Loved the film, even though I’m not an American (Swede in Sweden) and I love the message of the film.

I think a lot of the craft beer people who bitch and moan about the movie not beeing more craft beer focused or that Sam is getting to much coverage are either jealous or annoyed that the move wasn’t a videoblog detailing every little minute detail of the craft.

Ang get of Sam’s back would ya, It’s obvious from BrewMasters, Beerwars and DogFish Blog that he really cares about all craft beers and that he’s happy as long as you aren’t “fucking close to water”. If you happen to choose his beer as your drink of choice then so be it.

Lets face it, I’m from Europa and Sweden. Now the crafts are alive and doing decent in the EU. However we are seeing more and more of the monopolization. I dont know if you know anything about Sweden so here is some facts we are just short of 10 million citizens but we have the same problem with crappy bland lager.

The largest producers are Pripps, Spendrups and Falcon beeing the smaller brewery. But they pretty much dominate the Swedish beer industry.

Hell most people don’t look at the lable they just order “En stor stark” which translated means “One large strong one” with strong denoting give me the cheapest beer you got with as much alc % per volume. Most of the time they dont even KNOW what they are drinking or care.

We also dont have the three tier system so its much worse, the largest distributors of beer is the largest breweries. Which means that the craft breweries have to strike a deal with the big boys club.

Not all that different from an other movie about unfair buissness practices, you might have heard of it “This Film Not Yet Rated” by Dick Kirby. What the Swedish big 3 do is pretty much the same as what the MPAA do to independent movies (rate them unfairly to hamper distrubution) .

We also have Systembolaget which is the only store where you can buy spirits, wine and beer stronger than 3.5vol% a goverment controlled monopoly. All profit goes straight to the goverment, or at least it used to not sure if the current laissez-faire preaching party in charge will deregulate the market, but I digress. My point is the goverment monopoly is heavily regulated with who they can sell to (no one under 21, no one who is drunk, they are not open during sundays and only half saturdays) but the market is otherwise free competition. They get what the customers want and they are the largest buyer of spirits and beer in volume in Europa and probably in the world. Now there is one caveat, the Systembolaget quality controll is very rigid and if your product isnt up to your claims and Swedish food and saftey regulations then you’re out untill you have fixed the problem.

So what if systembolaget doesn’t cary DogFish brewery?
All i got to do is ask my local “system” and they will import one case just for me even if all I want is 2-3 bottles. If I ask for it they will get it for me. (they do carry Sam Adams, Sierra nevada, Left hand and my favourite of all times Flying Dog, but not Dogfish)

Now that is fair.

on the Moonshot, love the lable, would never ever drink it. I dont mix alcohol and caffeine since we’ve had quite a few deaths in the EU related to RedBull + Vodka drinks.

Cheers!

Chris

that’s what Beer Wars really wants people to think about. ask questions. demand answers. bring about change.

right now for a country that boasts free enterprise and endless opportunity, we unfortunately are starting to find ourselves in a country of controlled enterprise and very hard to build opportunity.

anat also mentioned previously that she was surprised to find brewers very tight lipped when it came to directly discussing distribution and the three tier system. fear. it’s not healthy and brewers/brewpubs/business/consumers should not live in a state of fear of their distributors who should be working for and with them, not against and over them.

just a few musings of mine.
read. agree. disagree. discuss ^_^

Anat, back to the larger point. Where does this stand right now. Is there any movement on this?

tms:
The Reason Foundation has been a big supporter of the film from day 1. Their “ad” is found on the DVD.

Adam:
Thanks for the kind words. Glad you “happened upon” the film. Thanks for helping to create awareness.

A Different Brad:
The only viewers who’ve had an issue with Rhonda’s role in the film are craft beer drinkers. She is never presented as a craft brewer. Her story is there to show what it’s like to be an independent start up in the beer industry. And yes, it’s meant to be juxtaposed to Sam’s story. Mainstream viewers seem to really get why she’s there, Probably because they’re watching the film unfold and not thinking about whether her beer is a gimmick, whether she’s a real brewer etc.

You’re either absolutely right or you’re describing more of a retroactive rationalization for the way Moonshot’s story came across to craft aficionados contrasted with how it was meant to be portrayed in “Beer Wars.”

Watching the film, the differences between Rhonda and Sam couldn’t have been more stark. I think those were obvious to all of us. But wasn’t so obvious was what Anat’s intentions were in featuring Rhonda so prominently in the film. The way Moonshot’s story was presented, the viewer wasn’t sure if, as you describe, Anat was making evident for all of us Moonshot’s deficiencies or if, on the other hand, it was a much more sympathetic portrayal intended to conflate Rhonda’s activities and challenges with those of a “real” craft brewer like Sam. The scenes at Rhonda’s home, the interviews with her husband and her own personal lamentations all contributed to this impression.

Simply from the perspective of evaluating the film (which people are prone to do after seeing one), it is fair to assess what comes across on the screen rather than have to guess at the filmmaker’s intent. The fact that so many viewers were left scratching theirs heads is legitimate and can’t be simply tossed aside.

Nevertheless, the fundamental arguments the film makes are indeed valid and worth supporting and disseminating. I think even people who criticize the film’s construction would agree with this.