The Bar Towel

I am surprised nobody is going crazy on here about them selling out to AB InBev?
Seems to be a lot of craft beer drinkers whining about this one.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/mor ... glomerate/

I've never "boycotted" a brewery that sold out, and hope they produce more fine beers going forward...and perhaps even have them appear in Ontario one day. I've had about a dozen beers from them over the years, and a couple of them were "weird", but most were very very good, so who knows what the future holds.

The other recent news about Lagunitas becoming 100% Heineken owned hasn't really bothered anyone I know, as I guess some people felt they already sold out and previously stopped supporting them? (I'm happy Lagunitas is now more readily available to us here.)

The first thing that jumps out at me is 4 years from inception to 'sell out'. Was that always the plan? If so, good score for them. Their ' I want to grow a beard and change my career guy' is clearly very good at it.

That aside. I've never had their beer, so I don't know what I'm missing.

As for Lagunitas, they are spreading like a plague on bar taps all over the US and I think that's a good thing. The pain of being dragged to stupid sports bars by clients when I travel south of the border is slightly mitigated by Lagunitas IPA being on tap. Previously I might get lucky and find Sierra Nevada or would tolerate the occasional Fat Tire. Now if I could only get them to turn the stupid TVs off so we could have a conversation...

I have always said that breweries are owned by someone and that's rarely their founders or staff. The bank or another investor usually controls most of the capital. Having a brewery, albeit an industrial brewer, as the owner at least offers the possibility that the financier actually knows a thing about beer.

Tapsucker wrote:That aside. I've never had their beer, so I don't know what I'm missing.

I haven't had their beers either, but I would enjoy them. Based on comments you have made, you would not enjoy their "infected" beers.

I've tried some Wicked Weed beer, definitely above average both in terms of creativity and end product. I just got my hands on bottles of Medora and Black Angel. While it's not an exact comparison, I often think of Bellwoods at the WW of Ontario.

WW has been getting some backlash from other brewers (cancelling collaborations and removing taps). I fully understand why a small independent brewer wouldn't want to support a behemoth like AB-InBev, but I can't see this hurting their bottom line. They have no problems selling 500 ml of sour for ~US$17 and up. Their upcoming Funkatorium Invitational event has tickets for $100 and $250 for VIP. Supposedly their brewery attracts 750,000 visitors per year. Crazy.

I have never tried their beer so I have no stake in this fight. I was thinking about Goose Island the other day. I have probably had a pint around town in bars with bad tap lists but I haven't bought any Goose Island in a long time. The reason, better local options that I enjoyed more and was willing to pay a premium for. Seems like the best course forward for local brewers. Worry about what you can control.

alsiem wrote:I have never tried their beer so I have no stake in this fight. I was thinking about Goose Island the other day. I have probably had a pint around town in bars with bad tap lists but I haven't bought any Goose Island in a long time. The reason, better local options that I enjoyed more and was willing to pay a premium for. Seems like the best course forward for local brewers. Worry about what you can control.

I agree with that point of view.
I mean if GLB or Bellwoods got gobbled up like this, I'm sure we'd be annoyed as it would be a local buyout. But overall, so many Ontario options now...aside from some of my favourite Belgian beers, I don't buy nearly as many imports as I used to. I also do fewer trips across the border to grab US stuff, instead I'll do a road trip out to Kingston or Cambridge or somewhere to snag some Ontario beers.

Decision Making Process:
1) Is the beer good?
2) Is the beer a style that I am in the mood for?
3) Is there a comparably good beer available at a lower price?
.
.
.
X) Is the ownership structure a factor for me?

etc.

^^^agreed, I really couldn't give a shit who makes a beer so long as I like it

I was a fan of theirs but I have no real reason to seek out their stuff now. That's more because I can get better beer with less effort, and for less money.

The backlash on this is pretty extreme - akin to Bellwoods getting bought by Labbatt.

sprague11 wrote:I was a fan of theirs but I have no real reason to seek out their stuff now. That's more because I can get better beer with less effort, and for less money.

The backlash on this is pretty extreme - akin to Bellwoods getting bought by Labbatt.

exactly

On a related AB InBev news item...I read something yesterday that had me thinking...a bit...

It was about how AB InBev just "cut off" the entire South Africa hop harvest from non AB Inbev breweries.

At first the headlines caught my eye...and the first article I read made it sound like AB InBev was a terrible monster (I agree some of their business practices are suspect, but they're doing what they have to in order to grow and diversify).

The article went on to try and paint a picture of small farmers growing hops and small companys who sell/export them being squeezed out. But it seems the hops being grown were all subsidized....or that the general hop growing industry was started....by SAB Miller.

of course they weren't exactly all craft beer before they got bought by AB InBev. It does seem they allowed the growing and use of the hops to be done without as much control..but now that they're more popular...AB InBev has said "sorry" unless you're one of our breweries you can have these hops.

So, again...perhaps some over reaction? I can see some small breweries being pissed if they did get their hands on South African hosp and loved them and want more...but hey...if it wasn't really "local small farmer" growing them on his own initiative to start...seems they were always potentially destined to get the supply cut off.

It's not "South African' hops that have been cut off, it is the SAB Miller hop farms that have been cut off to "outsiders". Smart business by AB InBev.

El Pinguino wrote:On a related AB InBev news item...I read something yesterday that had me thinking...a bit...

It was about how AB InBev just "cut off" the entire South Africa hop harvest from non AB Inbev breweries.

At first the headlines caught my eye...and the first article I read made it sound like AB InBev was a terrible monster (I agree some of their business practices are suspect, but they're doing what they have to in order to grow and diversify).

The article went on to try and paint a picture of small farmers growing hops and small companys who sell/export them being squeezed out. But it seems the hops being grown were all subsidized....or that the general hop growing industry was started....by SAB Miller.

of course they weren't exactly all craft beer before they got bought by AB InBev. It does seem they allowed the growing and use of the hops to be done without as much control..but now that they're more popular...AB InBev has said "sorry" unless you're one of our breweries you can have these hops.

So, again...perhaps some over reaction? I can see some small breweries being pissed if they did get their hands on South African hosp and loved them and want more...but hey...if it wasn't really "local small farmer" growing them on his own initiative to start...seems they were always potentially destined to get the supply cut off.

It's not "South African' hops that have been cut off, it is the SAB Miller hop farms that have been cut off to "outsiders". Smart business by AB InBev.

They could be walking a fine line as far as anti-trust rules go.

Companies so often think vertical integration is a big opportunity and then end up withering under it. Components of a supply chain that were formerly diverse and strong usually end up raided for what the now only customer wants and the rest gets ignored. Also, you can own your own supply chain to the point where you have no other relationships. If the SA harvest fails, other suppliers could just refuse to sell to InBev or price gauge and screw them over.

I was in Asheville last week and it appears that this was the plan all along.

Didn't see WW on nearly as many draft lists as I have in the past.

However, the beer hasn't changed.

It's big news down there with the craft beer drinking set. Which is everyone.

came across a good article through the ratebeer weekly roundup about AB Inbev and buying craft breweries:

http://goodbeerhunting.com/blog/2017/5/ ... f-megabrew