THE GIST
CBS has commissioned New Yorks Shmaltz Brewing to create two themed beers that celebrate the 50th anniversary of the original Star Trek television series. Shmaltz will release two beers: “Voyage to the North-East Quadrant” and “The Trouble with Tribbles” that should be hitting shelves later this month.
WHY IT MATTERS
We talk with increasing regularity about the ‘normalisation’ or 'mainstreaming' of craft beer – how craft is gradually leaving its niche and connecting to the rest of culinary and in this case, entertainment culture.
The cult of Sci-Fi and Fantasy can hardly be called niche, it’s a global movement, so it makes sense that there’s a crossover point between it and craft beer. Big beer got in on the same act when Carlsberg rebranded itself for the launch of video game Fallout 4. And more craft beer product placement has been showing up in TV series — recent sightings of Goose Island's IPA in Casual, Lagunitas and Ballast Point in Silicon Valley, and Blue Moon in Married come to mind.
With craft beer’s popularity still on the increase it’s no surprise to see a network such as CBS choosing to give the contract to a craft brewer, as craft carries more and more of a cultural signifier to Millenial audiences. In fact HBO have been seeing a great deal of success with its Game of Thrones beers from Ommegang, so it’s likely this crossover of cultures is only set to increase.
— Matthew Curtis