Wikipedia:Notability (breweries)

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This page in a nutshell: Editors are encouraged to write about breweries initially in regional articles. Stub articles are not to be encouraged. A brewery defines itself as notable by the ability of an editor to write a full and meaningful article.

In Wikipedia:Places of local interest it is suggested that "An article about a place could be created if there's enough referenced information to make it encyclopedic. Otherwise, write the description to articles of parent areas."

This view is similar to that which members of the Wikipedia:WikiProject Beer came to during the discussion on the notability of breweries. That is:

• Let anyone who wants to write a regional article go for it (it would give us a good idea for further discussion)
• Let anyone who wants to write a full article for a given brewery go for it
• Regional articles for minor breweries and stubs, and full articles for notable breweries.
• Breweries mentioned in the regional articles that develop sufficiently to be spun off into their own articles.
• Creating stand alone stub articles is not helpful to anyone.

The following proposal offers guideline criteria, as a tool to determine whether a particular brewery is a valid subject for an independent Wikipedia article.

Notable means "worthy of being noted" or "attracting notice". It is not synonymous with "fame". However, while large breweries are more likely to be notable; smaller breweries can be notable if there is enough of interest.

Contents 1 Beer 2 Reasons for including all breweries on Wikipedia 3 Reasons for not including all breweries on Wikipedia 4 Current criteria for including a brewery 5 Notability guidelines 6 Proposed criteria for the notability of breweries and beers 7 Notability tests 8 Suggested approach

[edit] Beer

Discussions that took place after a merge of Guinness the product into Guinness the brewery [1] established there there was a loose consensus that some beer brands, such as Guinness, should have articles separate from the brand holder or brewery. However, there is currently no agreed or proposed criteria.

[edit] Reasons for including all breweries on Wikipedia

1. Wikipedia is large: There is room enough to handle all the breweries on the planet.
2. Comprehensive: It is good to have all the information in one place.
3. My local brewery: When people are searching for information on a brewery it is likely to be for information on their own local brewery.

[edit] Reasons for not including all breweries on Wikipedia

1. Encouraging and leading by example: If we create serious and brilliant articles then more editors will be encouraged to create more and more such articles. If we create trivial articles about non notable breweries then more and more editors will be encouraged to create more and more trivial articles.
2. Credibility of Wikipedia: Wiki occasionally comes under criticism from academics and the media for the trivial and poor quality of much of the content.
3. Wiki is an encyclopedia: The articles are aimed at helping people understand topics rather than merely listing them. That a brewery article may contain information about the brewery is indisputable. But articles on pubs, shops and people also contain information, and other projects have drawn up quidelines to decide which ones are notable. That an item has individuality is not in dispute - it's the notability that is.

[edit] Current criteria for including a brewery

Notability and inclusion guidelines
Notability guidelines
Academics Books 'Cool' ideas Fiction Music Numbers Organizations and companies People Pornographic actors Web content Other Gender/race/sexuality categories Neologisms
Active proposals
Science
See also
Common deletion outcomes

• That the brewery exists. Example: Brasserie de l'Abbaye du Val-Dieu

Or:

• That the brewery existed at some point. Example: Nicholson's

Under these criteria all breweries that ever existed would be included. There are editors in favour of this all-inclusive approach. However, the majority of editors on Wikipedia favour using some form of notability criteria. See: Wikipedia:Notability.

[edit] Notability guidelines

Editors on Wikipedia are working on creating usable criteria for the notability of articles. Current and proposed notability criteria for a variety of topics can be seen on the infobox to the right.

[edit] Proposed criteria for the notability of breweries and beers

A brewery or beer is notable if it meets any one of the following criteria:

1. Is mentioned in [X number] of published works.
2. Is the main subject of at least one published work.
3. Has a unique or rare feature.
4. Is historically significant (e.g., the first brewery to brew Scotch Ale or American Pale Ale, or the first example of a Milk Stout).
5. The brewery building has some architectural importance.
6. The brewer is notable (such as Bert Grant).
7. One or more of the structures at the brewery is a listed building.
8. That an editor is able to write a full article on the brewery.

[edit] Notability tests

See also Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Precedents

The most popular test among editors for the notability of a topic is the "Google Test". This test is not seen as reliable by all editors. However, a brewery or beer that returns less than 100 hits may be unlikely to be notable.

A brewery for which an editor is unable to write more than a stub (not including a list of beers) is possibility not notable.

[edit] Suggested approach

Following a discussion, WikiProject Beer editors came to a loose consensus that:

• Editors should be encouraged to create regional articles for breweries.

• Editors should be encouraged to write full articles for breweries rather than stubs.

• Breweries mentioned in the regional articles that develop sufficiently to be spun off into their own full articles.

• Stand alone stub articles on breweries are not to be encouraged, but nor are they to be discouraged. However, it would be more appropriate if brewery information was started in a regional article and only moved out into its own article when there is sufficient information for the article to stand by itself.

Following this approach, a brewery defines itself as notable by the ability of an editor to write a full and meaningful article supported by appropriate reference to reliable sources.