Best Beer Wars Review We’ve Ever Seen
Erik, who blogs at Top Fermented, got his hands on a DVD version of the documentary Beer Wars. After watching it, he wrote a thoughtful, balanced, and at times opinionated 1,855-word review.
The bottom line? The amount of hype surrounding this film created impossible expectations. Erik explains:
It had such an onslaught of publicity that I think it needed to be Gone with the Wind to live up to the expectations of critics within the beer industry, much less traditional media. With all of the buzz, it needed to absolutely blow your mind to be treated with anything except let-down afterward. It’s really a shame. There’s a good story here and there are good messages, but because it wasn’t Citizen Kane it didn’t get the attention it deserved after release.
Erik also thinks that Beer Wars was actually several documentaries in one, and would like to see someone follow up with these: (a) the story of the craft beer industry, and a comparison between craft brewers and the Big Guys; (b) an expose of the tactics of the less scrupulous members of the distribution industry, compared to distributors who carry craft beer and try to play by the rules; and (c) a compare-and-contrast of the Big Guys’ versus the Little Guys’ lobbying.
An excellent review, so good that it earned two thumbs paws up from Ludwig.