Boycotting 10 Barrel & Elysian

i won't go to the tap houses, or buy their beer but at a share I'll try stuff. GI is one thing but NW is different.

 

I've read all the posts in this thread now, great discussion. There's no real absolute right or wrong here (and if I'm a little incoherent it's the Spring Elixir talking, man that one is sneaky). As much as possible I avoid buying products that were likely produced in sweatshops, and for years I have focused deliberately on buying US-made products whenever possible—I've spent a lot of money on Filson, Wolverine, Chippewa, Red Wing, etc.—not to mention that probably 90% of the beer I drink (something I've also spent a lot of money on) is made in the USA by mostly local, privately owned breweries. And beyond that, I buy a lot of products made in the EU, which probably has regulations/standards at least as stringent as those in the U.S.

But I have no illusions about the impact I'm having, and for the most part I choose these brands and products as much because I really like them and know they're made well as anything having to do with foreign ownership, workers' rights, etc. We all have to choose what compromises we're willing to make and what we're just not OK with. Very few if any of us are in a position to judge anyone else on their choices in this regard. I don't support some of the U.S. government's policies, but I still dutifully pay my taxes every year. At the end of the day, it's all just a big cost/benefit analysis. And that's only if we are making a conscious effort in our choices about consumption to begin with—which is probably a small percentage of people.

That we have the freedom to make these choices in the first place is something we can all celebrate.

 

There was a time in the not so distant past when I drank Widmer, Goose Island and and 10 Barrel beers. I based what I drank on perceived quality and didn't really give much consideration to ABI's cumulative effect on craft beer.

Then came the following message from ABI...

It's not brewed to be fussed over....It's brewed for drinking. Not dissecting. The people who drink our beer are people who like drinking beer. To drink beer brewed the hard way. Let them sip their pumpkin peach ale. We'll be brewing us some golden suds.

Their desire foster an us vs. them mentality with this spot gave me pause to question their motives and I began to consider if was ABI having a net positive/negative/neutral effect on craft beer. Their apparent desire to parlay increasing control over shelf space and distribution with resources at their disposal to impose ongoing deleterious tactics led me to conclude that I should no longer support them. Will I be picketing 10 Barrel? Probably not, but I do intend to drainpour a significant amount of bourbon county.

 

Yes they did. They offer GI and Shock Top kegs for $60 (1/2bbls) for a 6 or 8 week period last summer. The price break was in effect for two week, off for two, back on for two. They also offered the sales reps a $500 giftcard for a sale of 3 kegs. I personally worked with distributor reps that confirmed it. And yes, it is totally illegal UNLESS they can show on an invoice that the distributor bought the keg from the brewery for less than $60. Who knows what kind of accounting shenanigans went with this promo.. but it did happen.

 

Yep, some of my neighborhood restaurants replaced Manny's or Inversion with Goose Island IPA. Most have ditched GI IPA and gone back to their standard beer, but it was such a sudden change for no real reason that it has to be this.

 

I worked at a Seattle bottleshop last year and we were getting 1/2bbl kegs of Goose Island's Honker's ESB for $47 dollars... a blatant attempt to just buy handles for the summer months... and it worked!!!!!

 

I'm not sure drainpouring is the right response. That money has already been spent, and is in a Brazilian bank now. If you've got it, and enjoy the stuff, might as well drink it. They'll never know your protest beers went down the sewer. But hey, it's your beer, do what ya want with it.

 

Agree w/ this. Unless it's done publicly as a form of protest, pouring a bunch of BCBS down the drain will achieve literally nothing to change anything you are unhappy about. The beer is already bought and paid for; if you don't want to drink it, find a worthy charity and donate it as an auction item or something. Or sell the beer to someone else and use the proceeds to support a cause. It could even be an independent/craft beer-related cause. Turn swords into plowshares.

 

I generally prefer to turn beers into my belly, but, whatever works for you.

 

I'd rather turn beer into urine and leave my belly out of it altogether.

 

I did experience a visual mindf*ck about two days ago when I drove past the 10 Barrel production facility at 62970 18th Street in N.E. Bend, and I saw a huge BUD LIGHT-clad semi-truck backed up to the loading dock. I'll forever regret not stopping and clicking a pic.

 

It was probably dropping off or picking up beer, just like it was before AB bought them. We're not owned by AB, but we have a gigantic red Budweiser logo'd truck that pulls up in front of the shop twice a week. Then the driver gets out and brings us 10 Barrel (even before the buyout) Occidental, Firestone Walker, Commons, Logsdon, Ninkasi, Hop Valley, Rochefort, and a whole bunch of other tasty beer. We also get trucks plastered with logos from Boneyard, Modelo, Terminal Gravity, Goodlife, Deschutes, and others. It's a friggin rolling billboard, and any brewery with money to spare will pay to have a truck wrapped.

I'm not sure where I was going with that, other than to say that the presence of a truck covered in advertising shouldn't be a mindfuck.

 

WTF? The fact you don't list this on your web site is despicable. Your undying loyalty to AB-InBev cannot go unpunished. I shall no longer frequent your establishment.

 

I find it odd how defensive of InBev, or at least the backlash against InBev, some of the posts are in this thread. I have a really hard time wrapping my head around the "I just drink what tastes good" approach to life that seems to disregard any and all thought and consideration.

I chuckled at the Sounders game last week when I saw handles of 10 Barrel IPA (new this year, shocker), Goose Island IPA and Elysian (some shitty beer) all in a row at the concessions. Thanks god there were balebreaker/fremont tap handles to be found elsewhere.

 

I'm not sure either. To be honest, I spent the better part of the afternoon blending beer at Cascade for a CBC event, so I probably shouldn't even be using the computer right now. Last time I posted here after drinking a bunch of beer I earned myself a one week "time out."

 

Maybe playing devil's advocate a little bit here, maybe not, but what's wrong with that? For a lot of people, beer is simply a beverage to be enjoyed, and nothing more. It's not some kind of statement about who they are. Is that any less of a reason to drink beer than any other? I mean, we're talking about a luxury item, not a life necessity.