Goose island

[zorton]

This is a hard pill to swallow. It seems like corporations don't know how to expand their market share through any other means than pure harsh marketing and acquisitions. All living things want to keep living and a large corporation is no different. Suppose for a moment, they have figured out they will never create something as wonderful as a craft beer at the large industrial level through their existing processes. Perhaps they have decided to try and expand their market stake without killing the soul of the golden goose. I doubt they'll pull it of personally, but I understand the motivation.

Stony-Field farms realized something about the organic market a long time ago. They needed to mechanize and mass market their organic product or they would never see any growth in the organic field. In the end, I can buy their yogurt all the way up here in Alaska. Too bad they sold out to the man and are soulless now.

Given the response here on the this thread I can't help but picture a pile of hipster beer drinkers telling off some newbie about the corporate swill they dared to order. Isn't this about drinking good beer? I can't stand anti competitive tactics and large monopolies as much as the next person. However, if the beer stays good and you can now get it any bar selling bud isn't a win for the movement?

Temper all of the above though with the recent behavior of the former brewmaster though. Sounds like he feels like crap and I suspect the legions of people with torches and pitchforks didn't help much either. It's the dream of most small businessmen I know to one day have a buyout offer from a larger company. If they can hold onto what they've built enough to guide it into the new owners hands all the better.

[snowcapt]

Given the response here on the this thread I can't help but picture a pile of hipster beer drinkers telling off some newbie about the corporate swill they dared to order. Isn't this about drinking good beer? I can't stand anti competitive tactics and large monopolies as much as the next person. However, if the beer stays good and you can now get it any bar selling bud isn't a win for the movement?

.

I agree. Yeah, it sucks that the Devil now owns it, but the Devil has done some good things in the past without meaning to do it.

[Adam]

Given the response here on the this thread I can't help but picture a pile of hipster beer drinkers telling off some newbie about the corporate swill they dared to order. Isn't this about drinking good beer? I can't stand anti competitive tactics and large monopolies as much as the next person. However, if the beer stays good and you can now get it any bar selling bud isn't a win for the movement?

I'm definitely not a hippie.

To put it succinctly, I would never buy great beer from a bad company and I would never buy bad beer from a great company. The beer and the company have to compliment each other. I try to support small business whenever possible, and with beer I have a choice. I don't want to buy great beer from a cold company. I want to buy great beer from a company with soul.

[weiht]

I totally agreed with what justin (Proof that he has a brain) said about these big corps being able to brew craft beers better than we do if they wanted. We'd be stupid to think that they can't do it. The craft market isn't big enough for them to wanna bother doing it just yet, and if they do, then they may just wipe out n kill the existing craft brewers instantly with the supply networks they have, the amount of marketing power they have, and they can brew beers at a much lower cost, and not forgetting the many kickbacks they offer those that carry their beers.

In fact, if they do move into that direction themselves, then i guess most of us would have to eat our own words about their ability to produce quality beer. I see it as a sign that they recognise this market, and also recognise the various breweries and their craft, and they are here to help better equip them to expand and grow this sector. So, there is more good overall than bad, cuz if they were to do it themselves then that could be the end of 70% of the smaller brewers. Its more like, hey i like what you are doing and i see even more growth and potential for the market and you to grow, here is some $$$ that you need and please continue to make good beers. Hopefully, they don't change the winning formula, because i would spend $40m to buy over a business, only to turn it upside down and change it.

[captain carrot]

For what it's worth.......
http://www.wgnradio.com/news/local/brea ... 8963.story

[Adam]

In fact, if they do move into that direction themselves, then i guess most of us would have to eat our own words about their ability to produce quality beer.

I think you are confusing quality with flavor. BMC makes quality beer in that it is consistent without much issue bottle to bottle in mass quantity. BMC makes beer with very little flavor which I do not like, so I don't buy it. My favorite BMC beer is BL Golden Wheat which actually has flavor, but I don't buy it anymore because I'm a craft beer drinker.

I see it as a sign that they recognise this market, and also recognise the various breweries and their craft, and they are here to help better equip them to expand and grow this sector. So, there is more good overall than bad, cuz if they were to do it themselves then that could be the end of 70% of the smaller brewers. Its more like, hey i like what you are doing and i see even more growth and potential for the market and you to grow, here is some $$$ that you need and please continue to make good beers. Hopefully, they don't change the winning formula, because i would spend $40m to buy over a business, only to turn it upside down and change it.

BMC invests in a small craft brewery to see where the brand will go. Craft beer (beer with flavor) is a small market because of the American diet. Americans have drunk lighter and lighter beers over the course of history due to the economic superiority during the 18-20th centuries over much of the world. Prosperity dictated Americans ate more food than drank beer for nutrition. Beer used to be a staple of diets around the world. Beer in America became a social beverage demanding lighter and lighter beer. That is what BMC make because that's what a majority of American beer drinkers want to drink. That style of light lager. Don't think for one second BMC is trying to help the craft beer movement. They are testing the water by investing in brands to see where it goes on a national level, then buying the companies so they control that brand and make more profit for shareholders. Craft type beer is not a market BMC is afraid of, it's just a market they can make money in. BMC follows the money. Many business owners dream of being bought out and retiring wealthy. Once you allow BMC into your company, the green follows and all you see is dollars. The passion for craft beer is lost in favor of a buyout.

[Blitzkolsch]

However, if the beer stays good and you can now get it any bar selling bud isn't a win for the movement?

Which movement is it a win for? It might be a win for "being able to get good beer in every random bar and liquor store," but it is definitely not a win for any movement relating to consuming local products or trying to support small companies. To me, craft beer is much more about supporting the five breweries that are near me than about drinking good beer. I wouldn't drink their beer if it sucked, but I am fortunate enough to live in a place where all of the beer is fantastic. I might be a marxist hippy, but I try to avoid huge multinational corporations as often as possible. Since AB-InBev has such an insatiable need to control and own everything, I avoid them like the plague, regardless of how good the beer they produce is.

[captain carrot]

The luster of supporting a Craft Brewery is kind of lost when it's owned by one the megabrewers.