Boycotting 10 Barrel & Elysian

Dumbest post of 2015. I hope you're not after any of that BCBS either.

 

Thanks for contributing!

 

I think "Slightly" is the poster giving himself the benefit of the doubt. It's posts like that above that take away all doubt.

 

It's a luxury item, as basically everything we buy is, sure. To clarify, I'd argue very much against beer simply being a beverage to be enjoyed by the users of this forum, unless of course people post on forums about all of their luxury items. The craft beer world is a very communal one - it just makes more sense to me to support members of that community rather than organizations posing as members of the community.

 

Thanks for clarifying. I agree with you that for a lot of us, beer goes beyond just a tasty beverage and it is, for lack of a better term, a community. Where I think I draw the line though is to suggest that that's the best, or only legitimate, reason or way to drink beer. People do all kinds of things for all kinds of reasons, and nobody has a claim on the "right" way or reason. That just strikes me as kind of elitist.

As for which organizations are posing as members of the community, vs. who are the "true" members, I think there are a lot of gray areas there and it's probably not nearly as black and white as you'd like it to be. Which takes me back to my original point, that we all have a right to spend our own money as we see fit, and nobody else is in a position to judge us for it.

 

There is so much judgment going in both directions in this thread - I'm judging people who think its cool to drink Goose Island IPA and others are judging those who think its not.

I don't think its wrong or elite to encourage people to support local companies with local interest and profits that benefit the local economy.

In some nice irony, that awful Budweiser peach-pumpkin commercial is airing RIGHT NOW as I type this. So yeah, I feel pretty strongly about my opinion.

 

I agree there's a lot of judging going on, all I'm saying is it's all hypocritical. There's not a single person who has posted on this thread who hasn't participated to some degree in the global economy or supported in some way unethical business practices and an unfair labor environment. Why this matters so much when it comes specifically to beer is beyond me. People who buy only local/independent beer but get a new iPhone every year don't have a lot of room to judge anyone else.

 

If there was a local business that designed and built smartphones of better quality and had the features and national cellular coverage of my iPhone, I'd buy it in a heartbeat. Alas, there is not.

 

Yeah - that argument is really getting tiring. It has no relevance here, and has been properly critiqued by a number of people already - happy to go back and quote them...

 

To whom are you replying?

 

Just so we're all clear, I'm not judging anyone for buying an iPhone or a Bud Light. And a smartphone is about as much of a necessity as beer, so you can always choose not to buy one at all. At the end of the day though, one way or another, we're all complicit.

 

One above you, sir.

 

Bravo. Truer words have not been said.

 

And just so we're clear --- if you're on BA and you're concerned about the reach of ABI to invest time and money in limiting the craft beer options in your own community and other communities but you continue to buy BCBS and Space Dust, you can rest assured that I'm going to judge you and feel quite righteous in doing so. That is hypocrisy and just plain stupid. Refusing to support companies that fight my own self-interest is not the same as me purchasing a mass-manufactured commodity when a craft option is not truly available.

I can and will refuse to buy ABI or more specifically BMC due their goal of reducing my own craft beer options, refuse to shop at QFC (and other Kroger stores) due to their open carry policies, and refuse to eat Chick-fil-A due to their anti-gay marriage support. At the same time, I have no problem buying Nikes and Apple products. As I stated previously, I hold to my principles on things that I really care about and have some ability to affect. And I don't find this hypocritical in any way. With that said, you can feel free to judge me --- that's your right. I think we don't judge each other enough and don't do enough to hold each other to some modicum of social responsibility --- see my posts on behavior at the Fremont UBG. This laissez faire social contract is for the birds.

 

True dat. I couldn't live without either. Well, I could but my quality of life would diminish significantly.

 

I've never owned an iPhone, so there.

 

Look, I don't think anyone was happy or excited when 10 Barrel announced they had sold. Most Oregonians, at least in Portland and Bend, seem averse to big business/corporations. Look at how New Seasons has been able to thrive above Whole Foods, which doesn't seem to be the case in any other cities. What was even more puzzling was when AB bought Elysian and then proceeded to shit all over them with their Super Bowl commercial. So I think the problem most people have is that AB seems to want to control the craft market themselves as opposed to really advancing it. So far they have not made any noticeable changes at 10 Barrel, Elysian and Goose Island, but who's to say what will happen down the road.

I am a little surprised that 10 Barrel went ahead with the Portland Brewpub and I'm interested to see what the reaction will be there. I personally am not eager to get in there, but I would like to eventually try whatever beers Whitney is able to create and judge for myself. The place itself looks awesome.

 

Well, with the exception of all the regular Goose Island beers now being brewed at Budweiser breweries. It will be interesting to see if they do the same thing with 10 Barrel and Elysian.

 

Ok. I hesitated to add them since I honestly didn't know if there had been any big changes there or not. Everyone still loves BCBS, so clearly the AB ownership hasn't changed that.