Should BAs start staying away from Goose Island?

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by hitter114, May 27, 2013.

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  1. mhksuccess

    mhksuccess Maven (1,472) Jul 7, 2012 California
    Trader

    I think all BA's (except me) should refrain from buying all the BCBS and variants
    and furthermore should either give or trade me all their bottles of King Henry and Rare
    that way they can feel better because they will not be supporting corporate America
     
    SadMachine likes this.
  2. ESeab

    ESeab Initiate (0) Jan 3, 2013 New Jersey

    I guess I'm really gullible but he explained how half of the contract they signed had GI able jump ship if they want to at any time. He's probably just lying to me though

    I don't think they'll mess with the recipes at all, just saying if they started brewing really bad batches. Many beers are brewed with the same recipe and don't come out as good as the brewer hoped. Ask Sam when he poured thousands of dollars worth of 120 min down the drain, I don't think he messed with his own recipe.
     
  3. Providence

    Providence Pooh-Bah (2,628) Feb 24, 2010 Rhode Island
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Bad batches happen sure, but why would ABinbev produce more bad batches than normal. It just seems odd, especially given ABinbev history of being exceedingly efficient in making beers. I mean, I hope you're right. I hope Inbev starts to lose money regularly. I just don't see it happening as a result of bad batches of GI beers.
     
    ESeab likes this.
  4. JMScowcroft

    JMScowcroft Initiate (0) Feb 18, 2008 Vermont

    By that same token everyone on here would have to stop buying Magic Hat, as well as the big ones that often turn people on to craft beer, Blue Moon, Shock Top (garbage, I know, but you gotta start somewhere), Tenth & Blake Beer Company, Green Valley Brewery, Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company, Crispin Cider, Peroni, Pilsner Urquell.

    I personally don't care, I go by what doesn't suck.
     
  5. bleakies

    bleakies Maven (1,319) Apr 11, 2011 Massachusetts

    You do it in the hopes that your own insignificant-in-itself abstention in combination with those of many others might change policies with which you don't agree.

    Being anti-InBev is no particular cause of mine but I'm surprised to see so many here advocating the idea that one's own immediate preferences trump all other considerations in matters of consumption. The acme of piggishness.
     
    LeRose, rlcoffey and SammyJaxxxx like this.
  6. ESeab

    ESeab Initiate (0) Jan 3, 2013 New Jersey

    And I completely agree. They are very efficient at mass producing beer with the same quality batch after batch, which is pretty impressive.

    Basically when people first heard of the buy out everyone thought that GI beer would go downhill, and this was his response if that were to ever happen. He was more so defending the fact this this will likely not happen. I'm with you, I don't think the beer is going to change at all.
     
    Providence likes this.
  7. GreenCoffee

    GreenCoffee Initiate (0) Jul 2, 2012 Illinois

    What kind of beer does your high horse prefer? I would guess maybe Rolling Rock (y'know, has a horse on the bottle) but that might be too macro for him.
     
  8. terrapinfan88

    terrapinfan88 Initiate (0) Nov 15, 2009 Virginia

  9. terrapinfan88

    terrapinfan88 Initiate (0) Nov 15, 2009 Virginia

    I'm surprised that your surprised.
     
  10. imbrue001

    imbrue001 Initiate (0) Aug 6, 2010 Pennsylvania

    I never see any BCBS. Sophie and Matilda.. only on the singles wall. Therefore I don't have to make this decision. Thankfully there is more than enough new releases coming out every week to keep me busy.
     
  11. bleakies

    bleakies Maven (1,319) Apr 11, 2011 Massachusetts

    Pretty Things is the beer that describes me best.

    What kind of beer does your not-giving-a-fuck-about-anything-but-gimme-gimme-gimme-I-want-I-want-gimme prefer?
     
    JuliusCaesar and SammyJaxxxx like this.
  12. crossovert

    crossovert Initiate (0) Mar 29, 2009 Illinois

    Just gonna say this. You do support ABInbev by buying GI. For some people that is enough to boycott it, and that isn't a problem for them as ABInbev is a very strong opponent of craft beer. It isn't unfathomable. People have every right to this point of view and as long as there are 1000s of skus on the shelf with the same quality or better as GI no reason for these people to miss anything. Maybe ABinbev is making a mistake anyways making bcbs more available, as we know the taste of rare is an integral part of the beer.
     
