The Beer Nerd - what are you drinking / brewing thread

Nimby · May 11, 2016

Noelie84 said: ↑

Sam Adams is the biggest brewer I buy from.

Edit- Although I will occasonally buy a Red Hook mix pack
Click to expand...

It isn't necessarily an argument of big and small. Another excerpt from the article:

Small vs. Big/Local vs. Not Local/Corporations vs. Independent

Some may say this post will come out of the present small and local mania that currently infects craft beer. And I’ve selected “infects” intentially. Anyone who’s discussed this topic with me has heard me say words similar to: “small isn’t necessarily good nor is local a synonym for quality.” For me, the quality of the product trumps everything. Well, almost everything. Too much bad beer is happily consumed because its number 1 trait is proximity. And if you’ve spent 5 minutes on my blog, you know my passion is for Belgian beers and other imports which should prove that it’s not a local vs. far argument I’m trying to make.

Nor is it a small vs. big argument. Many people bag on Sierra Nevada because it’s been successful and grown to a very large size. Yet to my mind, they’re still a fantastic brewery making really great beer; and most importantly, they’re doing it ethically. I still regularly spend money buying Sierra Nevada’s beers including their Pale Ale. There are some really great beers being made by small breweries too, but there’s a lot of bad beer that’s given a pass by consumers because it comes from a glorified garage.

I’m not even against corporations or corporate ownership of craft breweries. I regularly wrote in favor of the Duvel-Moortgat acquisition of Boulevard Brewing. Duvel-Moortgat has been a great steward of quality and helped their breweries reach the next level in both expanded destination and increased quality. I’ve even spoke in favor of SABMiller’s stewardship of brands like Pilsner Urquell which has seen a drastic improvement in quality; including cold express shipping and brown bottles.

Noelie84 · May 11, 2016

I was indirectly saying 'I don't really buy anything that's made by an Inbev company anyway'

Nimby · May 11, 2016

Here's what I'm enjoying right now:

Alpine (owned by Greenflash) - Hoppy Birthday

Alesmith - .394 pale ale

El Segundo - Citra Pale Ale

CaptAmerica · May 11, 2016

Nimby said: ↑

Hi. Sorry for the lengthy first post, but I work in the beer industry and thought I would provide some info on how the big brands operate. I've included some excerpts from an article written by Christopher Barnes. The whole article is here: https://ithinkaboutbeer.com/2015/01/27/ab-inbev-why-it-matters-who-owns-the-brewery/

AB-INBEV: WHY IT MATTERS WHO OWNS THE BREWERY

AB-InBev isn’t acquiring craft brands because it believes in the segment’s quality. They’re buying out craft breweries to capture shelf space and profits. Big Red is down and continuing to slide in sales. Coors Light is gaining market share on Bud Light and even out sells it in Oregon. AB-InBev’s former imports are in a steep decline. AB-InBev is losing valuable shelf real-estate. It needs some way to stem the flow; so they’re picking up brands they can take to stores and bars to capture their lost business. That business has to come from somewhere: the competition.

The more brands AB-InBev has to take before retailers; the easier it is for them to decide against smaller and independent brands. And let’s face it, retailers don’t really want to deal with a million different vendors so if someone can bring them a whole host of products that will fulfill their needs, why should they care if they’re only supplied by one mega-conglomeration. Each brand AB-InBev can present is tap or shelf space they’re denying an independent competitor. Distributors and breweries are in a state of constant war when it comes to beer sets and tap handles; and the more weapons you have the more territory you can conquer.

I’m not denying that this is a bad deal for AB-InBev or for Elysian/10 Barrel/Blue Point/Goose Island/Widmer/Red Hook/Kona/the next brand acquired. It is a bad deal for beer consumers. Especially beer consumers in less developed beer markets where the average beer purchaser is just transitioning to craft. Especially when AB-InBev can come in, undercut the competition, and offer half priced kegs of craft beer through the distributors they own, like they did here in Oregon with Goose Island and Shock Top.

“Who cares who owns the brewery if the beer is still good?”

You should. Yes, Goose Island’s Bourbon County is still great. Elysian Space Dust probably isn’t going to change. 10 Barrel Brewing still employs several famed brewers. Right now, the quality/flavor of these brands is what AB-InBev needs to keep its profits growing. But invariably, something will shift and Carlos Brito will bring out the carving knife. You can already see glimpses of this with Goose Island’s main beers and their movement to AB’s breweries. Yeah, the beer is good now, but for how long?

And each dollar that goes to buying those “good” beers goes toward the acquisition of another brand. Each bottle of Bourbon County purchased helps fund the effort to tip the scale in AB-InBev’s favor by helping them fund their fleet of lobbying lawyers.

Do any Google search on “AB-Inbev lobbying” and you’ll be inundated with a massive list of examples not just from the United States but from around the world. So when I say AB-InBev is trying to destroy craft beer, it’s not just a philosophical debate but a real existential concern. Each brand acquired is another nail AB-InBev hopes to put in the coffin of its competition. Why help fund them just because they have a few products people consider “good?”

The great thing about the craft beer world is the amount of good beer options available. As craft beer devotees, we claim to support craft beer because we wanted a flavorful alternative to BMC. We wanted to spend money on a great tasting product that would help fund independent small businesses that actually stood for something. Now it’s time to reaffirm that stance when it actually matters. It was easy to say no to Bud because it was Bud. But now that Bud is Bourbon County, it’s not so easy to pass on what used to be a white whale. Now that you can buy a cheap pint of Goose Island because AB-Inbev is trying to undercut everyone, it’s a little harder to shell out a few extra dollars to support the craft ethos.

It does matter how you spend your money. When you buy an AB-InBev beer you not only fund their continued expansion through brewery and distributor acquisition, you validate retailers’s choice to carry their products. Each ring at a larger store shows up in the data surveys which in turn is used to make presentations to retailers proving the selling ability of the products. This helps AB-InBev squeeze the competition off the shelves, increasing their sales and furthering the cycle.

To Avoid:

Bud/Bud Light

Busch

Natty Light

Leffe

Stella Artois

Blue Point

Elysian

10 Barrel

Widmer

Omission

Red Hook

Kona

Becks

Bass

Boddingtons

Spaten

Franziskaner

Labatts

Kokanee

Michelob

Goose Island

Belle-Vue

Brahma

Lowenbrau

Oranjeboom

Rolling Rock

Red Bridge

Shock Top

St Pauli Girl

Alexander Keith’s

Corona/Pacifico/Modelo – In the US, these brands are brewed in a facility owned by Constellation, their US importer. This is due to anti-trust laws. I’m not sure if there’s any sort of kick back or licensing arrangement that might funnel money back to ABInBev. Outside the US, these brands are brewed in ABInBev owned breweries.

Click to expand...

Cool, nothing in my must-have list.

I just can't get Beamish and Broadside in Texas.

TXpro4X4 · May 11, 2016

Nimby said: ↑

Here's what I'm enjoying right now:

Alpine (owned by Greenflash) - Hoppy Birthday

Alesmith - .394 pale ale

El Segundo - Citra Pale Ale
Click to expand...

Ale Smith is the goods of it hasnt spoiled, you would be surprised how many stores let ipa's go unchilled . Have yet to try El. S
Citra.

buffedout · May 11, 2016

steveo27 · May 11, 2016

Ill stick to my PBR

mjbtaco · May 12, 2016

I'll continue enjoying the beers I currently enjoy until the quality is no longer there.

worthywads · May 12, 2016

mjbtaco said: ↑

I'll continue enjoying the beers I currently enjoy until the quality is no longer there.

Click to expand...

