This is a late entry into the debate of craft beer versus faux-craft, and there's a good reason why: I've been having a hard time articulating just why I think the debate has been so wrong.
Backstory
On December 13th, a few high ranking members of the Brewer's Association wrote an article in the St. Louis Dispatch titled Craft or crafty? Consumers deserve to know the truth in which the authors attempt to call attention to the problem of "faux craft" beer being made by the large international conglomerate breweries, namely Anheuser Busch-InBev (ABI) and MillerCoors, henceforth to be referred to this in this article as The Duopoly (because that's what they are). It was timed to coincide with a press release by the Brewers Association titled The Beer Drinker's Right to Know, which seemed to be a response to this insane interview on Forbes/CNN titled Big beer's response to craft: If you can't beat 'em, join 'em which contains some crazypants quotes from the Executive Chairman of SABMiller like:
"There's a huge debate in the craft world about us, all big brewers, because we're like the enemy. We're the other guys. They think we're stealing their authenticity. What we say is, "Let the consumer decide." If we're authentic enough for the consumer, that's authentic enough for anyone." --Read On
By now, you've probably backed - or been asked to back - something on Kickstarter. For artists and many small community-focused businesses, it's the cool thing to do and, frankly, a great way to raise the capital you need without having to get involved in a complex business relationship with investors. It's also a fantastic way to build a community of interested potential patrons around your business.
There are also Kickstarter alternatives popping up - IndieGoGo and Ulule to name a couple - as well as a new Raleigh-based startup, Equity Shack, that is taking advantage of newly passed federal legislation that requires the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to create rules for microinvesting by small, unaccredited investors (hopefully available early 2013).
I launched Mystery Brewing Company with a Kickstarter campaign back in 2010 because I was trying to sell the idea of the art and craft of brewing beer in the same way many artists, musicians, or authors sell their creative works on Kickstarter.
We were successful: the first brewery to use Kickstarter for fundraising and, until very recently, the highest total raised by a brewery on Kickstarter. Today, Kickstarter is a popular venue for a growing number of businesses, particularly small breweries, but the question is:
One of the first things that people like to assume when they find out that I own a brewery is that I sit around and get trashed all day at work. But it's the same for you, right?
“A tech startup!? Man, I LOVE ping pong and foosball!”
Not that all of you necessarily go out of your way to contradict that notion.
But hey, neither do I.
Starting up a brewery is different than starting a tech company in one major way: All of that work that you did at home, at a coffee shop, on your couch, or even on the back of a napkin while dreaming up what it would be like to be your own tech super-power is all work you can take with you when you go big. --Read On
This is a late entry into the debate of craft beer versus faux-craft, and there's a good reason why: I've been having a hard time articulating just why I think the debate has been so wrong. 
By now, you've probably backed - or been asked to back - something on Kickstarter. For artists and many small community-focused businesses, it's the cool thing to do and, frankly, a great way to raise the capital you need without having to get involved in a complex business relationship with investors. It's also a fantastic way to build a community of interested potential patrons around your business. 
One of the first things that people like to assume when they find out that I own a brewery is that I sit around and get trashed all day at work. But it's the same for you, right?