newjerseynewsroom.com

All three of the chosen brews are owned by foreign companies

BY JOHN HOLL

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Thursday night, President Barack Obama will share a beer with two men who recently found themselves involved in an incident that opened a new dialogue on race relations, law enforcement and politics.

Last week, Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. was arrested at his home in Cambridge, Mass., by Sgt. James Crowley. According to reports, Gates was locked out of his house and was trying to force open the front door when officers arrived. Sgt. Crowley placed Gates under arrest after calling the professor uncooperative, charging him with disorderly conduct.

While the charge was later dropped, Gates called it an example of racial profiling. Then the President weighed in and said that the police had "acted stupidly."

What is most troubling to me about this situation are the chosen beers the men will share outside the Oval Office while presumably burying the hatchet.

The President is said to be having Bud Lite, while it will be Blue Moon for Sgt. Crowley and a Red Stripe for Professor Gates.

While all three are fine in certain circumstances, the fact is that corporations not based in American own all three. For the record, Budweiser, a longtime St. Louis staple, and Red Stripe are both now owned by Belgium-based Anheuser-Busch Inbev, and Blue Moon is a subsidiary of South African-Canadian owned Miller Molson-Coors.

This would have been a prime opportunity for the President to embrace one of the hundreds of smaller craft breweries currently operating in the United States.

It is easy to choose beers like Budweiser, the undisputed giant in the business. It is part of the country's history and its marketing campaign has made it recognized around the globe. Craft beers, for the most part, still live in obscurity on the shelves, with many consumers unwilling to reach for unfamiliar labels.

But, that doesn't mean there is anything wrong with those beers. In fact, according to industry statistics, craft brewers produced nearly 8.6 million barrels of craft beer in the U.S. in 2008. For those in the know, there is a growing customer support for local breweries.

President Obama has done admirable things since taking over the Oval Office, including the planting of a sustainable garden on the White House grounds. He would be doing a favor to the craft beer industry to embrace a beer brewed in the American entrepreneurial spirit.

The president could have easily called upon Capitol City Brewing, right in D.C., Or Sgt. Crowley and Professor Gates could reach for any one of the Sam Adams beers made in Boston, or even one of the fine beers made by Harpoon, another Massachusetts-based brewery.

Or they could branch out to offerings from Magic Hat of Vermont, Rogue of Oregon and Dogfish Head of Delaware, or even New Jersey's own Cricket Hill.

All are craft breweries that have gone beyond the typical beer offerings and created innovative and complex brews.

To truly call tonight's meeting a "Beer Summit" it would be nice if the men were actually going to sit down with a "real" American beer.

John Holl writes about craft beer for NewJerseyNewsroom.com. He may be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .