Boycotting 10 Barrel & Elysian

Discussion in 'Northwest' started by Reidrover, Mar 17, 2015.

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  1. Bitter_Better

    Bitter_Better Initiate (0) Jul 31, 2015 Oregon

    The local pioneers sold out long ago to the devil. The BBC changed the craft beer rules & is pushing hard to be huge. Pabst is so popular again they're going back to Milwaukee.

    Then there's the Breaksides: those who spurn investors in favor of keeping it local. But they just brewed two beers for export. Even my cherished Wanderlust is brewed w/ good travel in mind.

    There will be giants. Drink it or not. It will never be like it was, now that taste matters to more drinkers. & it's still less than 20% of us.
     
    #181 Bitter_Better, Jul 31, 2015
  2. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,849) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader


    +1 to this. I'm assuming the member who posted this, didn't bother to read the rest of this thread, or some of the related threads (IMO) concerning GI pricing in the area (for example).

    I think most of us understand why 10 Barrel decided to go in this direction (strictly for the money, as near as I can tell; there was no evidence that they were about to go under without an infusion of cash from Ab-Inbev). That's their decision, but there are consequences to that decision (as this thread demonstrates). I assume 10 Barrel was aware of those consequence, but figured the monetary benefits outweighed the negative PR. Time will tell whether or not they made the right choice.
     
    #182 John_M, Jul 31, 2015
    Last edited: Jul 31, 2015
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  3. jbakajust1

    jbakajust1 Pooh-Bah (2,552) Aug 25, 2009 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah

    I had heard that 10 Barrel had taken on way too much debt to stay afloat with the expansion in Bend and the 2 new sites in ID and PDX. There was rumor that they were going to go bankrupt if they didn't sell. There was also some that said that they had this intention from the beginning and the debt just pushed it forward.
     
    #183 jbakajust1, Jul 31, 2015
  4. jesskidden

    jesskidden Grand Pooh-Bah (3,145) Aug 10, 2005 New Jersey
    Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Depends on how one defines that and if there is more than one "Devil" besides AB in the brewing industry but Boston Beer Co. made very direct "deals" with most of the other Big 6 of the US brewing industry, having contract-brewing arrangements with Heileman, Stroh, Pabst and Miller & then MillerCoors during the 1990s into the mid-2000s. :grinning:
     
    #184 jesskidden, Jul 31, 2015
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  5. ballardbeer

    ballardbeer Pundit (779) Nov 10, 2013 Oregon

    wut
     
    #185 ballardbeer, Jul 31, 2015
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  6. TheBungyo

    TheBungyo Pooh-Bah (2,037) Dec 1, 2004 Washington
    Pooh-Bah

    Not all of the local pioneers did. The most unfortunate thing Bert Grant did was die, and I cam hardly blame him for that. Deschutes has been around since the 80's ... they're still independent. I could go on, but the issue isn't size as you seem to think but more accurately intention. Sierra Nevada is massive by craft brew standards but they're still adored by many beer geeks. There's a reason for that.

    Not surprising that someone who is new to the NW scene wouldn't care about the history and be more than willing to take for granted the scene that exists here because people back in the day refused what BMC had to offer. Things can and do change, sometimes for the worst. I'd rather do what I can to make sure I keep my local scene healthy.

    Personally, I can't fathom buying anything from 10 Barrel (or in all honesty even Elysian), who I've always found mediocre, especially if it means my money is going to a company who wants to destroy the scene here. For my money, everywhere I turn there's a better offering that doesn't compromise my integrity anyway.
     
    #186 TheBungyo, Jul 31, 2015
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  7. TheBungyo

    TheBungyo Pooh-Bah (2,037) Dec 1, 2004 Washington
    Pooh-Bah


    Thanks for the correction. As always I bow to your encyclopedic knowledge. I don't take as much issue with that as I would selling the company to one of those buyers! What's more, you can barely find Sam's here anyway.

    Or maybe I'm just not looking hard enough for it.
     
    #187 TheBungyo, Jul 31, 2015
  8. Reidrover

    Reidrover Grand Pooh-Bah (4,886) Jan 14, 2003 Oregon
    Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Anyway..on the same basic topic but at a different angle.
    It seems to me that Inbev-AB have pulled back from the take-overs. I think most of us assumed that After GI, Elysian and 10 Barrel they would continue acquiring assets in the "craft beer" world, there was even wild rumors of some other bigger craft breweries being bought...
    Then nothing. Have they given up? Is this not making enough profit?
     
    #188 Reidrover, Jul 31, 2015
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  9. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,849) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader


    AB's current pratice of buying up craft breweries (if you can't kill them, absorb them) is a relatively new phenomenon. In the beginning, AB tried to kill the craft beer scene by denying craft breweries avenues of distribution (among other things). At least in those early days, no one had any problem figuring out AB's feelings about craft beer... they weren't handing out any olive branches, or offerring any infusions of cashola.

