it has happened again - http://montrealgazette.com/business/molson-coors-buys-le-trou-du-diable-microbrewery With some regularity smaller craft breweries are gobbled up by the large industrial breweries. Once again the promise is that there will be no interference in the running of Trou du Diable. I wish rather than hope it might be so. The previous history of takeovers does not inspire confidence. There are significant organisational and economic forces that tend against non interference. The best craft breweries thrive on calculated risks. The large breweries are led from their financial performance, and even where they choose not to cut corners on existing recipes, accountants are risk averse. This puts a huge damper on creativity and innivation. Seriously, when did one of the big multinationals come up with a truly innovative product. So my question: as a former CAMRA member I am wondering if a forum like this might be a place to monitor and communicate impact of these takeovers? And if we try something like that, how should we go about it? Is there on this site the competence and objectivity to fairly and openly explore what is going on?
Feck. This makes me sad, I have always liked TDD beers, and thought they were one of the leaders in Quebec craft.
Agreed, the question is can we make a difference, and if so, how? CAMRA in the UK did a pretty good job for its day. What can people committed to quality beer do today?
