Open Letter To "Beer Snob" Backlash

I don't wanna go on a rant here but....

 

I consider myself an active beer enthusiast.

 

beer novice here. . .

 

I think guys like Ken Grossman, Jack McAuliffe, Fritz Maytag, Bert Grant, Jim Koch, Larry Bell and others wanted to make good, consistent, flavorful beer that people would buy.

 

I hope that all BA's who refuse to buy beer from AB Inbev know what is in their 401k's, which mutual funds they are invested in, and the stocks that those mutual funds own. Some of you may be refusing to buy beer from your self. A lot of the largest mutual funds own a bit of BUD stock.

That said, I will drink what is good regardless of who brews it. To buy based on the morality, plans, actions, & allocations of profits of each brewery, its owners, and employees would require much more knowledge than is available to me. I don't know if a craft brewer is purposely doing everything right, & making great beer but plans to sell to AB Inbev for profits upon retirement, just like I don't know if their using profits from their brewery to fund some politcal cause that I am opposed to, or an illegal gambling ring, I don't know if the brewer beats his kids or his wife, or if he has dead bodies buried in his back yard. I do like to do business (including buying beer) from people I know and trust, but you can't do that 100% of the time. I don't have time to investigate and learn everything there is to know about the owners of all the companies I buy product from . The evil AB Inbev employs thousands of people around the world, donates lots of money to good cause, and is owned (albeit in small amounts) by your neighbors & co workers, along with some rich suits that are only in it for the money. But to make money brewers are required to give the consumers what they want, whether that's low flavor, low calorie beer, or great beer. The only thing a brewer has to do to get my business I brew good beer and sell it for a reasonable price.

 

In before tl;dr

 

When I graduated from college my first job was selling wine for E&J Gallo wineries. What I learned about wine can be applied to this situation. You'd think that wine enthusiasts would turn their noses up at fruity wine like Arbor Mist or Boones Farm or of wine like Franzia, when in fact the wine industry looks as these wines as 'starter' wines or 'bridge' wines. The home of the wine makers is that people will eventually trade up to more 'sophisticated' wines.

That being said, I think InBev and the rest of the big boys getting in to craft beer is an amazing opportunity for everyone involved in the craft beer industry. With their markeing budgets and brand loyalist it can only bring more attention to craft beer in general As the saying goes, a rising sea lifts all boats. My point is that BMC is potentially bringing millions of new customers to the craft beer party. My prediction is that these BMC craft brews will act as a bridge beer to more traditional craft beers and brewers. In the end, everyone wins.

 

What if a brewer who is it for the love of the game and wants to do everything in his power to make great beer and expand the craft beer movement can't get the funding to start a brewery and turns to a venture capitalist for the funds? The venture capitalist has no say in anything the brewer does and has no managment power, and is solely in it for the money. He expects his capital to eventually be repaid plus interest. Is it okay to buy from them? In many cases you wouldn't even know becuase with a privatly held company they do not have to disclose this, just like they don't have to disclose if the venture capitalist is a crooked business man or politician. What if a completly indendent craft brewer wants to expand but cannot find the capital to expand at the rate he wanted to, so decieds to sell 1/3 of his business to Miller Coors to fund the expanion. What if the owner of a completly independant craft brewery who does everything else right, is illegaly giving money under the table to a crooked politician in exchange for some sort of lobying, or leniency, or government subsidy on a new brewpub location.

My point is you don't know everything about the owners of every brewery or what they do with their money, so stop worrying about it.

 

Why should beer be different than other products you purchase? I hate to break it to you, but pretty much every product in your home is produced by a company that is focused solely on profit. Do you think the guys who make all the electronics in your home are passionate about electronics, or are they just trying to make money by selling products people want to buy? How about P&G? They're pretty focused on profit. Do you think you can get by without the thousands of products they make? Drink what you want, but please get off your high horse.

Also, please don't buy any Goose Island products. Leave them for me.

 

And any good fund manager worth his salt will dump that InBev stock from the fund portfolio well before it tanks, and replace it with better stocks.... perhaps even some stock in DFH or SN, after their IPO(s).

 

Them damn fund managers are only in it for the profit!! Boycott all mutual funds!

SN IPO? Only in my dreams.

 

But we are still allowed to worry about what we do know about right? We don't have to agree with it either do we? I just wanted to make sure.

 

methinks a lot of people missed the OPs original point...

 

Worrying is like paying on a debt that may never come due.

 

Let's put it another way that makes it more difficult to dance around the answer.

We are still able to object to practices we know about and do not approve of? Just because we do not know the details does not mean we should ignore what we do know about. Now you do not have to have the same objections I do, but I can still have objections.

 

I just like beer. Simple as that.

 

Yes, you are still able to worry about whatever you want and object to practices that you do not approve of. Did you really need me to answer that? I am just in the opinion that I know an amout less than needed to make a decision on whether or not I want to buy beer based on the ownership and their decisions. I haven't read the Goose Island buyout agreement, I don't know exactly which parts of the brewing, decision making process, or any other aspect of the business changed hands, or how much the beer will change. I know they didn't cut the beer with half water yet and it still tastes good. I don't plan on doing the proper research to find this out about them or any other brewer.

 

Do music snobs whine if their favorite artists are published by Sony/Universal/Warner? Who cares who makes (or publishes) it as long as it is a good product? I'm passionate about beer...not to the point that my life revolves around it, but it is a hobby I enjoy. I only care about the taste and quality of the beer I drink, not who makes it.