Brewing bonds: Emergence of community in a beer-based micro-culture
Co-authors: Ilana Herzig and Matthew Zeitler
Conclusion:
In our study of Willardston beer micro-culture we have discovered a diverse, interconnected community of brewers, beer-drinkers, and retailers. Ultimately, we have come to understand how the physical space of the brewery works to promote social interaction between members, to enculturate new members, and to determine hierarchies amongst members. We argue that the taproom, through careful spatial elements (including bar location and size, decorative elements, and specific items of material culture) construct a framework through which community is created. We have also observed how knowledge of the micro-culture exists in many forms; extent and realms of knowledge are indicative of a members’ level of enculturation within this micro-culture. Familiarity with the physical spaces of the breweries, taprooms, and shops, proficiency with folk terms, and understanding of beer making all serve to differentiate between encultured and unencultured members of different types and levels.
We have determined how this community is actualized through strong bonds among micro-culture members. Through interviews, observation, and event attendance, we have found that collaboration between brewers and homebrewers is prolific and characteristic of this micro- culture, even amongst those working in competing establishments. Readiness to spread knowledge regarding their passionate work is one way in which is community manifests; members were willing to define us as members of their community as they discussed the micro- culture and their work. Amongst professional and homebrewers, this collaboration materializes in professional advice, sharing of equipment, and frameworks for casual social interactions among brewers.
The discourses used by the Willardston brew culture to talk about their place in the larger Willardston community often ultimate refer back to the importance of community to this micro-culture. Members often discuss the city’s history of prohibition, a current push towards sustainability, and the increasing inclusion of women in previously gendered roles shape as they interpret their own culture. Fundamentally, these discursive tactics are ways to interpret and refer to the powerful community that exists within the brew culture. The brew community interprets the semi-recent lifting of the alcohol ban as a tool for discussion regarding the importance of communal social spaces and inter-brewer camaraderie that are believed to have existed during pre-prohibition times and are used as models for current and future action. Sustainability also plays a role in the discursive tactics of Willardston brew culture members as they discuss sustainable practices, especially in terms of engaging in local brewing practices; this tactic can again refer reflexively back to the strong sense of community lauded by the micro-culture. Finally, gender emerges as a common theme for discussion among the brew community, as members ruminate on the increasing role of women in the field, often linking the emergence of female brewers to a strong community that relies on social activity and relationships.
Ultimately, we have noted the pervasiveness of the role of community in all aspects of the Willardston brew culture. The organization of spaces associated with brew culture activity, social actions and use of material culture within these spaces, social connections and relationships, and discourse are all driven by the notion of community. The product of brewing is beer, but the product of the social activities that occur within the Willardston brew culture is community. The brewing of beer has held important social and implications since its conception at least a half-decamillenium ago1; in this very different time, place, and context, the production of beer is still surrounded with significance. In this situation, the micro-culture surrounding craft beer production in a suburb adjacent to a large midwestern city is significant in its community building. At the end of the day, beer is doing what it does best: bringing people together.