Do you drink beer from macro-owned craft breweries?

Do you mean something like this?

“The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) has accepted a $300,000 offer in compromise from Anheuser-Busch InBev following allegations that the world’s largest beer maker violated Federal Alcohol Administration (FAA) Act consignment sales provisions.”

http://www.brewbound.com/news/2016/ttb-accepts-300000-settlement-from-anheuser-busch-inbev

Cheers!

 

When a small brewery is acquired by a large one, it means the ability to increase production and distribution. As long as quality is maintained that is always a good thing. I have noticed it's always the breweries who are producing great beers that are the ones that get acquired.

However, everyone must decide for themselves and if you decide delicious beer is not worthwhile because you don't like the owner, that is fine with me. Everyone is free to spend and drink as they see fit.

I believe this is the definitive answer so this doesn't have to be debated again. But I know it will be.

 

I only drink beer that has been rigorously vetted through a personally developed algorithm accounting for the following factors:

- Will it look cool on WBAYDN?
- Does the label design clearly show up in any Instagram filter?
- Can merchandise of the brewer's logo be found on a painter cap or bowling shirt?
- Has anyone I know ever had it?
- Is anyone looking at me?
- Treehouse?
- Mustache?

It's a lot of math, but the last thing I want is to wind up drinking the wrong beer. This is serious business.

 

Nah, I'm not talking about Reg violations or even a Federal Trade Commission complaint. Manufacturers of all sorts of goods have been known to skirt Regs after carefully calculating if profit opportunity is great enough to offset any potential fines.

Actual proof of anticompetitive business practices that damage bonafide plaintiffs is a whole different story. There we could be talking hundreds of millions of dollars.

 

I do not see it as a "whole different story".

Cheers!

 

Then I do not want you on the jury.

 

Same to you.

 

Another thread about this, but no biggie....
There are plenty of great biers from small independent brewers out there, so I won't buy from someone who is owned by the like of miller/anheuser or even others like heineken and other groups. To me it's on par with buying from walmart or your local mom and pop shop.

 

I definitely go out of my way to support smaller independent breweries and only turn to macro-controlled craft beers when there are no quality independent craft breweries as an option, like if I'm in a pinch at a supermarket with a very limited craft selection or a bar with only Lagunitas or Goose Island on tap. Or the rare occasion that you find great macro-owned beers at a stellar price. There's gotta be that wiggle room when you're in a pinch, but I'm not going to willfully throw money at ABInbev's bottom line.

 

Granted that he could still be drinking Quality, Craft Beer. But he had been fairly involved: Former beer can collector and homebrewer, had high school classmates at our first local microbrewery (Summit), so he poured for them at Great Taste and small regional festivals. He simply burned-out and dropped off the face of the map: Nobody has heard from him in years.

His plan was to relocate to Japan to become a hikikomori. He used to drink only small, local breweries, and since Japan has their share of those, I'm sure he's almost burned out on their scene, too.

 

Did you say Arizona? Not sure why but when I read your comments I swear it said Arizona, but then upon rereading it was Indianapolis.

+1 to your sentiments. It may sound controversial but it's not - yes I want LESS choice on the retail shelves. I would like the mediocre (or worse) breweries to have no shelf space. I would like there to be more (and fresher) beers from the better breweries that are going regional or national in distribution, or are being bought out so that they can get more distribution. We are so far past the stage where one can say, unqualified, that more choice is better.

 

Bud Light at my shithole work bar every other Friday, and on Sundays during the Bills game, that qualifies as some of the times

 

Absolutely! I stopped buying Busch Light after Anheuser-Busch sold out to InBev! What a money grab by the Busch family! Sellouts!

 

You gotta love the "always" "never" or "sometimes" polls. Where will the majority go?

 

There's a huge gaping hole in your thinking. You are assuming that what you call the mediocre beer will go away and what you call the good beer will remain. This is absolutely not the case and I would wager that the opposite would be what happens. What you consider to be the 'good' local brewers will be the ones pushed off the shelves as they say, "Screw it, we will just sell from the brewery and not deal with this distributor nonsense. The people will come."

There is a local brewery that has been open for a few years and who I consider to make garbage beers. Been like that since day one. But they have a genius marketer working for them or something, because their beer is ubiquitous in this state. You can find them from Niagara Falls to Yankee Stadium. AB-InBev using their muscle to force brewers off of shelves wouldn't make these guys go away, it would force off better local brewers.

 

Too many options to compromise. Never.

 

Sure I do. Don't hate me, but I drank a Miller Lite at a hockey game over the weekend. And I drank a KBS last night to balance it out. Or is Founders "too big" to be craft? Nanobrew or bust!?!

Don't mind me though, I also wear Levi's pants, use a Samsung Phone and drive a Chevy.

 

Sometimes, Miller High Life hits the spot. Especially in the summer. It is, after all, the champagne of beers

 

I've got a pal who really digs Goose Island Honker's Ale so whenever I know he'll be coming by I'll pick up a sixer of it. Once in a great while I'll pick up the same (or perhaps some Sofie or Matilda) for myself. Temperamentally, however, I'm more inclined to buy products by smaller and/or more local producers. So, to answer the OP's question: Yes and no.

Alas, I don't feel beer's important enough to prompt me to take an absolutist stand on principle.