It all comes down to the almighty dollar

Thanks for the grammar update. I not trying to pick a fight just stating facts that macro brewers can and do make a good near craft beer (namely in the style of a Belgian wit) that outsells a LOT of craft beer.

 

See the thing is when I think of the BMCs making craft beers I think of mediocre to bad. They have tired it before...and failed. So honestly it doesn't phase me. So maybe it will pull the average BMC drinker to some of their craft beer, it doesn't really matter they would have never tried the more expensive stuff anyway so its a wash. What could happen though is maybe someone that wouldn't have normally spent the money tried one of these BMC craft beers, likes it and decides they want some variety. They they go looking for other stuff and gets to really see whats out there.

We have been on the fringe for this long and most places seem to be doing fine.

You cant believe how much Dragonmead Final Absolution sells around here because of the fact that its about 9 percent. IT has its share of people that enjoy it but a lot of it is because of that alcohol content.

 

I thought "it all comes down to nothing" ??

 

Germany subsidizes corn prices for ethanol production. That's why they're growing corn, not because of macro beer companies buying up hops on the cheap, but because they can grow corn and sell at a higher price than hops. Simple.

And why would a hop grower sell at a lower price when they wouldn't have to? If only the big companies were buying hops and there was a crop surplus, they could pressure the price down. But if big beer companies AND smaller brewers are buying hops, and there's no surplus, there's no need to lower the prices.

If you recall, there was a hop shortage a few years ago. Prices weren't pushed down, they went up. And then more acreage went into hop production, the weather improved next season and prices stabilized.

 

The most astonishing thing to me with the BMC attempts at craft (not counting Goose Island or Terrapin for obvious reasons) is how little the big guys seem to understand how to use hops in what they're doing -- they're literally decades behind. I think that's why we've seen Shocktop and Blue Moon do quite well, but any attempt at something resembling Sierra Nevada Pale or an IPA have bombed (see: Budweiser American Ale).

 

...and that's the way it will be until we figure out how to devise a brewery which only runs on love...

 

I think the BMC stuff is usually cheaper at bars, but at liquor stores I've seen Shock Top / Blue Moon go for a couple dimes more than SNPA.

 

Walmart often sells the same product for less. They have lower prices because they have lower costs, i.e. spending less on customer service, having more buying power, etc.

 

I wholeheartedly disagree with you. If BMC produced a world class beer in each style that was priced lower than the craft competition and we as consumers decided to go with the BMC product the vast majority of the time instead of the craft alternative, we'd be putting the craft breweries out of business and would allow for BMC to overtake the craft market. What makes something craft is the product as well as the way it goes to market. If you seek to take all market share and eliminate your competition, this is not craft. This is the way most large businesses work and is the main difference between BMC and craft.

 

Germany (and more importantly, the EU) subsidizes grain prices as well (http://www.freitag.de/autoren/der-freitag/hauptsache-viel-und-billig).

I personally interviewed the head brewers at Schlenkerla and Mahr's in Bamberg, as well as the owner of Weyermann maltings, this past July and heard this first-hand from them about the macro brewers and growers. I have their e-mail addresses if you wish to continue your line of reasoning with them.

 

Well, since I copied this over to this thread, I will indeed take this one on (although you should realize those were not exactly my own words).
I think that BMC is an entity. Big Brewers, if you will. An amalgamation.
"Craft" is a process that is often limited by scope. It is not a business model. It is not an entity. It is a way of brewing that utilizes more expensive ingredients to extract greater flavor. Flavor that the drinkers of BMC are mostly unaware of. There is no reason that BMC cannot brew "craft" beer. They can, and with the quality and integrity of their brewers, they could probably do a bang-up job of it. They just choose not to on a large scale. So far.

Don't confuse loyalism to small market share with the ability of Big Brewers to create a competitive product.

 

How much lower though? I mean even if they could it would be silly to price a craft beer like bud light. The components will cost them more, sure less then what the little guys pay, but still more. Plus they want their money too so say they price their craft beer a few dollars under the average craft. I think its a safe assumption that most of us here arent going to be concerned over a few dollars and wont stop buying other craft beers just because the BMC one is cheaper. One of the greatest aspects of this hobby is the sheer variety of beers you can find. Even if the BMCs make cheap and amazing craft beers your eventually going to want to try something else.

 

I got tired of the latter about 5 or so years after delving deep into craft beer. I'm now back to searching for the former.

 

Understood concerning the quotes, I assumed that you held the same feelings.

I think craft goes far beyond the ingredients in and pedigree of a beer. I realize it's very subjective, but I consider the loyalism part of the craft. Sure, everyone wants their beer to sell well. However, when you get to the point in size that one of your main goals is to take market share away from your direct competitors, I don't really think you're talking about a craft anymore.

 

Personally I am waiting for the tide to turn a little so more craft brewers are concentrating on putting out high quality on a consistent basis and finding the most efficient way possible to do this in order to keep prices low for its customers. I would rather see more effort put into quality and efficiency programs/plans than bbl aging programs, one-off's, collaborations, etc. I think we may see more of this now that the easily converted have pretty much been converted and now the fight is on for the hearts and mind of the fence sitters. Big expansions of craft breweries will trigger this fight.

 

So, are you saying that the macro brewers use inferior ingredients compared to craft brewers?

While I will agree that craft brewing uses 'more expensive' ingredients...but when it comes to crop quality, the big guys pre-purchase the best in terms of quality and yield. The craft guys come second and homebrewers get what's left.

 

Let me know when we can devise a brewery that only runs on shame, or fear.

 

Yes.
Maybe 'more expensive' was a misstatement. Big Brewer has access to and uses many of the same ingredients, but at lesser rates and often augmented with adjuncts that were never meant to carry the weight of the beer.
I don't know about that last part.

 

Haha everytime I see or hear "The Almighty Dollar" all I think of is when Homer says that...hahaha. I'm glad some other people remember that as well.