The Plot to Destroy America's Beer

I have often what is going to happen in the next few decades in these situations. I mean if you don't have family who wants to take over your brewery you are going to have to sell it. And like the person I quoted said if it is a multi-million dollar operation the number of potential buyers is very small. And sure you might find someone who says they are going to maintain the craft aspect, but really there is no guarantee that they will do that after they sell.

Plus if your brewery is a company you put your blood, sweat and tears into for 30+ years and it is time to retire, and lets say AB-Inbev is offering you 20% more than any other offer, how do you not seriously consider that? Especially if you are looking to set yourself up for your retirement years and thinking about your children's future.

 

Don't forget that just because we don't drink ABI stuff, a lot of people do. So the article is trying to show that ABI's short-term, bottom line focus is alienating their main consumer base (millions of Americans). This has the potential to seriously hurt the company long-term, if their brands completely lose traction in the US.

 

No one can argue with the way you put it; none of us would do anything differently. However, the image of one or two megacorporations controlling all beer production someday is both somewhat probable and very disturbing.

 

Two companies (or three if you separate MillerCoors) control the majority of the US beer market now. Personally, I think they've reached their high water mark. Too many people now realize there's better tasting beer out there, and most of them will never go back to those less flavorful brands. "How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm once they've seen Karl Hungus." - The Dude

 

I hope you're right. My feeling in the past has been that the megabrewers are pretty irrelevant to craft beer; they are selling a different product to a different market. However, the realization that they have the money and power to someday buy up the whole craft beer industry and dumb it down the way they have done to other beers like Hoegaarden is unsettling. There's always homebrew...

 

I disagree completely. I think it is completely improbable, and I am not in the least worried about it. There will always be a niche market for those things crafted by artisans, including, perhaps especially, beer.

I worry that the craft beer revolution succeeds too quickly and well, and there will be insufficient numbers of artisans to produce and oversee the beers we love on a larger scale. Green Flash, for example, will soon be bi coastal. I worry the small guys will not produce the quality they do now once they get a bit larger, not that they will be purchased by ABInBev.

 

This has already happened to quite a few breweries...

 

While I agree with the possibility, I'm not convinced of the actuality and would be really interested in seeing any data that might support a claim like this.

 

The problem I have with the ruthless pursuit of shelf space and the purchase of smaller breweries ie GI is regardless of what you think money will come first. BCBS is continued to be made because it is profitable but what do you think will be the first to go when things get tough. As a student of finance and economic I can tell you that the second something changes, price of barrels increase, cost of storage etc the whole thing will be reconsidered. I don't buy BMC first because of taste but also the same reason I buy my beer at a local bottle shop not Walmart, I bank with a local credit union instead of bank of America...my last bit of rant will be about a very successful brewery,I think they have tripled capacity in the last couple of years, Allagash. An,amazing company that produces a whole line if beer that donates profits to charity. the started a koelschip program and produce amazing sour for what I've been told no profit. They also work with other local breweries with ingredients letting the use their lab and expertise. This is how a business who make a good.product can be successful but the only worries are employees and customers.

 

Every small brewery that has ever been in business either is still in business or no longer is. There is a market for those small craft beers. The cycle continues, despite what you think about the politics of ownership, driven by the taste of the consumer. Every company uses the tools at their disposal to sell beer, including Allagash and Budweiser. Allagash gets your support by donating to charity. This is because they are too small to do what the large corp.'s do. There are only two kinds of businesses, ones that make a profit, and ones that are closed down, and all sizes use what they have to accomplish this. Since you take economics you know that profit is neutral, there is no political statement nor right or wrong in the pursuit of it (except when laws are broken) and all advertising (donating to charity is advertising- if it wasn't you would not know about it) is to make profit. There now my rant is over too.

 

Goose Island signature 312 Imperial Pale Ale

Umm...what?

 

I wont, but I dont drink stouts.

 

I can't imagine this would succeed. It'd be a clear monopoly.

 

Not necessarily. I heard someone say once that the difference between Sierra Nevada and A-B (the companies) is "four generations". I dont know anything about their kid situations, but there isnt necessarily a need to sell. If they have kids who want to take over the business, that is an option.

And the question is, 4 generations from now, will New Glarus or Sierra Nevada or Bells be like A-B, and a large public company, even if still family controlled, or like Yuengling, and held entirely by the family?

 

They would have to sell off some stuff to get US approval, but in the rest of the world it would probably fly. At worse, the sell-offs would be smaller.

Edit: What would probably happen is that US Miller would be sold to MolsonCoors, as the MillerCoors US partnership is already fine. The rest of SABMiller could then become part of ABInbev without much problem.

 

This statement plus your avatar =

 

That isnt a stout, its a Belgian Strong Dark Ale.

Edit: This year's version was brewed on Tuesday, bubbling nicely in my basement right now.

 

Speaks volumes for the accuracy of the article, doesn't it?

 

Yes, this is quite true as well. I focused on the article's mention that the beer did not taste the same.

 

I didn't buy AB-InBev for a long time out of principal. However, with their recent moves to acquire craft breweries (Widmer, GI, Kona, etc) that has gained some SLIGHT flexibility. If I see a really interesting Widmer Reserve, I'll probably grab it. If I had a chance to buy BCBS, I'd jump on it. I don't drink Kona, so fuck em. But I will never buy BCBS by the case or grab multiple Widmer brews to age. I still want to stick to my guns as much as possible. I might take a sixer or two of BCBS (I don't really know, I've never even tried it) but thats the most you'll see from me. I still refuse to buy most other AB-InBev products. If my $10 here or there help them that much then maybe I'll stop. I can say right now that I have only spent about $35-50 on any of their products in the past 1.5-2 years.