Firestone Walker Brewing Company and Duvel Moortgat combine operations

Any that means more Parabola for NYC is ok in my books!

 

sounds like win-win to me. granted, any article about such a merger is tl;dr for me.

any objections from anyone? duvel totally fine with me. firestone walker awesome. pump more money into both of them, i'm down.

 

Not entirely sure what their announcement meant. Seemed a bit vague

 

I hope they can keep the quality up. We've seen the hit before with small mergers like Alpine/Green Flash.

 

Agreed, do they just have more funding from Duvel?

 

So they were bought by Duvel? Does this mean national distro?

 

If this means More of their proprietors series in Buffalo , I'm ok with it. Ultimately comes down to maintaining their quality

 

Whoa.

 

First Boulevard, now FW.

 

I think that means SC will get FW.

 

I won't have to trade for Stickee Monkee now.

 

Don't forget Ommegang.

 

Good news as far as I'm concerned. Duvel's purchase of Ommegang and Boulevard has seemingly ushered in great things for each company. I have no doubt it will be the same with Firestone Walker.

As big brewing companies like MillerCoors and ABInBev continue to grow their market share with acquisitions, this is one way in which brewers can fight back. By consolidating with other independent/family-owned brewers for whom product integrity and culture matter.

If you read John McDonald's open letter from the Boulevard announcement, you could see that the decision to sell to Duvel Moortgat was coming from the right place. It wasn't about cashing in. It was about growing his brand in a way that maintained integrity and that would allow it to continue after he was gone at the hands of a company who would be stewards of its legacy.

 

If I had to bet...

 

Does this finally mean Double Jack in Kentucky?

 

I'm a bit conflicted here. I see a lot of benefit from this for FW. This allows them to expand their distribution and production with a bit more funding. On the other hand it bothers me because these large breweries keep buying up successful micros. It almost reminds me of a sort of Disney kind of thing with them owning everything. Is this the future of craft beer?

 

Agreed. Their quality has not declined either and I was happy to see them in Ohio!

 

I'd been wondering who the Duvel Moortgat third US brewery "partner" would be. Makes good sense as now the entire family of companies has a member in the NorthEast (Ommegang), in the mid-west (Boulevard) and now in the west (Firestone Walker). On the whole, distribution will get better. Production of beers will grow. Collaborative efforts between the different breweries will occur more often. And if history is any guide, quality will remain the same or get better.

Edit: If Duvel Moortgat was still a publicly traded company I'd probably dump every spare penny into their stock.

 

Do you get Duvel or Ommegang or Boulevard in Kentucky? If so, probably yes.

 

I doubt it. I'm pretty sure we'll still have the local brewpub interested in regional distribution instead of world domination to go to every once and a while.

 

That's cool. I wonder if craft beer company parents will be the way of the future. May be a good way to compete with the macro giants while preserving the integrity of craft beer? Just a thought.

Dope

 

No need to worry. History shows that Duvel Moortgat bought Leifmans and then saved the company and bought Goudenband back to life. When they acquired full ownership of Ommegang they began a rebranding and modernization plan. When they bought Boulevard the distribution was expanded significantly and nothing changed vis a vis quality. Expect their "partnership" with FW to bring only good things for all.

So basically, Duvel Moortgat are not exactly a big company or the type of organization to damage others since they produce several high quality beers of their own and the quality of Duvel has not declined over the years I've had access to it.

 

Duvel is a good company to partner with. I was skeptical when they bought out most shares of Boulevard but they are really treating the brand VERY well and keeping Boulevard a ginormous part of Kansas City's civic identity, which was our number one concern! I am very excited for the future of Firestone's brand!!! CHEERS!!

 

They now have access to the Duvel Moortgat, Ommegang and Boulevard distribution network. There will be an infusion of cash to allow FW expansion, etc.

 

All I got to say is I hope is FW and Boulevard will hit Kentucky.

 

Exactly; it's not like Duvel Moortgat is some brewing giant buying up tiny little shops. Boulevard was ranked 12th in the Brewers Association's top breweries of 2012. And Firestone Walker was ranked 16th in the 2014 list.

These are partnerships in the truest sense of the word--Duvel is buying them, not just to gain market share, but because of the individual areas of expertise these American breweries bring. It really is a win win (win win).

 

Judging by history, I would say there's no need to worry. With the acquisitions (partnerships) of Ommegang and Boulevard, there has been no lapse in quality; on the contrary, if anything, the consistency is better than before.

 

Shortly after the Boulevard "acquisition" their beers began showing up in PA for the first time. From my perspective, access to Tank 7 and the Sixth Glass are major wins for customers. I've already done in at least 2 cases of Tank 7. :-)

 

That would be nice. But I think we're a ways off from that. Duvel in 2013 had estimated revenue of $270 million—AB reported $24 billion recently, i.e. 100x.

In the grand scheme of beer, I think this is really the little guy buying the tiny guy.

 

Let's hope Duvel never gets bought out...

 

*That's less than 10X

 

Fine, rub it in.

Now they both need to get their asses up here to Michigan. I can't be driving to Toledo every time I need a case of Tank 7.

 

Oy!

 

Hmm, I think it's 88.89x.

Wearing too many glasses?

I did make a typo at first.

 

10x $270 millon would be $2.7 billion.

It's about 100x.

 

Not to worry, my next case of a Saison will be the GI Sofie as we have family coming to visit and they prefer Sofie.

On a different note, I'd been wondering if you were in A2 yet. You can console yourself with all that Jolly Pumpkin you have access to that the rest of us don't have... (Actually I'm fibbing we do get Jolly Pumpkin here in PA but I wanted to try and help you feel a wee bit better. :-))

 

I thought I saw an extra decimal point, ignore my stupidity please.