Contract brewers do serve a purpose, and many of them are not very well known for the brands they brew. Guinness is/was brewed by a contract brewer in the US. Red Stripe too, although the last I bought was actually imported from Jamaica. Fosters, hundreds of others. Some use contract brewers to allow their brands to reach the opposite side of the country fresher than trucking it hundreds of miles in hot sun.
Private equity forms serve a purpose too, but they do have a ruthless and disastrous reputation. The list of companies bankrupted by PE firms is incredibly long. Ampad, a company making paper and those legal pads that some love, was bought and bankrupted by Mitt Romney’s PE firm. I’m sure it was a little more complicated then that, but the end was the same, and that’s just one. ‘Greed is good’, the main line from a movie that seemed to cheer the parasites of the corporate world. (Even Pretty Woman had a parasitic subplot)
The Bell’s sale hit a friend pretty hard. They loved Bell’s perhaps a little too much. They were ‘blindsided’ by the announcement, and shocked that a Bell wasn’t stepping in to take over from their father. Running a brewery has to be difficult, with all of the variabilities. My wife wanted to retire to France and run a winery, until she talked to someone who did that, and sold out to a larger winery. The ‘juice to squeeze’ ratio wasn’t there she laughingly said. There is more flexibility in size, and with beer, more freshness to drinkers.
I do fear that we will get to the point where there are a few mega-brewers that own the incredible majority of brands, and they all end up tasting the same. Talk about fear…
I had a Fat Tire last night. Haven’t had one in a few years. I’m usually quaffing their Voodoo Ranger IPA after having it fresh out of a keg at a function in Manhattan NY. There is something about an cold IPA from a fresh keg. Yum…
I think the consolidation is something that is very regional, and depends on the size of the brewery.
The Chicago brewing scene is much less mature than other places. I’m sure I’m missing some…but the only notable buyout I can think of is Goose Island being bought by Inbev…which was a bit of a shock/disappointment to many, being basically the first craft brewery here.
We’re in such a state of growth that I think most places are still too tiny to bother buying.
I think that’s where Bell’s selling out was a shock. They were a large standout regional pumping out some really outstanding brews, and to announce they were selling to (can’t remember name) was taken hard by some limited number of people. It was funny to watch some react to it, but keeping smallish large was obviously not going to happen. Oberon, their most popular brew and Two Hearted, another very popular brew was what was bring people back to get it fresher. Now, possibly, those and others will be brewed in more areas and getting the exposure will spread the love.
Funny that the one buyout that effected me at the time was Ben & Jerry’s selling to Unilever. And there were some changes, but it’s been pretty good since. (Not a fan of some of their newer flavors, but oh well) Having visited B&J and seeing their ‘Flavor Graveyard’, I saw that some of the types I loved really did stop being sold, sadly. But the whole graveyard was funny… But capitalism marches on.
Probably the best NA IPA I’ve tried. It’s rather fruity, fairly bitter, and has decent flavor. I much prefer it over Athletic’s Hazy. Though let’s be clear, it still tastes like diet beer.
I will look for it, just in case. Diet beer, to me is Coors Light, and was it Corona Light? Wow, that was a story not worth telling. Really thin, and hollow. THAT was a ‘diet beer’. Thin, tasteless, like a fart in a stiff breeze. No smell, nothing…
ok, you convinced me to find Orval and try it. Maybe I had it back in 1995 when managing a small technical marketing team in Leuven? I can’t remember, but that looks good and I gotta support the Trappist monks!
Enjoying an old favorite, Black Butte Porter.
Had a great easy-ish ride today, in wonderful weather.
Have a chain soaking in mineral spirits, getting ready to wax it.
And the pork shoulder is in the smoker and should be ready tomorrow PM.
Nothing to do but drink my beer and watch the smoker, as the sun sets.
Not enjoying: Lagunitas ‘IPNA’. ‘Full hop flavor’? They missed it by a bit.
I was carded too because ‘it does contain some alcohol’: 0.5 or less. But they have to do what they have to do… Law enforcement has been cracking down on stores not carding, and people straw buying for younglings.
