What four brewers would mark the end of craft beer if they ever sold out?

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by Lone_Freighter, Mar 9, 2019.

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  1. ktr5010

    ktr5010 Savant (1,016) Dec 12, 2014 Illinois
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    I'll echo that I don't think that if a certain set of breweries were bought/sold to "Big Beer" that it would be some big signal or end of craft brew times. I think there are breweries I'd be surprised by based off of my perception. Revolution is tops for me. Don't know a ton about Fremont but they're up there too along with Bell's. As I look up breweries that I think are wholly independently owned, I'm continually surprised that many of them are partially owned or fully owned by another bigger brewery. It reminds me a little bit of the tech industry where small startups seem like they're only in it to get bought up by Google, Apple, Amazon, or Facebook.
     
  2. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,181) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Are you referring to branding here? Like Budweiser IPA?

    Cheers!
     
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  3. NeroFiddled

    NeroFiddled Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,122) Jul 8, 2002 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Exactly. More like Tomahawk IPA which Budweiser made, and I thought was excellent.
     
  4. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,181) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Jim, I would guess that the beer geek segment of the craft beer market would absolutely refuse to drink 'craft' beer which is branded BMC. I always figured this was part of the BMC strategy to purchase craft breweries vs. producing craft beer on their own.

    Do you think a sufficient portion of the beer geek segment would buy a Budweiser IPA or a Miller IPA?

    Cheers!

    P.S. I always thought it was clever of AB to purchase breweries like Goose Island and then produce those beers more efficiently at AB breweries.
     
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  5. rgordon

    rgordon Pooh-Bah (2,677) Apr 26, 2012 North Carolina
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Rome will burn.
     
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  6. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,181) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    LOL!:grin:

    Well, it hasn't started burning yet and AB has been brewing Goose Island beers at two of their breweries for years now.

    Cheers!
     
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  7. Domingo

    Domingo Grand Pooh-Bah (4,206) Apr 23, 2005 Colorado
    Pooh-Bah Society

    There's a brewery on every corner these days. I don't think 4 (or even 10) high profile brewery acquisitions would make that big of a difference.
     
  8. NeroFiddled

    NeroFiddled Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,122) Jul 8, 2002 Pennsylvania
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    Haha! The Christians started it! It's always those damned Christians! Round them up and we're going to need more lions as well.
     
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  9. rozzom

    rozzom Pooh-Bah (2,534) Jan 22, 2011 New York
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Not that this helps you, but what I found pretty cool was that I could buy 2.5 week old Barrier Money on Foodkick the other day
     
  10. rgordon

    rgordon Pooh-Bah (2,677) Apr 26, 2012 North Carolina
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Rome was in England long before the HRE and Jesus. The pagans scared them seriously but it didn't last. They left and came back transformed. The Romans built amazing roads and always morphed into the currency of belief, sooner or later, whether they believed it or not. This story is as old as it stays new.
     
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  11. NeroFiddled

    NeroFiddled Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,122) Jul 8, 2002 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    I think you've got it pretty right Jack. Some will turn up their noses, but there are also kids who've never seen the micro/macro battle and don't give a shit. There are also other people who don't care either way or don't know any better - Blue Moon is a great example of that.

    Shiner, Saranac, and several other regionals have been producing tons of "craft" labels lately, and even Yuengling has expanded in that direction. Even foreign brands are expanding their line-ups with more interesting beers!

    I believe it's only a matter of time before Bud-Miller-Coors and whomever actually owns them, Diagio, InBev, whatever, decides it's time to begin. And I think that's been the plan all along, they've been doing the buyouts and biding their time until the time is right.

    So back to the original question... I don't think it matters how many buy-outs there are, it won't hurt the craft movement, and it won't change my opinion of the craft movement - anything is better than what we had in the late 70's and early 80's.
     
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  12. FBarber

    FBarber Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,161) Mar 5, 2016 Illinois
    Super Mod Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Here's my take on it, distribution footprint has nothing to do with how the sellout of the particular brewery would impact the "craft beer world". While its true that some of the breweries that would have the greatest impact, have large or even national footprints, I think the bigger factor would be their reputation in the craft beer world. Thats why a place like Alchemist selling would reverberate throughout the craft beer world in spite of their very limited footprint.
    my favorite Budweiser
     
  13. beardown2489

    beardown2489 Pooh-Bah (1,892) Oct 5, 2012 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Sierra Nevada
    New Glarus
    Bells
    Allagash

    If any of those 4 end up selling, craft beer is in big big trouble.


    The 5th would have been Stone but actually can imagine stone selling out now.
     
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  14. dennis3951

    dennis3951 Initiate (0) Mar 6, 2008 New Jersey

    I doubt the Alchemist is large enough to be worth taking over.
     
  15. FBarber

    FBarber Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,161) Mar 5, 2016 Illinois
    Super Mod Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Maybe not, but I think that a place like that selling would carry as much of a reverberation as say Bells.
     
  16. jbertsch

    jbertsch Pooh-Bah (2,710) Dec 14, 2008 Massachusetts
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    What does "the end of craft beer" even mean? Can someone paint me this picture?
     
  17. rozzom

    rozzom Pooh-Bah (2,534) Jan 22, 2011 New York
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Yeah that was my point when I said Hill Farmstead earlier.

    I mean if Stone sold out would anyone really give that much of a shit?
     
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  18. islay

    islay Savant (1,187) Jan 6, 2008 Minnesota

    AB InBev has a from-scratch "craft" brand, even if you don't count Shock Top as one, called Veza Sur. As you mentioned, the "Big Beer" companies have periodically attempted to market less mainstream, more craft-friendly styles under big, familiar brand names, but none of those efforts really took off. I agree with @JackHorzempa that the purchases of craft breweries were a superior method to capture that segment of the market. I get a strong impression, however, that AB InBev is disappointed in the performance of most, possibly all, of the craft beer brands it acquired. The craft beer segment increasingly is shifting toward the very small and very local, and it's hard to see that sort of operation as being investible for a large multinational corporation, especially given the ownership restrictions in breweries in many states (some allow an ownership stake in no more than one brewery, some prohibit taprooms or growler sales if any of the owners produces more than a certain number of barrels per year, etc., so AB InBev can't just grab a healthy chunk of hundreds of small breweries around the country). I perceive that the large beverage companies are turning away from fighting or bringing into the fold craft beer and toward the likes of hard seltzer and other novel or revived sorts of beverages that have a chance to be the next big thing as craft beer demand plateaues and then quite possibly wanes.
     
  19. rgordon

    rgordon Pooh-Bah (2,677) Apr 26, 2012 North Carolina
    Pooh-Bah Society

    That is so. Maybe Stone going into Berlin was like the Germans going east into Russia? On the other hand I did have a Stone old-fashioned IPA the other day that was as good as ever.
     
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  20. rozzom

    rozzom Pooh-Bah (2,534) Jan 22, 2011 New York
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Have you watched / read The Road? That’s the sort of scenario we’d be dealing with.
     
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