In case you haven't heard yet, AB-Inbev has bought Goose Island for $38 million. What does this mean for Goose Island? What does this mean for Craft Beer? Are we at a stage where this happening is not a bad thing? Will there ever be a point where a large company owning a craft brewery is a bad thing? If we are truly about the beer then it shouldn't matter about whom owns them. I think this is just the beginning.
Some small brewers will make it and be happy with their growth, others will pull back their growth and others will do what Goose Island has done and sell to sustain the growth. Ideally we all talk about pre-prohibition, a time when the breweries made "real" beer. Aren't we working our way back that direction slowly? It is a perplexing situation and a struggle for many a craft beer drinker that likes the fact they can go talk to the head brewer. They like the breweries being small almost more than they like the beer itself. I really think this is the start of a trend. You will see either breweries do what Dogfish Head recently did and pull out of areas to manage their growth OR they will sell to grow more.
I think as long as the beer is great, I don't care. I will always pick a locally made product over Goose Island or Sam Adams anyway, but having those available in more places so I don't have to drink a Bud Light is great thing. The strain will be on the shelves as we have all seen in Beer Wars, and how it will be even more difficult to get on the shelf and on the tap.
So what are you thoughts?
3 comments:
It be nice if this deal allows the return of Nut Brown & Oatmeal Stout. Those we're regualr the GI beers I liked.
Call me a skeptic, but I find it hard to believe that this won't lead to a deterioration of the Goose Island beers I've grown to love.
It would be really interesting right now if there was a live market (think stock market) for bottles of beer. Has the price of a Goose Island 2009 Bourbon County Stout gone up today?
I will keep an open mind. It's possible that this will help Goose Island expand and bring good beer to more people: good product at a good price. This is, after all, a market-based enterprise.
It's also possible that Inbev will try to cut corners. Tweak recipes. Extract more from the grain. Replace one adjunct with something less expensive.
To some extent the enjoyment of the brewer's art hinges on who made it, predisposing someone to its overall quality. Quality is in the eye of the beerholder ultimately.
Cheers,
Norm
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