already learned that the big brewers have an unfair advantage in the market, and that they use that advantage to the fullest.
Part of the magic of Beer Wars, though, was the way Baron put a human face on the issues. Sure, in some places, the movie went for the emotional manipulation - Rhonda Kallman (New Century Brewing) comforting her crying child begging her to stay at home certainly qualifies. At the same time, the scene worked - even the largely male audience in the theater had an "Awww, man" reaction.
I was as anxious to see the live panel discussion as I was the movie itself, and I wouldn't say I was disappointed. It would have been great if it could have been longer, sure. And it might have benefited from a different moderator - Ben Stein seemed more interested in hearing himself speak than he did in having the participants talk. He also seemed determined to make Sam Calagione (Dogfish Head) and Greg Koch (Stone) admit that they secretly want to be Anheuser-Busch when they grow up. (Personally, I don't think he understands craft beer or brewers.)
But I loved Calagione's assessment of the difference between craft brewers and the Big Guys.
"The big companies are businesses first and brewers second."
