![\"Michael](\"http:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wordpresst\/uploads\/sites\/153\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Screen-Shot-2021-09-07-at-8.19.33-AM.png\")
<\/a>By<\/strong> Michael Marquess\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Founder and CEO, Mother Road Brewing Company <\/p>\n National Beer Lovers Day. Just one day?! Forgive me, but I believe it applies to all 365 days of the year. Of course, as the founder and CEO of a brewery, I\u2019m biased.\u00a0 Beer is kind of my thing.<\/p>\n I conducted an internet search to find the origins of this day. After one 16-ounce can of beer, I gave up. There was no clear, quick answer as to the creator of the day or the why. Normally, I\u2019d suspect Hallmark was behind it (how many of those other days are meant to sell cards and things?). However, it is likely that this day was invented by you, the people who drink and love beer.<\/p>\n I\u2019m going to delineate the \u201cbeer\u201d I\u2019m speaking of as \u201ccraft beer.\u201d Craft beer is produced by brewers that are small and independent. That is, according to the Brewer\u2019s Association (our national trade group), as brewing fewer than six million barrels (186,000,000 gallons) per year and being less than 25 percent controlled by someone else in the alcohol industry. These are the approximately 8,000 small, independent craft breweries spread across the U.S. They are your community neighbors. According to craftbeer.com, you are within 10 miles of one right now\u2014lucky you!<\/p>\n Why does craft beer matter?\u00a0 It matters because we are a gathering place of our communities.\u00a0 Craft breweries, their tap rooms and restaurants are third places. In community building, the \u201cthird place\u201d is the social construct separate from the typical social environments. Home is the first place, and the workplace is the second place. In his book The Great Good Place<\/em> (1989), Ray Oldenburg argues that third spaces are important for civil society, democracy, civil engagement and establishing feelings of a sense of place.<\/p>\n Right now, with a terribly divided country, I can think of no better place to engage than a third place such as a craft brewery. Civil society exists because we can agree to disagree agreeably.\u00a0 As Americans, we share more in common than divides us. At a brewery, we can debate the issues of the day, or hop and malt bills in our beer, at our leisure. Is this discussion not easier performed, and more enjoyable, over a pint of your favorite ale or lager? This is how we brewers build community one pint at a time\u2014focusing on commonalities and connections, not divisions.<\/p>\n So, here we are, on your day, National Beer Lover\u2019s Day. Go out and visit your favorite craft brewer. Try a new brewery. Try a new beer. Pick up craft beer from the store. Love your beer and also try to love one other, even that guy<\/em> who doesn\u2019t love hops or your politics. Beer and community encompass all of us.<\/p>\n An inside look from Mother Road Brewing Company at the process of brewing beer:<\/p>\n
\nNAU Alumnus, School of Hotel and Restaurant Management, 2001
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