Wow didn't know much about St Archer until I looked them up. How could I have missed them. Founded in March 2013 and taken over by MillerCoors in Sept 2015, a solid 2 1/2 years of heritage. They must have started negotiations in under 2 years.

replica9000 · May 12, 2016

In case no one knows, Blue Moon is MillerCoors too. They tried to disguise it as craft beer.

grdgz97 · May 12, 2016

melikeymy beer · May 12, 2016

Nimby said: ↑

Hi. Sorry for the lengthy first post, but I work in the beer industry and thought I would provide some info on how the big brands operate. I've included some excerpts from an article written by Christopher Barnes. The whole article is here: https://ithinkaboutbeer.com/2015/01/27/ab-inbev-why-it-matters-who-owns-the-brewery/

AB-INBEV: WHY IT MATTERS WHO OWNS THE BREWERY

AB-InBev isn’t acquiring craft brands because it believes in the segment’s quality. They’re buying out craft breweries to capture shelf space and profits. Big Red is down and continuing to slide in sales. Coors Light is gaining market share on Bud Light and even out sells it in Oregon. AB-InBev’s former imports are in a steep decline. AB-InBev is losing valuable shelf real-estate. It needs some way to stem the flow; so they’re picking up brands they can take to stores and bars to capture their lost business. That business has to come from somewhere: the competition.

The more brands AB-InBev has to take before retailers; the easier it is for them to decide against smaller and independent brands. And let’s face it, retailers don’t really want to deal with a million different vendors so if someone can bring them a whole host of products that will fulfill their needs, why should they care if they’re only supplied by one mega-conglomeration. Each brand AB-InBev can present is tap or shelf space they’re denying an independent competitor. Distributors and breweries are in a state of constant war when it comes to beer sets and tap handles; and the more weapons you have the more territory you can conquer.

I’m not denying that this is a bad deal for AB-InBev or for Elysian/10 Barrel/Blue Point/Goose Island/Widmer/Red Hook/Kona/the next brand acquired. It is a bad deal for beer consumers. Especially beer consumers in less developed beer markets where the average beer purchaser is just transitioning to craft. Especially when AB-InBev can come in, undercut the competition, and offer half priced kegs of craft beer through the distributors they own, like they did here in Oregon with Goose Island and Shock Top.

“Who cares who owns the brewery if the beer is still good?”

You should. Yes, Goose Island’s Bourbon County is still great. Elysian Space Dust probably isn’t going to change. 10 Barrel Brewing still employs several famed brewers. Right now, the quality/flavor of these brands is what AB-InBev needs to keep its profits growing. But invariably, something will shift and Carlos Brito will bring out the carving knife. You can already see glimpses of this with Goose Island’s main beers and their movement to AB’s breweries. Yeah, the beer is good now, but for how long?

And each dollar that goes to buying those “good” beers goes toward the acquisition of another brand. Each bottle of Bourbon County purchased helps fund the effort to tip the scale in AB-InBev’s favor by helping them fund their fleet of lobbying lawyers.

Do any Google search on “AB-Inbev lobbying” and you’ll be inundated with a massive list of examples not just from the United States but from around the world. So when I say AB-InBev is trying to destroy craft beer, it’s not just a philosophical debate but a real existential concern. Each brand acquired is another nail AB-InBev hopes to put in the coffin of its competition. Why help fund them just because they have a few products people consider “good?”

The great thing about the craft beer world is the amount of good beer options available. As craft beer devotees, we claim to support craft beer because we wanted a flavorful alternative to BMC. We wanted to spend money on a great tasting product that would help fund independent small businesses that actually stood for something. Now it’s time to reaffirm that stance when it actually matters. It was easy to say no to Bud because it was Bud. But now that Bud is Bourbon County, it’s not so easy to pass on what used to be a white whale. Now that you can buy a cheap pint of Goose Island because AB-Inbev is trying to undercut everyone, it’s a little harder to shell out a few extra dollars to support the craft ethos.

It does matter how you spend your money. When you buy an AB-InBev beer you not only fund their continued expansion through brewery and distributor acquisition, you validate retailers’s choice to carry their products. Each ring at a larger store shows up in the data surveys which in turn is used to make presentations to retailers proving the selling ability of the products. This helps AB-InBev squeeze the competition off the shelves, increasing their sales and furthering the cycle.

