The Modern Reinheitsgebot

I don't know if you are aware of it, but last month, the Brewers Association came up with a new Reinheitsgebot.

As best I can tell, the statement was supposed to address how Blue Moon (a MillerCoors product) and Shock Top (an ABInBev product) have dressed themselves in craft beer clothes and are, frankly, lying about where the beer comes from. Look at a Blue Moon six pack carrier. It says it's made by Blue Moon Brewing Company. It doesn't mention MillerCoors at all. I don't think that's right. But when I read the list of Domestic non-craft breweries, I wondered "Who peed in Charlie's Post Toasties™?"

Yuengling's and August Schell's aren't Craft Brewers because they use adjuncts? No one can argue that Dog Fish Head Brewery doesn't use adjuncts, and they aren't on the list! Remember, an adjunct is defined as "A thing added to something else as a supplementary rather than an essential part." Under this definition, coffee is an adjunct. Hell! Fruit is an adjunct. Wine and whiskey barrels are an adjunct. So why do August Schell's, Yeungling's, Dixie, Iron City, Milwaukee Premium, Minhas, Narragansett, Pig's Eye, Rheingold, and Straub make the non-craft list? Since only Straub is a member of the BA, I guess it's because they aren't dues paying members of BA. And what did Straub do to draw the ire of the BA?

The BA Reinheitsgebot must read like this: "You can put anything you want in your beer if you pay BA dues."