Why Should You Drink Craft Beer Over Mainstream Names?

Craft beer, or Indie beer or whatever you want to call it, has exploded in popularity over the past decade. That is why we exist after all! 

But for many, choosing craft beer over what they know can be a big decision. Putting aside price, ABV and familiarity, for what reasons should you choose craft beer over those in the mainstream?

Let’s dive into 6 areas we think you should consider before picking up the same old multipack this weekend.

Variety and Flavour

Who else thinks all beer tastes the same? Now, we, the beer experts, know this isn’t the case, but for the average beer enjoyer, it can literally come down to what’s available in the supermarket.

Craft breweries, like ours, make their name through experimentation with ingredients and diverse styles. This leads to us creating some pretty unique flavour profiles and a wider range of products, than those in the mainstream. Brewing in smaller batches means we can experiment in this way.

Once you start drinking craft beer, it’s hard to switch back to the mainstream. We know this ourselves!

Quality of Ingredients

Speaking of ingredients, that’s something that craft beer brewers take the utmost pride in.

Because they are brewed at scale, and designed to last for longer periods, mainstream lagers and beers can contain nasty chemicals and cheaper ingredients. This, in turn compromises quality and taste.

Here at SG, we pride ourselves on choosing the best available ingredients and keeping chemical components to an absolute minimum. This way, everyone can enjoy our beer, without the fear of consuming stuff they don’t want to.

It also means that our beers taste exactly as they are described, and despite being more expensive than mainstream, they are a much more enjoyable experience.

Sustainability & Environment 

As consumers, you have your own views on environmental factors. And for many of you, this could be the difference between buying one product over another, and you absolutely have the right to make those decisions.

For us, our impact on the environment is a massive consideration as we do what we do. Being a smaller brewery, this means it’s much easier to minimise where our product and ingredients come from, as well as our overall effect on the local and global environment.

We also recognise that this is an ongoing issue that we need to address, not a one-and-done statement on our website. That’s why we welcome any feedback from our Tribe on how we can reduce our impact on the environment.

Compare that to a mainstream beer, and well, let’s just say it could be slightly more difficult to offset environmental impact, and access information about their efforts to reduce their impact…

Brand Experience

Brand experience is everything for SG Brewing Co., and as craft beer drinkers, you want to feel part of something.

An engaging brand experience is everything. It’s something that the big boys do quite well, but do you ever feel truly connected?

For us, it’s not just about the taste we make, but the experience we deliver. Naturally, taste is extremely important, but our focus as a brand is ‘how we want our customers to feel’. Whether you enjoy drinking at home or collaborating with friends and family, no matter your circumstance, we want you all to feel part of a unified community – and this is what we call our Tribe.

Every time you see our content, interact with our products or visit our taprooms, feeling a part of this community is what makes our craft beer so unique, compared to the mainstream.

Support Local Businesses

There are many beer brands out there that, on the surface, are independent, but in actuality, are owned by one of the bigger boys. Sometimes they even pretend to be authentically regional or align themselves to a certain culture or country, despite being brewed right here in the UK!

Choosing an independent beer means you can feel a greater affinity to the product. It can really feel like your money directly brews the beers you love.

As an independent brewer, we pride ourselves on our roots here in Essex, sourcing local ingredients and supporting the local community as much as we can. After all, it’s this community that we call our home, and has been our biggest supporters so far, something which we will never take for granted.

Whether at Rupert’s Taproom in Coggeshall, local festivals and events or ordering our delicious beers online, we can’t thank you, our tribe, enough.

Sense of Community

Following on from what we just touched on, community is everything.

As consumers, we all want to feel part of something. With social media, we can connect more easily than before. Our tribe can share their finds and favourites, whether that’s one of our delicious beers or even those of our competitors.

Competition brings us together. One brand’s story is completely different to another, and their flavours and tastes all come from different perspectives, that’s what makes the craft beer community so special.

And this community isn’t just an online one, it extends to taprooms, pubs and festivals up and down the country. From the short time we ourselves have been a part of this, we feel the energy and enthusiasm.

Can you say the same for the mainstream lager you used to drink?

And if you haven’t figured it out already, this is a roundabout way of saying try our beer, there are currently three different flavours to choose from – https://sg-brewing.com/beers/