Thank You InBev

And what about the woman at home who doesn't see a dime from Inbev and is insulted by the portrayal, is it still ok then? What a ridiculous argument you have made. If someone depicts something on TV it's all good because they were compensated for it. Are you kidding me?

I think it's best if you and I just talk about beer.

 

And even if they do like what they do, it doesn't mean they speak for all women across the globe. How silly.

 

Wasn't trying to offend you in the first place . But you did seem offended hahaha. Hey kudos to you on your Eclipse purchase. If your buying shelf beer on that sight you might not do as bad. But if you go for the whales that's a different story's. Can't see how people would use that sight if they aren't turning a small profit but maybe there are just nice guys going through all that trouble to get you the customer some good beer . (Love the wink)

 

that would require me purchasing bmc to pour out. no thanks.

 

Damn your right...maybe a Boston yea party of sorts?

Though that would probably kill all marine life in the northern hemisphere

 

So talked to the distro person here in the houghton, mi area: no bcbs for them this year. So then shot an email to my old neighbor in wausau,wi who runs the liquor dept, he said they are not even getting any this year. This is the first year that has happened, he trying to find out why since years before that he always got a two or three cases. Distro in the rhinelander area of WI said they are only getting two cases to cover 3 stores in northern WI. Guess smaller markets are getting the shaft this year.

 

Hahaha . Yeah man there is some outrageous prices on there. Definitely some price gougers on their for sure. seen a 250$ bottle of BA Hunahpu on there, cant belive anyone would pay that. oh and cheers . lol

 

well we can all agree to thank Inbev and the like for football...no?

 

Does your local distributor(s) carry the 4 Vintage brands? If not, that's why they are not getting any BCBS. All BCBS is allocated based (almost) exclusively on the Vintage brands sold in your state. Each state as a whole gets a certain amount of cases, and then itt is then chopped up and given to the ABI distributors based on each distributors Vintage sales. Want BCBS in your territory? Ask your distributor to carry the Vintage brands. Support the Vintage brands. Northern Virginia will be getting a good amount of BCBS and variants this year because we do exceedingly well with the Vintage brands. Burgeoning beer market + a ton of money = people willing to buy Vintage.

-------------------------

ITT: People that really don't have much clue what is going on on the distributor side of things, specifically ABI distributors. There is genuinely a ton of misinformation and speculation in here. I'd go through and sort through it all, but you probably wouldn't believe a Bud man anyways ;-)

 

Good to know, Raveskdr! Your post needs to be posted in local shops in my are (Newport News/Virginia Beach). Although, I think we are starting to do well.

 

I would be very interested to know when that quote was from. I guess it is possible that it is recent. But I would guess that it was from a few years ago, if not 5+. Two reasons I say that.

First, ABI has been extremely proactive very recently in trying to get into that high end market. Not counting the acquisition of Goose Island, ABI has been working to expand their own high end segment. Tons of money has been poured into the Shock Top brands and into the marketing for Stella/Hoegaarden. Sure, it's not craft enough for most BA's. But the ABI guys aren't stupid. They see how the market is trending. They have to try and cut into that market with their own brands, because they (and MillerCoors) do not have the weight to throw around anymore to just squelch the craft uprising. They have the option. They can either produce their own "craft" beer, acquire brands, or promote current InBev brands. They are doing all three.

And that isn't enough, with the market trends. Five years ago, it was unheard of for AB distributors to push anything except their own brands. However, MillerCoors distributors saw the writing on the wall. MC distributors started acquiring national craft brands in order to start capturing that market share as well. The Reyes group (owns a shitload of MC distributors) went out and helped get rights for their distributors to brands like Sierra Nevada, Sam Adams, Anchor, Flying Dog and the like. Real national craft players.

Now, however, AB distributors are playing catch up. They all know that craft is not just a flash in the pan. It is no longer frowned upon bringing in non AB brands into their craft portfolios. Obviously, just like MC distributors, each distributor knows what is keeping the lights on (Bud Light). However, with Bud Light (and other AB/MC brands) trending down, you have to help buoy up the numbers through craft. Most ABI guys are going to want to push some brand that they have a stake in (Goose, Widmer/Redhook/Kona, Dominion), just like MC is going to push Leinies, Crispin, Terrapin etc. But some regional players have taken up with AB distributors throughout their territory. The likes of Devils Backbone, Natty Greenes, Mother Earth, and Sweetwater have mostly (or completely) started distributing through the AB network.

Whats in it for each side? Well, AB gets some serious craft brands to help push into the craft segment. There is no way they can do it with just Goose and their other brands. They can use a Sweetwater or Devils Backbone to help capture percentages in that segment without cannibalizing the big daddy (Bud Light). For the breweries, it's a no brainer. You aren't a part of a portfolio that already has dozens, sometimes up to triple digits, of other brands.

For example, if you were someone like, let's say you are Sweetwater and you are picking from between 3 distributors to be a part of. The distributors are:

Top Craft Distributor: Doesn't have the resources to put into line cleaning, point of sale, etc. And this craft distributor already does Dogfish Head, Stone, Bells, Founders, and three local craft brewers that all have a widely (in their territory) distributed pale ale. You are already going to have to compete with brands already in the portfolio, including some super local brands and regional/national powers.

MillerCoors: Has the monetary resources. However, the portfolio already has Sierra Nevada, Flying Dog, Sam Adams, New Belgium, and a few other assorted brands. All of them have hoppy beer in the portfolio that you will have to compete against.

AB: Just getting into the swing of craft. Has a ton of resources and also is going all in on craft. Your competition will be really low within the portfolio (the three most popular hoppy beers that you'll have to compete with in the portfolio are Natty Greene Southern, Redhook Longhammer, and Goose IPA). Sweetwater walks in with 420 and is automatically top dog in that portfolio, hop wise. Also, the AB distribution network is probably the best in the country.

If it were me, I know what one I'd strongly consider.

Nyquil makes me rambly. Hopefully that made sense and helps give a bit of recent history and perspective on ABI houses. Again, there are other points made in this post that are flat out false. However, time to sleep.

Someone mentioned L Knife somewhere in this thread. They are mostly AB houses and basically have the same mindset of AB houses as I discussed above. But they do have a handful of all craft houses.

Edit: Also, they use the term "high end" to talk about craft. AB doesn't really use "high end" to talk about craft. "High end" is the term used for brands like Bud and Bud Light. "Craft" is the term used for craft (including Shock Top).

 

* just seems to be a gamble and pretty hit or miss with prices. Saw a Founders Better Half on there for $40 and would gladly pay that to try a beer that sounds amazing and I will probably not see in a store or on tap anywhere anytime soon.

 

They all carry the vintage brands

 

Great post. It really shows how smart ABI is to be doing what they are doing how they are doing it.

I can still get '12 BCBS on shelf, so another Thank You from me for doing what they said (it is drinking well right now too)

I am sure there are lots of craft companies who would rather be lost in the sauce of a craft distributor with little resources to push their brand and a portfolio of other beers that would automatically make their beer low man on the totem pole, rather than do business with the evil giant ABI. <---Yes, that was sarcasm.

 

If that's the case, then I wouldn't refer to that website when talking about the overall price of beer. If people set their own prices, then the beer's price can be artificially inflated.