A couple months ago, while discussing the billion dollar purchase of Ballast Point, my friends over at the Three B Zine podcast coined a hashtag, #IndieBeer, to represent their preference for supporting quality, independent breweries here in San Diego. To listen to the show where it all happened, click here. This sentiment rang true with me, my partner at SD BeerTalk Radio, Perfect Pour Pod, A Pint of Hoppiness, and several others.

I wrote about it then, $1 Billion for Ballast Point and the Birth of #IndieBeer, and received some great feedback from people here in SD both in and out of the craft beer industry.

Two months passed, and other than a core group of us using the hashtag, it, like most things on the internet went mainly unnoticed. When we began speaking out about a proposed 10 Barrel Brewpub in downtown, Ian Anderson authored “Craft is dead. Now we drink Indie Beer”. Before I go any further, I want to thank Ian for writing the article and mentioning us, we are totally stoked about that!

Since the article came out we have been bombarded by detractors and supporters. Of course, those against the term have been louder and more prolific. I’m excited the conversation has left the boundaries of my hometown but I’m disheartened by some of the comments out there. It has really demonstrated how special and supportive the craft beer community is here. If you have any questions about what this is about after reading below, please reach out to me in Twitter or at Brian at SoreEyeSuds dot com.

Here is our message:

1. We want you (the consumer) to be aware of where you spend your beer money. We want you to understand which breweries are owned by giant corporations and which breweries are truly independent. We want you to realize your business is more crucial to the success of the independent brewery. If you are aware and don’t care, cool, that is absolutely your right, you can stop reading this and go right back to ignoring my typing, like you did 3 days ago.

2. If you have the chance to support quality, independent breweries in your area (yes, we’re totally spoiled in this category here in San Diego) please do!

That’s it. We are not advocating anything more than knowledge and supporting the little guy when you can/want. Independence is an integral part of the craft beer definition and we hope it remains that way. We’re not redefining craft; we are voicing our support for true craft beer.

We enjoy and celebrate all craft beer. I’m not asking you to stop drinking whatever awesome beer you love, even if it’s not craft, by all means, buy even more of that beer!