DRAFT Magazine

Tomorrow, Beer Wars — the greatest, or at the very least, the best-marketed movie about craft beer ever made — will be shown across the country on 440 separate screens in a one-night only engagement. The documentary, directed by Anat Baron, follows the trials and tribulations of Dogfish Head’s Sam Calagione and New Century Brewing Company’s Rhonda Kallman (one of the founders of Boston Beer Works) as they battle the big corporations.

“Beer Wars begins as the corporate behemoths are being challenged by small, independent brewers who are shunning the status quo and creating innovative new beers,” the Synopsis page reads. “This contemporary David and Goliath story is ultimately about keeping your integrity (and your family’s home) in the face of temptation.”

Following the screening, a live panel will take place and be beamed to the 440 theaters. Ben Stein (more on him later) will moderate, while Stone Brewing Company founder Greg Koch, Brewers Association president Charlie Papazian, Ambitious Brew author Maureen Ogle, and Beer Advocate founder Todd Alstrom will join Calagione and Kallman. Baron attempted to recruit Tom Long and Dave Peacock, the heads of MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch, respectively, but they declined the invitation.

Thanks to a huge marketing campaign, outlets from beer blogs to New York Magazine have jumped onboard the hype train (we’re guilty as well). But will Beer Wars be any good?

Well, that depends on whom you ask.

The majority of the craft beer community seems pleased the movie exists. Simply put, the more people who learn about brews beyond those that the Big Three produce, the better. It will be interesting to see what kind of audience the film draws. Does it have the crossover appeal that Baron (and distributor Fathom Events) hope? If so, Beer Wars could do wonders for increasing the visibility of Dogfish Head and the rest of the beer world.

That’s not to say, however, that everyone in the beer community is pleased with the film.

After suggesting a couple ways the film could succeed, Andy Crouch on the BeerScribe.com worries:

If, on the other hand, it merely repeats the tired, dated refrain of big versus little and misses the nuances involved (including that the fillmmaker appears to improperly lump New Century in with all craft brewers), then it will be a lost opportunity and a lot of work for an hour-and-a-half long craft beer infomercial.

Alan McLeod at A Good Beer Blog sums it up more simply, writing, “Going to a movie about beer, to quote Steve Martin, seems a lot like dancing about architecture.”

The Mad Fermentationist, whose long, well-argued post is ground zero for the recent rash of negative reaction, thinks Beer Wars is perhaps too much of a promotional vehicle for craft breweries that have made it:

First off it bothers me to see a bunch of people who run pretty big businesses (Sam Adams, Stone, and Dogfish Head) drumming up anti-corporate sentiments about larger corporations (Bud, Miller, Coors) that they compete against. Could you imagine a movie with great wine makers taking shots at Thunderbird, or great cheese makers making fun of Kraft? I understand that marketing is important, but I think there are better ways to go about it.

And then, of course, there’s the issue of why Ben Stein. Well, Baron explained his presence (as well as other problems people might have with his film) in a post:

Ben Stein was hired to moderate the panel. That’s all. My partner required a celebrity host as part of the deal. We had a list and stopped once someone was available. Everyone on the list had pluses and minuses. Please be assured that this is MY movie, not Ben’s. And that this is not a forum for him to discuss any of his beliefs but rather to act as an impartial moderator to the cast of characters that make up the panel. If his involvement is what’s stopping you from attending then I hope you’ll reconsider.

Our take: We think it’s great that craft beer is creeping into the spotlight. Sure, there are problems with the documentary, but that’s just the nature of the beast. Would Beer Wars have been more timely two years ago? Of course. Does Stein’s involvement confused us just a bit? Sure. Will hearing someone from the relatively massive Boston Beer Co. rail against A-B be strange? Quite possibly. But all and all, Beer Wars will do more good than harm. And that’s really all you can ask.

So, enjoy the show. (And let us know what you think.)

(For a list of theaters showing Beer Wars, click here. You can buy tickets here but don’t stay too long as the trailer will make you go insane.)

– Noah Davis is editor of DRAFTMag.com