Forget Craft. Let's Try Transparency

Nope, I'm not a candidate for anybody's flock.

 

That's an interesting evaluation of my stance, but, no, I don't work for ABI and am not in the "industry" at all, for that matter.

What it comes down to is that you've missed my point. Maybe by accident or maybe on purpose. The point is that big or small, local or international, the primary thing people should care about is quality. Then availability. Add to that the fact that "local" and "small" don't mean "better", and I think that's a good summation of what I'm trying to get across.

Many people have a problem with ABI because somebody in the craft beer industry told them to, NOT because they, themselves have an issue with them.

In the end, is everything that ABI does inherently "bad" for craft beer? Decidedly not. Just like everything that craft breweries do is not inherently good for all other craft breweries. There is a balance. Many craft breweries put out beer of questionable quality and/or charge a premium for beers that aren't premium products. ABIs The High End will serve to get independent craft breweries to put out better, more consistent products at a more reasonable price. I'd say that's a good thing for craft beer lovers, wouldn't you?

 

That is what most beer geeks said soon after GI was bought out ... give it time, also I'll be interested to taste their beers when they are brewed at a "local" AB Inbev factory. ;-)

 

WHY should people only care about Quality or Availability? Just because that's all you care about doesn't mean that everyone should care about that only.

I'm sure Anheuser-Busch does a lot for the community in St. Louis. I'm sure they sponsor a lot of community events, and donate a lot of time or money to people there...

But what do they do for me? I have local breweries that DO help put on local events for the community, do provide time, do provide employment for people who need it... I'm not saying that AB needs to go away, just that it is in my best interests to help keep the local businesses successful. Providing opportunities for my community can be a bigger benefit than a very minor decrease in quality.

But it's each individuals personal choice on what matters to them. You are just as wrong telling people what they should place value in and how they choose to act on it.

Even if ABI and other megabreweries don't have shady business practices, and small businesses can have them as well, just the virtue of being large with an immense infrastructure means it's extremely difficult for small businesses to compete and grow against them. The growing portfolio of good breweries being bought out and spread throughout the nation capitalizing on ABI's control of raw materials, brewing capacity, and distribution takes away opportunities from the local breweries that support each local community... Good for Elysian for supporting their local community but I don't live there and I want people to support my local community as well.

But I will say that ABI (and others) DO engage in illegal business practices, because it is very hard to be caught and the penalties do not outweigh the benefits. It probably isn't seen as commonly in Pennsylvania though because the government has so much control over the beer distribution. The breweries cannot engage in the illegal practices directly with the people watching out for it, but they can with private businesses because it directly benefits them. The business receiving the benefits doesn't want to admit it so it is difficult to catch.

On the price perspective. You obviously hate how you feel small breweries overcharge for their beer, and want the megabreweries to reign in the price levels... BUT what if the small breweries NEED to charge those prices to have the capital to maintain the employees they need to survive and create the beer people want? If ABI forces them to drop their profit margin then that will force breweries to close, and then take away income from peoples local communities.

 

While I understand what you're saying here, you are, again, missing my point. I didn't say "only". I said "primarily". Not so subtle difference. Sure, people are welcome to care about whatever they want for whatever reasons they want, no matter how unfounded they may be, but when you are in the business of providing a commodity, the quality and availability of the product should be of paramount concern.

I've never heard of a for-instance where a community was kept afloat or sank because of a local (read: small) brewery. Just because I've never heard of it doesn't mean that it hasn't happened, though. Do you have any examples of this?

I can find great beer without overpaying for it and find zero reason to do so just because it is produced locally and the market will bear the price at this point in time. Expensive does NOT mean better.

 

Actions speak louder than words. You can say that you have a more nuanced approach and opinion of it where you understand that there is more than just product quality... But you've spent the past month being VERY vocally challenging people when they say they want to support their local breweries. You've said many times that people should only care about the quality and availability of beer, and objecting when anyone suggests any other considerations. You've been very vocal about the evils of PE firms because they sometimes drive cost reductions reducing quality when that really has no effect on us as consumers because there are so many other options to choose from.

A community reliant upon a single company is doomed to fail. That's what happened with almost all of the company towns. They languish after the company moves, drops profit, or any number of issues. As the saying goes "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time". Developing a community requires a LOT of small things to happen and work together. That was the point of Brew Gentlemen, helping foster a community and revitalization of a community that had fallen on hard times. The brewery itself is not a savior, it is not going to be single-handedly employing the entire neighborhood or anything... BUT it may employee a few local people providing them money to buy other things. It hopefully will bring people out to the area allowing other people to capitalize on that and provide other opportunities. They can invest money in local events to provide a greater sense of community... There are lots of small things that breweries (and any other company) does for a community and although it is not a magical cure why not support them as opposed to ABI who won't provide any benefit to the community.

That said, I don't support all of my local breweries. There are lots that produce very low-quality beer in my opinion. But there are still a good number that produce very good beer. I have plenty of quality options by sticking with local and independent breweries. Any increase in quality that can be gained by going for the national breweries is extremely negligible or they are actually not as good.

 

I've never discouraged people from buying their beer from local breweries. Simply said that make sure it's local AND good/great, not just local.

