We all have a sometimes wish that our hobby was our job. With some of us that does come about - certainly among that growing band, the craft brewers.
If you like an occasional beer you can't have helped but notice the growth in the range of beers available these days. There is a definite change happening in the beer market - at a time when, recently, it was declared that wine is close to overtaking beer as Australians' favourite plonk.
Today's wine drinker is more discerning about the quality and style of the wine. And in turn, it is quality that increasingly motivates the beer drinker, buying less but creating a rapid growth of mini breweries, local pub brews, and craft breweries.
It's a world-wide trend with craft brewers in the US taking some 10 per cent of the beer market. In Australia it's closer to 3 per cent but growing, as it is around the world. There are now craft breweries in Canada, Japan, China, Cambodia, Spain, New Zealand - and of course, Britain and northern Europe have had their "brewpubs" for centuries.
This growth of hand-crafted beer is also an understandable development from the beer hobbyist movement. I well remember my old dad and his interests. "Your dad's down in the cellar making beer, I don't expect to see him for a couple of hours," my mum would explain when I phoned, knowing that he would emerge safe and sound and in a very happy mood.
He was not alone, and sometimes this turns into a passion that eventually becomes a job. But when does a hobbyist turn into a craft brewer?
"It's all about the content not the brand," says Guy Greenstone. He's landlord of St Kilda's The Local Taphouse, a hotbed of beer making and savouring. "It's about having a passion for the product."
When Guy and his business partner Steve Jaffares put on a talk and sip fest called The Great Australasian Beer Spectapular in 2011 they so overfilled their pub that for the next two years it was held at the Royal Exhibition Centre, attended by fans and brewers from around the world.
"This May we got 12,000 people and 90 specially brewed beers. For next year we expect over 100 new beers - and I don't know how many people," said Guy. They have created a new event for Melbourne's calendar, turning the Exhibition Building into a big elaborate beer hall for three days.
Is there any clash with that other great beer celebration, Oktoberfest? Other than being half a year apart, Guy thinks not. He sees Oktoberfest as a celebration of beer culture and history, whereas the Spectapular is focussed on the making and quality of beer.
The rebirth of beer is not unnoticed by the big brewing companies, who are launching products that look more home-made and varied in styles. Together, they may be what saves beer - which has been steadily falling from 75% of alcohol consumption in 1962 to 41% in 2012.
Justin McPhail of Bendigo Beer said it was a sign of the times where big breweries are no longer as dominant, and that craft breweries signalled a rebirth of beer. “I think it’s the end of bland beer that’s been around since the 1970s,” he said.New York brewer Garrett Oliver sums up the movement. "Real beer is made by people, not by machines," he says. "The difference with craft beer is that when you're talking about a brewery, you know whose beer that is. It's a very personal thing." Almost a hobby.
