Anheuser-Busch Resurrects Faust

Just because they own it doesn't mean they make it. Goose Island makes BCBS. Anheuser Busch owns Goose Island. In your world that means AB makes BCBS? More power to ya. Keep on Truckin.

 

Interesting, makes sense, thanks. I have no issue with it in craft brewing but when macros use it to render craft-style beers I often feel I can taste it and the blend doesn't work (IMO).

 

No idea, I can try to find out. I'd bet all the money I have though that people couldn't tell the difference between high gravity and traditional brewing based on taste though. I know several craft brewers use that technique, including Harpoon.

 

That's a surprise. Is it for all of their beers or just certain ones? I would figure getting something like dry hopping dialed in would be very difficult.

 

Yeah I don't have an issue with it per se, I enjoy Anchor Steam and Boston Lager a great deal, but I think it's just lazy when every recipe includes caramel malts instead of making use of the base malts that originated the styles in the first place. Especially in cases where it seems like a brewer made use of every malt under the sun except for the malt which originated the style.

 

Most of their beers, at least in Boston, not sure on VT. When I worked there the biggest issue was actually dialing in color, the other characteristics were pretty consistent. This one time while packaging Munich Dark, I had to drive to some random brewery supply store and buy malt based coloring because the beer came out so light.

 

Understood and frankly I am bemused to see recipes for a pale ale calling for 7 or 8 malts or other grains. I can't believe this complexity of malt bill really adds anything and in the era when these styles developed, one or two malts, maybe three (porter) were used and that was it. In Anchor Steam, say, or Boston lager, I can't "taste" caramel malt though vs. in many craft-style beers from big brewers. Ditto the good British pales and bitters. Perhaps this is due to the thin body the pale malts plus any adjunct carry on their own in AAL vs. the sweet confectionary taste of the crystal.

 

I drank a Faust the other night. I thought it was pretty good

 

Why is this news now anyway? Its been out since November

 

In my world? I think in most people's world.

As already stated in this thread, certain Goose Island beers are brewed at AB facilities, not just the Chicago "Goose Island" facility: http://blogs.denverpost.com/beer/2012/08/27/chicagobased-goose-island-brew-colorado/5756/

Goose Island is just a brand of AB. Lexus may be the "luxury" brand of Toyota, but a Lexus car is still made by Toyota.

 

When did Toyota buy Lexus? My analogy was for a world class beer that AB came up with on their own, ok?

 

Me and my handlebar mustached friends are going to have a good time overanalyzing this beer, the easy way. Sip and pour

 

Yeah, I was thinking more of Sandlot -- are they no longer brewing there?

Nonetheless, it sounds like A.C. is separate from the main brewery, which makes me wonder where Mitch Steel was brewing the test brews (skimmed his blog posts, but only came up with the marketing name, no real info on the actual facility). Guessing A-B has a similar pilot brewery.

All of that aside, I always liked Coors Winterfest back in the mid-to-late 80s. Wish they would have continued that run. So, if the Faust is truly all malt (no rice) I'll certainly give it a chance.

 

I'll bet it was.

 

Huh? That makes no logical sense. Some people around here (not just you @punksinkhakis, but your post triggered me) are so starry-eyed about their craft beer it's causing conflicts in their own heads (i.e. cognitive dissonance). Until mortgages, leases, bank loans, employees salaries, utility bills etc. can be paid for with wishes and dreams, then a brewery is either a profitable business or it is not and soon closing. Considering how few brewery closings I've head about, I'm guessing most breweries are the former.

 

Ranbot you are 100% right yet I think I see what the poster you responded to meant. Some breweries take the decision not to expand or make other changes which might change how they view their relationship to the business. The owners might feel they are getting enough out of it and I think it was Gibby Straub (Jess can tell you who he was) who said we make so much, that's it and then I want to go fishing and hunting. I always felt Anchor Brewing before the sale some years ago was of this type, it was a pioneer, highly respected with a good growth in its local area but had no designs to expand in the way SN has, for example, or some of the other high profile modern craft breweries. SN is probably the avatar of the little brewery that could, it has the magic of being small and high quality yet growing in a major way, e.g. the $100,000,000 + expansion on the east coast. Not every brewery is willing or able to do that though, and to that degree it's fair to say not all breweries are in business to make money.

 

All business are run to make money, craft brewers are lucky in the fact that they can make money doing what they love. If it was for the love of beer special releases wouldnt cost 30, 40, 50+ dollars per bottle.

 

Loved your post right to the end. But all business big or small worry about making their number first. If they are making x than there is no reason for them to expand if they dont want to. But dont delude yourself to the point that you dont think that every business has their number that they need to make in order to survive, weather its 50k 100k ext. Just because smal town craft brewery doesnt want to become the next SN doesnt doesnt mean he is not in the business of making money.