Zombie Beer Brands

Seems accurate. As evidenced by all the ABInbev defenders on this sight. Talk about Stockholm Syndrome.

 

i feel like a lot of the older members here are trying to support local as much as possible, but a large portion of the newer members on here just dont care.

i used to go to the black friday releases myself too. i didnt stop because its now owned by inbev, i stopped because theres WAYY too many people lining up and people started lining up at 3am. how many people have eliminated goose island completely? honestly? is it a lot more than 10%??

 

& so does (or did), BA, if that counts as "support". (Btw, I had a Bud, a Negra Modelo (1st time) & a Stella(1st time) for the AAL thing a few weeks ago.)
" Some argue this is not craft beer anymore due to change of ownership—we say “bollocks” to that. BCS has cult status and deservedly so. A slow sipper due to the size, and closing in on perfection makes it very easy to sip!! Cheers to Goose Island for its continuation and expansion within their barrel program."
- BA

 

"Most statistics found on the internet are wildly inaccurate."
-Abe Lincoln

 

Oh I am and I have. With humor though and usually in response to a question after first making sure I've dismounted and stepped away from my high horse.

 

Isn't this is much as an issue with the 3 tier distribution model as it is with corporations acquiring craft brands? When the big brands control distribution, the result is going to be more tap handles devoted to their offerings. A good craft beer bar has to work with many suppliers to have a well curated draft and bottle list.

 

I will continue to support "megacorp" beers that use to be independent because they're cheaper than some of the local brewers who are asking $14-$16 for a 4-pack of 16oz. cans.

 

yea i read this too, and i think a lot of beer drinkers are in the same mindset. honestly bcbs is still damn good, you can't argue that

really good honest response! i like the fact that your keeping that 2013 review because that's exactly how you felt at the time

bottom line is it really sucks that big bought goose island . that's the toughest one to let go if you plan to steer clear of bmc. i like drinking good beer, which unfortunately includes bcbs every year. good news is most of my money goes to SARA, the bruery (well i guess they are heading down that path :/) but most recently fieldwork! they opened a brewery 7 min from my work. dammit they make good beer.

 

Need to keep in mind that the vast majority of the subset of all BAs who post in these forums can't see the twinkle in your eye when you say things intended in jest.

 

This is a piece that really would have benefited from concrete examples. I guess I understand the sentiment to not name names, but without examples, it feels very inside baseball and opaque. I can't help but feel someone like @ModernTimesJacob would have gone straight for the jugular and named a dozen "zombie" beers.

 

I can't help it, just the words "zombie beer" make me laugh.

 

Anymore over half the beer on shelves at my local bottle shop is on my do not buy list. I remember a time when I didn't have much choice, and now I would rather intentionally abstain from buying big beer rather than not caring and ending up back in the old days...

 

Yeah, especially when some of them taste very much alive and are made with the same care and craftsmanship as when they were independently owned. The article makes no distinction between a generic crafty beer appealing to the lowest common denominator and a BCBS. Apparently, they are equally shunned and dismissed as soulless.

 

Why should there be a distinction? Bully style business practices are tolerable if you're buying a BA stout but not a witbier? Please....

 

off the top of my head in the US from inbev:

10 barrel
elysian
goose island
wicked weed
golden road
breckenridge
blue point

 

The distinction is not about style but about quality and craftsmenship. A consensus world-class rendition of virtually any style has more soul than a sub-par product, regardless of what you may divine about the souls of the producers.

I was not referencing allegations of bullying because I do not see them in the article. It talks about megcorps "locking out indie brewers." Granted, that sometimes may involve bullying, so there's a potential subtext. But the article only cites megacorps adding crafty options to their portfolio.

 

Paraphrasing the late Samuel Clemens (a great skeptic and fun to read) "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies and statistics." He cribbed it from Benjamin Disraeli, so that muddies the waters...

 

Think of it this way- the real craft beer breweries are making the entire beer scene better. Yes, once the big beer money buys a small craft brewery the beer is instantly not as good as it was, but that beer is still better than the big beer companies current beers. I dont know as many detailed stories from the US as I do from Australia but the cashed out craft brewers moved on to another interesting project soon afterwards anyway. In some ways the drinkers are benefiting from the capital expenditure of big beer in this way, though it still hurts when a favourite gets zombied.