Dear Beer Lovers,
It gives us great pleasure to announce the launch of Hop Culture.
What is Hop Culture? An online lifestyle magazine for craft beer consumers? A place to celebrate pictures, pieces, and experiences? A network of talented writers, designers, photographers, and industry experts dedicated to chronicling a beautiful and unique part of our culture?
All of the above.
Over the past five years, volume share of craft beer has increased from 5.7 percent to 12.2 percent, representing a dollar value growth of $22.3 billion. As a country, we’re producing more craft beer than ever before: 24.5 million barrels at the end of 2015, up from 9.1 million barrels in 2009. Few sectors in the United States—in the world!—have seen such monumental growth. And yet, few online resources are giving craft beer the high quality coverage it deserves.
We’re here to educate consumers and provide entertainment, but at our core we’re interested in producing beer journalism that challenges the industry and helps it mature. We see beer stories as fantastic exhibits in a hands-on museum unlike any other in the world. We’re not artists but curators, choosing and arranging the exhibits in a way that makes some larger comment or impression. Beer is culture and culture is beer; we happily exist at the bubbly, blurry, and delicious intersection between the two.
Here’s our commitment to you: to provide the highest quality, most well-designed pieces of craft beer journalism on the web. To offer rare products, interesting perspectives, and unique experiences. To make the brewing and drinking landscapes as friendly and inclusive as possible. To remain free, always. In return, we ask nothing more of you than to join us in celebrating this fascinating piece of our culture.
We’re always looking for interesting stories or perspectives. If you’d like to pitch, give us a tip, or just say hi, feel free to reach out at [email protected].
We’ll drink to that.
—Kenny Gould and Travis Smith
Founders, Hop Culture
