Constellation Brands to Acquire Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits

what do you expect? there's money in craft beer.

my only thought on it is:

continue advocating for fair treatment for workers. doesn't matter if the operation employs 10 people or 10,000.

continue advocating for quality beer made by skilled brewers who have control over the whole process. if they're backed by a lot of capital, fine. but they should be in control, not the people who write ad copy.

continue supporting the passionate small brewers. more choice, more good beer, more jobs.

the brewing scene is changing, and of course a lot of it will be consolidating, growing, going international, etc. if you care, remain an interested consumer and advocate for transparency and fair practices. vote with your dollar, and don't get seduced by dumb extremes like "no one can make good beer at scale," or "corporations HAVE to do what makes the most money, it's the capitalist imperative!" or any other big I 'Idea' that doesn't take into account how to scene really is or how people are actually acting.

 

I'm no expert, but the point about hop contracts for small operations is concerning. Shelf and tap space as well.

Seems like the best a small brewery could hope for going forward is a successful tap room and some local tap/shelf space.

 

And this makes Sam even more of a hero in my book. Can you imagine the potential $$$$ he turned down from AB InBev when they inquired if he had any interest in selling, if BP is worth a billion?

 

If you make my statement into a straw man, yes it seems pretty naive. I said beer quality first, not zero marketing. Craft beer to me is about the craft of beer. Not the craft of business. Business is a craft unto itself, as is marketing. All businesses need marketing....naming a beer is in essence marketing, making a social media post is marketing.

Corporations that buy Craft Breweries are looking to open new markets. That's the expressed goal. Whereas many indie breweries are trying to create a sustainable business where they can live their passion: brewing beer. In one case the PRIMARY goal is brewing great beer and sustainability. Obviously business decisions play into sustainability. It's not an either or, it's a matter of emphasis.

My point is we have the choice to vote to support the spirit of the indie sustainable breweries which focus on the quality of the beer and their passion for creativity above all else.......or you can vote to support a company that wants to "open new markets".

 

I work for a wholesaler that sells tons of Constellation brands. Hopefully Ballast Point will come my way.

 

As for examples of breweries succeeding WITHOUT a marketing emphasis. How about Societe, Alpine, Cigar City, Trillium, TreeHouse, Alchemist, Jack's Abby, Lawson's Finest Liquids, Russian River, Cambridge Brewing Company, Side Project, DeGarde, Crooked Stave blah blah blah there are hundred if not thousands to name that let their beer quality and freshness speak for itself and became well-known and successful based on quality before trying to "open new markets". Some of these never have opened any new markets......they're not focused on getting rich. For some of these example, independence is worth more than being rich.

 

Constellation approached BP after the IPO talk. $1billion is a pretty nice number and no IPO hassles. Lagunitas was valued at $800 million at the time of Heiniken cash influx.

I think thus is the way craft is going and those micros that are only in it for the money are going to make out really good.

As long as the beer is the sane I'm ok. I read an article saying sculpin is $10.99 in Atlanta priced a few $ more than other beers and constellation liked that. Never seen sculpin that cheap. $10.99 is around starting point of any six pack here that's not MBC

Enjoy

 

While I can't disagree with everything you said, nor is that my goal, I would just like to point out that these three industries you pointed out are not comparable to the beer industry, thus irrelevant. There are a few large companies offering similar, if not the same, products. I think passion also has to do with it. I'm not passionate about gasoline, whereas I'm extremely passionate about craft beer. I can't shop around for gasoline that was refined by some guy in his backyard (now that I type that I'm sure someone will know of an example of this haha) but I can shop around an incredible amount for craft beer that isn't owned by a large multi-national cooperation. Sure, I'll still indirectly support BP or Exxon-Mobil when I fill up, and Nissan will profit every time I take my truck in, but did I have the option to do otherwise? Life doesn't permit me to ride a bike everywhere, and public transportation isn't good enough for me to depend on it. Ballast Point, Elysian, 10 Barrel, etc all made/make some great beers, but that moment that a billion dollar company receives the profits is the moment I feel compelled to look for alternatives (*when there are plenty of competitors, as in beer*), of which there are plenty. And as is the case with AB-InBev, there is more to it than than money (supporting restrictive policies towards craft brewers, etc).
-Matt

 

You might want to look at your food, clothes, gas , utilities and many other products.


Enjoy

 

Aw man, you should have held onto it. The value of those pre-Constellation Victory at Sea's just increased bigtime today. You know, from back when Ballast Point used to actually make good beer, not that big-money, corporate swill.

 

I'm extremely familiar with how the structure is set up. I work for AB and I was directly involved with the Constellation stuff, but I can't say much more than that. AB doesn't see one single dollar from sales of Modelo brands in the US. Constellation owns the license to the brands in the US, as part of the DOJ settlement they paid ABI for those licenses. It was a one time fee, not an ongoing royalty.

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justi...heuser-busch-inbev-and-grupo-modelo-beer-case

 

As long as this means more Black Marlin Porter for me, i'm happy, because I'm incapable of any thought that is broader than that.

 

What the hell has BP been doing for the last 20 years? Making quality beer that has proved incredibly sustainable. Sustainable enough to grow like hell. I know a lot of indie breweries who focus on the quality of the beer...and still don't make that great a beer. That's why it'll always come down to whether the beer is good or not for me. It's not a zero sum game, of course -- you can have the indie you want and the good beer too. But your implication that BP doesn't care about quality, or by the inherent act of expanding has sacrificed quality, just doesn't hold.

 

Weird list. Alpine? Crooked Stave?

 

How can you compare something like utilities to beer? With beer you have the option to support smaller, independent breweries (for roughly the same cost), with something like utilities, you don't. Not much choice with gas either, at least in my area.

 

Good call. If you don't have the time to have principles in every single purchase, don't have them at all.

This defeatist attitude is doing great things for craft beer.

 

Exactly! That's such a stupid comparison.

 

I can't really see where consolidation is good for consumers. It's certainly never good imo when regionals here buy up other breweries - see what the likes of Marston and Greene King do to the breweries and beers they have bought up over the last few decades. I don't think anyone other than Fullers' shareholders rejoiced when they bought Gales. Although it's not like for like as many of these were for pub estates as well.

Still, there's still a deep well of great independent breweries continuing to emerge so no panic yet

 

Don't worry folks; there are still 3,999 other craft breweries you can buy from.

 

I find it funny. It is the way the industry has changed. BP cannot be faulted for that. I just personally feel the backlash is without warrant, but that's just me.