Tree House Brewing Company (2020)

You think? Surely there would be a dip.

 

I got my glass. Yes!

It is even uglier in person.

I showed my wife and pretended to be really excited. I asked what she thought. Her reply, "It's pretty ugly."

 

Who wore it worse? The customer appreciation glass or the anniversary shirt?

 

Alright, you guys win.... that shirt was horrible. I am going to stop being a wet blanket now.

 

I mean pre-Goose Island/ABI, there was lots of big talk on here about never supporting “sell-outs”. Then it happened (there had been others prior, but this was the first one with major cachet / that was producing bona fide whalez). And yes there was some noise. But for most people it seemed to quickly go back to business as usual - as can be seen by the multiple BCBS threads each year.

So I imagine that if TH sold - again there would be some noise (less than with GI since people are more desensitized to it now). And in the longer term I imagine ABI would have some plans that would naturally cause the place to ultimately lose it’s allure to a big chunk of it’s current consumer-base. But in the shorter to medium term I think it would quickly revert back to business as usual for 95% of people. If you were being (semi-)serious about boycotting etc - definitely not.

 

Yeah but Tree House relies very heavily on people that buy beer in a much different manner than Goose Island did at the time.

GI is much heavier in the distribution scene. TH distro is nil.

 

For sure - I guess my point was just that whatever people may say about what they would/wouldn’t do in regards to it hypothetically happening, my gut is that in practice it would make minimal difference

 

I know it's by no means a comparison but look what happened to Trillium following Wagegate. You had the social injustice warriors out for blood vowing to boycott Trillium and bring them down. Here we are a year or so later and they're doing just fine.

Tree House would only need to stand their ground and let the storm pass. Two weeks or two months later there will undoubtedly be something else to be outraged over and the pitchforks will disappear.

They will be fine if there is ever a buyout and everyone will finally get the TH distro they're all clamoring for

 

Yea, but didnt Trillium actually do something about the wages? Corrected some, made them not tip-based, lowered the suggested tip buttons to like 1-3%?

 

They did - I think the point is just that the furor on here at the time would have led you to believe that a huge swath of consumers were permanently done; that the damage was irreparable. But it quickly blew over and things were mostly back to business as usual.

I think that in practice (and I’m not making a judgment on whether this is good or bad) the vast majority of beer geeks want the beer they desire, and everything else is secondary when push comes to shove.

 

You beat me to it but you summed it up well.

Beer geeks would definitely get over it quickly once they realized that Tree House would be joining AB's distribution footprint

 

I have my doubts; its still listed on their website and Good Morning was a different base beer, not an imperial milk stout. Good morning was an imperial stout w/coffee and dark maple syrup.

https://www.treehousebrew.com/beers

 

i think they should name some 13% monster good night to troll the boards

 

I know it isn't a milk stout, but I highly doubt Good Morning will be so drastically different from a beer like this. At this point it's just a name.

If it does get brewed again, I think it will be a drastically different beer.

 

Isn’t that social media in general? The loudest and most complaining on any issue can make it seem like it’s some universal point of concern when in reality they represent a very small percentage of the population. In Trilluim’s case I’d be willing to bet 90% of the customers that walked through their doors the next day weren’t even aware of the story.

 

No doubt. But even the vast majority of that relatively small % that exist/post on BA didn’t seem to stick to their guns

 

Maybe people weren't as aware the next day, but it was a pretty big story in the Globe. Front page IIRC. While it might not have been a big factor changing anyone's buying trends, it was definitely more spread outside of the BA bubble.

 

This is along my same line thinking.

Also, I am not a super savvy beer drinker but I don't buy Elysian, Wicked Weed, Lagunitas, or Goose Island anymore. Why would I? Price? I can definitely get beer brewed locally that is on par or better than what those guys have to offer. If I have to buy something more affordable, Jack's Abby (still local) or Sierra Nevada can suffice.

I actually thought more people here were doing the same thing.

 

Yeah they got a huge raise. Damn SJWs and their pointless virtue signaling!

 

Sorry I’m lost. Did anyone claim that? Goose island was bought in 2011. Isn’t that the same year TH opened?

As was stated GI was/is a very different business model. Breweries in general now operate very differently - especially the newer ones. And yeah I'm sure very few people active in threads such as these are buying from those places anymore. I definitely don't.

My point is just that whatever people may claim when it’s easy to do so, it is the beer that is the ultimate decider for 99% of them.

“I love Brewery XYZ because they are local, independent, treat their employees well, and make delicious beer”

[transpires that Brewery XYZ shafts their employees]

“I love Brewery XYZ because they are local, independent, and make delicious beer”

[Brewery XYZ gets bought by ABI]

“I love Brewery XYZ because they make delicious beer”

[Brewery XYZ starts putting out product perceived by beer geeks as inferior]

“Never buying from them again. Sell outs who treat their employees like shit”