If non-beer people control the direction of a brewery, that's decidedly bad for the consumer from a variety/choice standpoint.

Agreed.

Have you been to Braddock? While it certainly has changed over the past couple years, that's a John Fetterman "thing", not a The Brew Gentlemen thing, even though they are a part of the change that is happening there. That said, Braddock is STILL a very dodgy place. Same thing across the river at Voodoo's location in Homestead.

And good on you for supporting them, but if they were all making beer that wasn't anywhere close to as good as what was commercially available in your area, what would you do then?

 

Do what I do and consider it over a fresh local glass of greatness at a nearby local brewery.

 

People have often said that they care about buying local and then you tell them that they should just care about quality.

HOW is that bad for the consumer from a variety/choice standpoint? It allows more breweries to survive and grow without getting the advantages of distributors forcing the beers on every tap-handle possible? It allows breweries to compete on an even playing field while giving them more money. If a brewery makes a stupid decision on who they get to invest in them then that's their own fault and they deserve whatever happens to them.

I've never been to Braddock, but you never pay attention to anything someone talks about that isn't in PA and it's the only brewery I knew that was supposedly in a "dodgy" area.

I never said that breweries were really the driving force. They are just an aspect and a tool. If they fail then there could be other companies to take over... But there's no telling if it'll succeed, or if anything else will want to. Why not just support a brewery if it's already there (if it's good).

If people don't support the change that's happening then it'll fail.

Well I will say that I really don't think that any brewery in the North Texas area is as good as many breweries in the Central Texas area I still buy a significant amount of the breweries close to me because of the reasons provided and as the beer scene here stays healthy more and more breweries open up. Good ones are starting to open.

 

Anyone know anyone if Short's Brewing has anything to add to this topic? Would love to hear their take on "craft beer transparency": i.e. the whole " we're selling 19.99% to Lagunitas" neglecting to mention that Lagunitas in 100% owned by Heineken.

 

I'd be interested in hearing from them as well.

 

Apparently you can text them:

from MiBiz article on the deal:

(Short's partner) Newman-Bale and the rest of the brewery executive team intend to answer questions from customers and remain as transparent as possible.

“Me and Joe are still going to be here running the show and doing stupid things and talking to anyone who wants to talk about it,” Newman-Bale said. “I get texts and messages and I respond to them all and that won’t change. … I’m expecting some heated texts, and that’s fine. I’ll happily take them because I think this is good for everyone.”

Or check their Facebook page, where the very first comment on the deal, re:Heineken gets this response:

we haven't ever worked with or spoken directly to Heineken. Short's has sold a minority interest to LUSH, Lagunitas US Holdings. While Lagunitas is owned by Heineken, Heineken does not run Lagunitas day to day, and Lagunitas does not have a controlling interest in Short's.

Didn't bother with the other 800+

 

It's bad because you have people looking only at how certain brands perform and not how the overall portfolio fits together.

Do I? If I do, I apologize. I'll try to be less blind to things going on outside my insular little world here in Pittsburgh.

No reason, like you said, if it's good. If anything one should go out of their way to support it if it is at least on par with what is available nationally.

 

But they DO have some interest. To make it seem like the investment comes without strings attached is, very probably, less than honest.

 

This dude was talking with people in this thread
@ScottatShorts

 

I would gladly send you some of these WW brews we have here. They just sit here.

 

Jason, we are now getting Wicked Weed in SEPA. I was strolling through my local Retail Beer Distributor a couple of days ago and there were 3-4 different brands of Wicked Weed on the shelf. I did not take note of the specific brands. How well the beer will sell here I have no idea. We just recently got Modern Times beers and just three days ago it was announced that Von Trapp is now available in the area. There really is not enough shelf space available for all of the existing and new beers to the area.

While I was walking out the store I asked an employee (Ryan): How do you keep track of all of these new beers? His response was: Untapped.

Cheers!

P.S. The manager of the store mentioned to me in conversation that Summit Brewing is pulling out of the area. I can understand that given the level of competition here and that is only for distributing breweries. Just last month in a town about 10-15 minutes from me two new small. local breweries (brewpubs) opened up. It is kinda crazy right now with all of this new beer. A good problem to have!!

 

Cuz he knows his budget and knows what he wants to spend his money on. Is there something wrong with that? I know I can walk past the Stone, Ballast Point, Victory, Stillwater, Evil Twin and Left Hand and perhaps take a look but when I get to the register, I usually have none of those breweries in my hands.

Propaganda? But the facts are in front of consumers and more than enough. We've seen more than enough articles not necessarily coming from breweries but here on BA and other resources that are speaking out about ABI.

It's not about saying the "sky is falling," or other people in other threads saying people like me are "panic-ing" about all that's going on in the beer industry but honestly, I think more people are starting to wake up and are tired of being "fleeced" by ABI.

We want the truth! We want transparency!

 

When wicked weed showed up people were tripping over each other for it. Once news of the buyout hit, bottle sales went stagnant.
On another note, we have the same issue, there's just too much beer for the shelf space. I try to stick with Colorado breweries, and haven't been able to sample half the beer out there. It's crazy.

 

If you replace "Colorado" with "SEPA" in that above sentence that would include me as well.

Cheers!