  13. rlcoffey

    rlcoffey Initiate (0) Apr 20, 2004 Kentucky

    Tilting at windmills is lots of fun. I havent voted for a President who finished higher than third since 1988, and I regret that vote.
     
    palmdalethriller likes this.
  14. cavedave

    cavedave Grand Pooh-Bah (4,145) Mar 12, 2009 New York
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Since you use the word policies I completely agree, I also would consider any policies that stand in the way of an open marketplace to be the real problem. There are complex and confusing laws to govern it all. For ABInBev, and for that matter all large corporations, it is the rules of the road that allow them to do the completely logical, legal, and profitable technique of demanding preference. No industries are being put out of business by ABInBev to a larger extent than business failure in any other segment of the economy, considering the craft beer industry as a whole is growing 12% annually in a 2% growth economy. So they employ more folks in good pay jobs, break no laws, provide a product 90% of users prefer, pay taxes, and are trying to dominate a marketplace, but so failing at it that the larger question that needs to be asked is not whether they are succeeding at dominating a marketplace, but whether they actually may be craft beer's best marketing tool, judging by how badly they are failing at it.
     
  15. rlcoffey

    rlcoffey Initiate (0) Apr 20, 2004 Kentucky

    1. Goose Island is well under 6MM bbls, they arent non-craft because of the size term.
    2. As has been made very clear from past action, when craft breweries get near 6MM bbls, that limit will be raised, so its not really a limit at all.

    I do think being craft requires being small in some sense, but being pro-craft or even pro-small in no way implies being anti-big. Its possible to be pro-small and pro-big or to be pro-small and indifferent to big.

    I would probably be the latter (pro-small and indifferent to big).

    Your thinking is way too binary.
     
    BuckeyeOne likes this.
  16. evilc

    evilc Initiate (0) Jan 27, 2012 California

    "BAs" like good beer. I like good beer. I am a BA. I like Goose Island. As a BA I will drink Goose Island.
     
  17. Rope

    Rope Initiate (0) Apr 3, 2013 Illinois

    Rough to say stay away. 312 (a Chicago area code for all you outside of Illinois) is largely no longer brewed in Chicago for the most part.

    The unique and harder to find Goose Island beers are still made on site though, with no noticeable declines in quality.
     
  18. rlcoffey

    rlcoffey Initiate (0) Apr 20, 2004 Kentucky

    Ive argued on here for years the reason they havent pushed hard into craft-type beer is that craft drinkers arent brand loyal. How many people who shift from Coors to Blue Moon remain loyal Blue Moon drinkers? I think for Coors it made sense, they were also pulling people from Bud and Miller (before the merger), so it was still a win. But if, say, a group of Bud Light drinkers starts drinking GI, what percent can you afford to lose to craft as a whole before its a net-loss situation?
     
  19. leedorham

    leedorham Initiate (0) Apr 27, 2006 Washington

    No true BA would say that, therefore you are not a true BA.
     
  20. jcb7472

    jcb7472 Initiate (0) Jul 13, 2011 Florida

    I try to support breweries that are not associated or owned by AB InBev or Miller-Coors. Call it being on my high horse, but I don't like their business practices so I prefer to support other breweries. That being said, sometimes it's unavoidable and I will still drink their beer if I'm at a friends house or buy it if I'm at an establishment and that's all they have. It's better than no beer and I don't push my opinions on people that buy it.

    Regarding GI, it recently became available in FL. They are pushing it big time at places like TW, Publix, and other chains. Advertising it, recommending it, display case at front of store, etc.

    The thing is, all we are getting currently is 312, IPA, and Honkers. I've heard that 312 is mediocre, so why would I buy that over LG Sumpin Sumpin? I haven't.

    I did try the IPA at a bar where the only craft they had was GI. I enjoyed it, but I still prefer American IPAs over English and would rather buy Jai Alai, Two Hearted or Sweetwater IPA, which we just got in South FL. Honkers (English Bitter) is not really a style I like, so I haven't tried that one either.

    Maybe once we get BCBS and other variants down here, it will change my mind about GI. So far I'm not interested.
     
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