To Avoid:

Bud/Bud Light

Busch

Natty Light

Leffe

Stella Artois

Blue Point

Elysian

10 Barrel

Widmer

Omission

Red Hook

Kona

Becks

Bass

Boddingtons

Spaten

Franziskaner

Labatts

Kokanee

Michelob

Goose Island

Belle-Vue

Brahma

Lowenbrau

Oranjeboom

Rolling Rock

Red Bridge

Shock Top

St Pauli Girl

Alexander Keith’s

Corona/Pacifico/Modelo – In the US, these brands are brewed in a facility owned by Constellation, their US importer. This is due to anti-trust laws. I’m not sure if there’s any sort of kick back or licensing arrangement that might funnel money back to ABInBev. Outside the US, these brands are brewed in ABInBev owned breweries.

Click to expand...

Zero effort for me to avoid these brands.

mjbtaco · May 12, 2016

Smog City Death by Hops

mjbtaco · May 12, 2016

Nimby · May 13, 2016

worthywads said: ↑

Wow didn't know much about St Archer until I looked them up. How could I have missed them. Founded in March 2013 and taken over by MillerCoors in Sept 2015, a solid 2 1/2 years of heritage. They must have started negotiations in under 2 years.
Click to expand...

They were founded by something like 20 pro-athlete investors. They built a fairly large brewing facility right off the bat with the ability to can, bottle and keg in various formats. They also hired a very good (and robust) sales team and were able to market the crap out of their beers. This is a lot different from the organic growth that the majority of craft breweries have to go through because they don't have that kind of initial investor money. It was suspected from the very beginning by many in the industry that they were in it to build the brand quickly and cash out. It turns out they did a good job of doing exactly that.

Tacomang · May 13, 2016

Nimby said: ↑

They were founded by something like 20 pro-athlete investors. They built a fairly large brewing facility right off the bat with the ability to can, bottle and keg in various formats. They also hired a very good (and robust) sales team and were able to market the crap out of their beers. This is a lot different from the organic growth that the majority of craft breweries have to go through because they don't have that kind of initial investor money. It was suspected from the very beginning by many in the industry that they were in it to build the brand quickly and cash out. It turns out they did a good job of doing exactly that.
Click to expand...

How dare them!! I refuse to drink it anymore

Nimby · May 13, 2016

Tacomang said: ↑

How dare them!! I refuse to drink it anymore
Click to expand...

Drink what you want. Just providing a little history.

mjbtaco · May 13, 2016

Nimby said: ↑

They were founded by something like 20 pro-athlete investors. They built a fairly large brewing facility right off the bat with the ability to can, bottle and keg in various formats. They also hired a very good (and robust) sales team and were able to market the crap out of their beers. This is a lot different from the organic growth that the majority of craft breweries have to go through because they don't have that kind of initial investor money. It was suspected from the very beginning by many in the industry that they were in it to build the brand quickly and cash out. It turns out they did a good job of doing exactly that.
Click to expand...

Yeah they did a great job. And I only started drinking it BECAUSE of the people who founded it tbh. I was hugely into skateboarding as a kid and still follow it to this day. The fact that a bunch of the guys I grew up watching skate who were and still are some of my favorite skaters as a kid created something I could enjoy really drew me in. And some of them are still involved with it so I don't mind they sold it.

SKULLY · May 13, 2016

Nimby said: ↑

Hi. Sorry for the lengthy first post, but I work in the beer industry and thought I would provide some info on how the big brands operate. I've included some excerpts from an article written by Christopher Barnes. The whole article is here: https://ithinkaboutbeer.com/2015/01/27/ab-inbev-why-it-matters-who-owns-the-brewery/

AB-INBEV: WHY IT MATTERS WHO OWNS THE BREWERY

AB-InBev isn’t acquiring craft brands because it believes in the segment’s quality. They’re buying out craft breweries to capture shelf space and profits. Big Red is down and continuing to slide in sales. Coors Light is gaining market share on Bud Light and even out sells it in Oregon. AB-InBev’s former imports are in a steep decline. AB-InBev is losing valuable shelf real-estate. It needs some way to stem the flow; so they’re picking up brands they can take to stores and bars to capture their lost business. That business has to come from somewhere: the competition.

