Boycotting 10 Barrel & Elysian

I drove by the new 10 barrel pub on my way to rei... the wait must have been at least an hour for a table. standing room only in the bar. I don't give a shit who owns 10 barrel, I'm just hoping they aid in closing down the rogue pub.

 

Gambrinus lost their partial US import rights (they supplied the east coast and the south) for Corona and the other Modelo brands nearly a decade ago:

That joint venture, Crown Imports, is now wholly-owned by Constellation after the 2013 DoJ settlement that allowed ABInBev to purchase Grupo Modelo.

 

You mean a... "badvocate?" Ba-doom ching.

Count me as one of the ones who will refrain from buying anything ABInBev. I will always regard them as a domineering, sneaky force out to subvert the wonderful thing that is craft beer, which I love so very much. DIE YOU CORPORATION OF SWILL-PUSHING PANSY-PALATED PURVEYORS OF HOMOGENIZED HORSE-PISS! Ahem... that said, to each their own. Bless 'merica and our freedom of choice.

It's not a hard decision for me to make since I've never been a big Elysian fan and this 10-Barrel brewery doesn't even make it up here. Also, regarding BCBS, they effectively don't exist in AK, but were they to, my policy wouldn't change. There are enough awesome alternatives out there for me to buy which DON'T contribute profits to certain underhanded corporations. A tiny shade less variety in the beer brands I buy and enjoy is a sacrifice I will certainly make to avoid doing so.

 

Well, I was tested tonight and failed. We went out w/ some friends to Jai Thai Fremont and the only beer choices were Manny's, Mac & Jack's, Stella, or Elysian Avatar IPA. I went with the Elysian, as did the other two beer drinkers at our table. I did pause, and thought about the discussion on this thread, before ordering. And as it turns out, the beer wasn't very good (maybe I was tasting the guilt). But I still probably enjoyed it more than I would have the other three offerings available. I like beer with Thai food, so I guess if I'm in a situation where I really want to have a beer, and I have to choose between something from an AB Inbev-owned brewery and beers that I like even less, I'm going to make that compromise from time to time. If that means I am dead to some of you, so be it.

We then walked down to Fremont Brewing where we enjoyed better beer, guilt free. And the kids had pretzels.

 

It's only a conversation because we care about our community; the beer, the people, the community focus of craft. We don't find these concerns in tech or cleaning supplies, etc. Business is. Craft tries to be different. I'm glad for the difference and for the concern that we lost something although many, many fine people work at Elysian ( I'm a huge fan) and and 10Barrel.

 

Having a close-to-home example in 10 Barrel, this is what trumps everything for me. Ownership is a layer of abstraction; if the people's hearts are still in it (esp. Tonya and 10 Barrels' other great Brewers) and they're still making good beer, I'll drink the beer with an open mind and palate.

Future consolidation is only going to make the line between acceptable/unacceptable ownership more blurry and complex. Shouldn't "Is the beer good?" be the primary question, and you prioritize based on your personal values and preferences after that? It's about the beer, man.

 

Well said sharpski. For some of us, it's about the beer and the values lining up. This is what makes the difference between craft beer and just another commodity.

However, I share your angst. Dick Cantwell and the many people behind him at Elysian are good friends and make some of our best beer. Life is gray. We have to hold both truths.

Personal feelings aside, InBev still sucks and we all lost something. Not the people, but the values of the company that employs them. True.

 

All good points to consider. Truly, it's about both the beer and the people who produce it. The passion, dedication, and attention to quality of Fremont's employees and owners is obvious in every beer they make. But is it also possible that those same qualities can still be infused into Elysian or 10 Barrel beers, even though they are now owned by a soulless overlord? There are still good people working at these breweries, and at Goose Island too no doubt. If their passion, dedication, and attention to quality falters because of decisions made in some faraway board room, will that not also become obvious in their beer?

Or is it possible that, against all odds, these good people find a way to spread these values like a virus from within, helping to turn these conglomerates into better corporate citizens and members of their communities? I know this seems a foolish and naive question to even ask, and maybe it is. But, even though AB InBev sucks, it's still just a company made up of people. And people can choose to change the way they do things, especially when they begin to see that what they have been doing no longer works. Time will tell.

 

Of course, in the beer advocate world, "Is the beer good?" will always be the primary question. And fortunately for us, we have an abundance of good-to-great beer. We are lucky that way.

But as long as ABI's lobbyists roam the halls of Olympia and the Liquor Control Board and spread their money and influence with a goal of doing Fremont and other local craft brewers harm --- forcing Fremont, et al to spend their own time and money, which takes away time and money from their own brewing as well as other more worthy activities, by the way --- I'm not making a political donation toward that goal. And every time one of you buys a Goose Island, Elysian, and/or 10 Barrel, that's what you're doing.

I'd like to consider @draheim's hope that, maybe after ABI purchases enough Elysian's of the world, the good people of Elysian will help change the ABI culture. In the meantime, I'm not going to rationalize this issue by being all, "Meh, the beer's good, fuck the rest."

 

i try to focus my boycotts on bad beers and do the opposite of boycotting to good beers.

 

I don't blame you, though I personally probably would have gone with Manny's given the choice you had. If I really want a beer, I buy a beer. Much as I despise InBusch (yeah, I'm hard headed/goofy enough to still call them that), if all a place has is beer owned by goliath-like corporations, I'd rather have a beer from the Elysian or 10 Barrel line than drink water and feel irritated throughout the meal because I wanted a beer. I learned to pick my battles a long time ago. Punishing yourself for the "greater good" is usually like peeing in a dark suit. It may give you a warm feeling, but nobody notices except you.

 

I'm no optimist, I'm actually a cynic. I just want to be hopeful in this case because the alternative is pretty depressing. In the end, those of you saying we should boycott (I would choose the term abstain from) beer produced by these multinational conglomerates are probably right. But I don't back down from the position that nobody has a right to judge anyone else; none of us is perfect.

I still feel really bad for the good people who work for these breweries who are caught in the middle, through no fault of their own. I work for an independent, employee-owned company and we're very conscious that other, similar firms continue to get bought up by much larger public companies, absorbed by the Borg and all that. So I'm very sympathetic to the plight of the people, most of whom have little choice, at least in the short term, to continue to work for these breweries and do their best to produce and sell good beer even though some members of the community who previously supported them (or were at least ambivalent) have decided to turn their backs on them.

 

I think it's a matter of degrees. Also, for most of us (not all), the best beers weren't made by Elysian or 10 Barrel, anyway. I occaisionally have drank Elysian, but there always seemed to be a brewery I was more interested in or liked better when looking for, say, an IPA at the store. 10 Barrel really hadn't made that big of a dent in my market when the sale was announced. So when I say, I'lll still buy a beer from one of them when that's the best option, like @draheim said above, that will rarely actually happen.

 

I'm speechless. Truly, I just don't know what to say: http://www.cnbc.com/id/101829211.

 

There's a machine like this in the Sky Lounge at Haneda airport.

 

I was just down at the local malt shop having an ice cream soda, talking to the soda jerk about this phenomenon. I sure hope vending machines and self-serve soft-drink machines don't make his job obsolete.

 

So, for those that have taken the boycott route (at whatever level), how's that going for ya? I've not had any Elysian since that sale, but a couple of 10 Barrels have gotten into my belly.

 

I haven't had any 10 Barrel. I went to Elysian Tangletown once, so I could pay my last respects.