    Eventually us old timers with institutional memory of AB's past practices will die out, and increasingly we'll have folks like Bitter_Better, wondering why anyone gets in a huff over what they perceive to be just normal capitalistic business practices. Increasingly, I see this change in thinking more and more often, any time there's a discussion about AB-InBev beer in the various Beer Talk threads. I see a lot of new members on BA completely perplexed by what they perceive to be deep rooted and unjustified animosity towards AB.
     
    #189 John_M, Jul 31, 2015
    Last edited: Aug 3, 2015
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  10. ballardbeer

    ballardbeer Pundit (779) Nov 10, 2013 Oregon

    it was never about profit, it's about controlling market share and keeping an incredibly popular and profitable product (macro beer) remain such. they prematurely started buying craft breweries thinking that was how to combat the increasing market share of craft beer, and it's not working. my guess is they are back to the drawing board as craft beer sales are steadily taking over grocery market sales, they are slowly infiltrating sporting events/concert venues/festivals, and drinking macro beer is now becoming a very uncool thing of you to do.
     
    #190 ballardbeer, Jul 31, 2015
  11. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,849) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader


    Someone posted an article in Beers News some months back, that included some sort of "state of the company" outlook presentation from some corporate officer with Ab-InBev. I thought it was pretty interesting. The article acknowledged declining sales and profits, and admitted that the future did not look bright for domestic sales. Consequently, AB was pushing international expansion of product availability, and I seem to recall reading that they were VERY happy with initial sale results and consumer reaction in South America (in particular) and in Asia.
     
    #191 John_M, Jul 31, 2015
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  12. jesskidden

    jesskidden Grand Pooh-Bah (3,145) Aug 10, 2005 New Jersey
    Society Pooh-Bah Trader

     
    #192 jesskidden, Jul 31, 2015
  13. ballardbeer

    ballardbeer Pundit (779) Nov 10, 2013 Oregon

    they may have a losing battle to fight here domestically, but internationally they could be very successful marketing craft beers. i feel like we aren't far from the day where we travel abroad and see a bunch of elysian pumpkin beers on tap.
     
    #193 ballardbeer, Jul 31, 2015
  14. ballardbeer

    ballardbeer Pundit (779) Nov 10, 2013 Oregon

    #194 ballardbeer, Jul 31, 2015
  15. PortlandAlePatrol

    PortlandAlePatrol Initiate (0) Nov 18, 2014 Oregon



    Having seen this I will go there (10Barrel) if anyone would like to buy be a pint or 7:slight_smile:

    @Bitter_Better let me know when you're in my hood, would like to cheers with ya mate!
     
    #195 PortlandAlePatrol, Jul 31, 2015
  16. BBThunderbolt

    BBThunderbolt Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,846) Sep 24, 2007 Kiribati
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I think maybe they just haven't found the right pairing for them, yet. Buying the types of breweries they have, doesn't happen overnight. Just because they did happen to buy a couple reasonably close together, doesn't mean they aren't looking. Plus, maybe we don't know where they're looking.

    I don't know how much industry knowledge of the sale of Full Sail was, before it was publicly announced, but it seems reasonable that that would have been a brewery InBev woulda been interested in.

    EDIT: Just saw this after I entered this post : http://seekingalpha.com/article/3287995-a-macro-brewery-play-in-the-micro-brewery-industry
     
    #196 BBThunderbolt, Aug 3, 2015
    Last edited: Aug 3, 2015
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  17. Bitter_Better

    Bitter_Better Initiate (0) Jul 31, 2015 Oregon

    The IPA War lineup:
    https://www.facebook.com/events/1655910341306914/
    I know I wanna go...seems pretty crafty.
     
    #197 Bitter_Better, Aug 11, 2015
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  18. sharpski

    sharpski Grand Pooh-Bah (3,100) Oct 11, 2010 Oregon
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Excited for it, several ID and CO beers I've never had, and anytime I'm within walking distance of a Bale Breaker keg I make plans.
     
    #198 sharpski, Aug 11, 2015
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  19. Bitter_Better

    Bitter_Better Initiate (0) Jul 31, 2015 Oregon

    Oregon has it in the bag, tale of the tape-wise, but that's the beauty of blind tasting! Extremely envious of the attendees, no doubt! Hooray (craft) beer!
     
    #199 Bitter_Better, Aug 11, 2015
  20. Bitter_Better

    Bitter_Better Initiate (0) Jul 31, 2015 Oregon

    Should a boycott be raised against the participants, as they'll be filling ABI's coffers?

    No. Use your beer dollars as you wish...I'd wear a Bud tee, there, just to thank them for the relationships their brewers still have in the craft world!
     
    #200 Bitter_Better, Aug 11, 2015
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