The more brands AB-InBev has to take before retailers; the easier it is for them to decide against smaller and independent brands. And let’s face it, retailers don’t really want to deal with a million different vendors so if someone can bring them a whole host of products that will fulfill their needs, why should they care if they’re only supplied by one mega-conglomeration. Each brand AB-InBev can present is tap or shelf space they’re denying an independent competitor. Distributors and breweries are in a state of constant war when it comes to beer sets and tap handles; and the more weapons you have the more territory you can conquer.

I’m not denying that this is a bad deal for AB-InBev or for Elysian/10 Barrel/Blue Point/Goose Island/Widmer/Red Hook/Kona/the next brand acquired. It is a bad deal for beer consumers. Especially beer consumers in less developed beer markets where the average beer purchaser is just transitioning to craft. Especially when AB-InBev can come in, undercut the competition, and offer half priced kegs of craft beer through the distributors they own, like they did here in Oregon with Goose Island and Shock Top.

“Who cares who owns the brewery if the beer is still good?”

You should. Yes, Goose Island’s Bourbon County is still great. Elysian Space Dust probably isn’t going to change. 10 Barrel Brewing still employs several famed brewers. Right now, the quality/flavor of these brands is what AB-InBev needs to keep its profits growing. But invariably, something will shift and Carlos Brito will bring out the carving knife. You can already see glimpses of this with Goose Island’s main beers and their movement to AB’s breweries. Yeah, the beer is good now, but for how long?

And each dollar that goes to buying those “good” beers goes toward the acquisition of another brand. Each bottle of Bourbon County purchased helps fund the effort to tip the scale in AB-InBev’s favor by helping them fund their fleet of lobbying lawyers.

Do any Google search on “AB-Inbev lobbying” and you’ll be inundated with a massive list of examples not just from the United States but from around the world. So when I say AB-InBev is trying to destroy craft beer, it’s not just a philosophical debate but a real existential concern. Each brand acquired is another nail AB-InBev hopes to put in the coffin of its competition. Why help fund them just because they have a few products people consider “good?”

The great thing about the craft beer world is the amount of good beer options available. As craft beer devotees, we claim to support craft beer because we wanted a flavorful alternative to BMC. We wanted to spend money on a great tasting product that would help fund independent small businesses that actually stood for something. Now it’s time to reaffirm that stance when it actually matters. It was easy to say no to Bud because it was Bud. But now that Bud is Bourbon County, it’s not so easy to pass on what used to be a white whale. Now that you can buy a cheap pint of Goose Island because AB-Inbev is trying to undercut everyone, it’s a little harder to shell out a few extra dollars to support the craft ethos.

It does matter how you spend your money. When you buy an AB-InBev beer you not only fund their continued expansion through brewery and distributor acquisition, you validate retailers’s choice to carry their products. Each ring at a larger store shows up in the data surveys which in turn is used to make presentations to retailers proving the selling ability of the products. This helps AB-InBev squeeze the competition off the shelves, increasing their sales and furthering the cycle.

To Avoid:

Bud/Bud Light

Busch

Natty Light

Leffe

Stella Artois

Blue Point

Elysian

10 Barrel

Widmer

Omission

Red Hook

Kona

Becks

Bass

Boddingtons

Spaten

Franziskaner

Labatts

Kokanee

Michelob

Goose Island

Belle-Vue

Brahma

Lowenbrau

Oranjeboom

Rolling Rock

Red Bridge

Shock Top

St Pauli Girl

Alexander Keith’s

Corona/Pacifico/Modelo – In the US, these brands are brewed in a facility owned by Constellation, their US importer. This is due to anti-trust laws. I’m not sure if there’s any sort of kick back or licensing arrangement that might funnel money back to ABInBev. Outside the US, these brands are brewed in ABInBev owned breweries.

Click to expand...

Who do you work for?

grdgz97 · May 13, 2016

My "go-to".

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