US indie brewers act to differentiate 'true' craft beers from those made by Big Beer

Washington

AS Big Beer has snapped up craft breweries, it's grown harder to tell who the true indies are. But a new industry effort hopes to clear up the confusion by declaring their ownership right on the bottle.

More than 800 breweries - including Sam Adams, Sierra Nevada and New Belgium - will soon begin printing seals on their beers that identify them as "Certified Independent Craft". The initiative, which was spearheaded by the trade group for independent craft brewers, is intended to differentiate "true" craft beers from those made by the likes of MillerCoors, Anheuser-Busch and Heineken.