Booze The recommend-a-beer thread

  • Thread starter Thread starter Obediah
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I actually had a decent InBev beer. It was Leffe Brown. It wasn't great but it wasn't bad either. Then I saw it was by InBev & I thought "oh crap." The reason I hate InBev is not because they make bad beers, which they do. It's that they're like an Evil Empire gobbling up every beer company in sight. So instead of having a dozen beers to choose from, you really only have a dozen versions of one single choice. And because they're so big, they're able to undercut their competition by offering bargains that smaller independent brewers can't afford to.
 
While I am all about the craft breweries, to dismiss a beer just because it comes under the umbrella of a company like InBev, is just keeping you from some good beer. I have enjoyed many of the beers Goose Island makes fro many years. Goose Island Bourbon County is still an excellent stout. The only difference, is that we can now get a limited release in California. I'm not a fan of Goose Island Honkers or 312, but then I wasn't a fan of it when I first tried it in Chicago many years ago. I judge a beer by taste, and I'm willing to try just about anything once. I love my local craft brewery, Claremont Craft Ales, but their stout sucks compared to Bourbon County. I actually met a brewer from Anheuser-Busch a few years back. It was obvious in talking with him that his love of the brewing process was no different than many of the local craft brewers. The only difference is they brew beer for the masses. They aren't going to allocate space to new beers, when it is easier, and cheaper, to acquire a small brewery that is already producing a good beer. It also makes no sense for them to come in and start changing what made the small craft brewery worth acquiring in the first place. I'm sure many of you support your small liquor store, but are you going to skip buying beer at Target or BevMo if they have the beer you want? Big doesn't automatically mean bad.
 
I can understand the dislike for InBev and the other large distributors. What I don't understand is the vitriol toward the people who sell their breweries. Good for them that they did something they loved, grew it into a successful business and then cashed in on it. Running a small business can really suck. Constant worries about regulations, payroll, growth, inventory, leases, receivables, payables, health insurance, etc. can get to be overwhelming. Along comes InBev with a big old fat check and promising to take all that off your hands, who would't take it!?!?
 
my hate for A-B (back before they partnered with a couple of other big breweries to become InBev) stemmed from the before and after of a particular brewery. I believe it was Pyramid or was it something else from Washington State? anyway, I loved one of their IPAs and after a while (obviously when A-B purchased this said brewery) the taste and flavor of that IPA changed so much that I couldn't get myself to buy it again.

later on I read that A-B had been encouraging corner cutting to get the production up to speed and at the same time to generate profit. some of the small breweries that A-B had purchased went belly up or had lost a wide-range of a consumer base, relegating them to serve just the local masses or become extinct. Beck's is a great example that (link). also, InBev caused problems with the hop farmers (link).

this was years ago and well, A-B is now InBev, and my hate remains strong. that InBev is still acquiring breweries nowadays would mean that they want a big fat slice of the market. and for them to try and have a full control over the ever-so emerging crafts beer industry is a scary thing to see.
 
Salty Dog said:
I can understand the dislike for InBev and the other large distributors. What I don't understand is the vitriol toward the people who sell their breweries. Good for them that they did something they loved, grew it into a successful business and then cashed in on it. Running a small business can really suck. Constant worries about regulations, payroll, growth, inventory, leases, receivables, payables, health insurance, etc. can get to be overwhelming. Along comes InBev with a big old fat check and promising to take all that off your hands, who would't take it!?!?
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Perhaps because it goes against the whole ethos the craft beer community has built up. I mean, ideally I look to the smaller brewers because a) they are independent and/or family owned and who doesn't like supporting the smaller mom and pop shop? B) they offer beers that are high quality and offer tastes and flavors the big guys typically don't. I don't begrudge owners selling out, a big fat check is tempting to all of us. But when you build a company with the small independent "locavore" image, what happens when you sell out to "Mega-corporate Conglomerate Industries, Inc"? Some people don't care, others may be turned off. That independent ethos is gone and what remains is a facade of what was.

I kind of liken it to what happens to that cult, undercurrent music scene when the record execs notice and start throwing record contracts around. What was counter culture slowly becomes mainstream (and usually watered down, corrupted, dumbed down, vacuous) and those that were in the scene before that point are left wondering what the hell just happened!?
BeerMan said:
just recently, InBev is looking to own Miller. that's fine, their beer sucks anyway.
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I worry about it. AB-Inbev is powerful enough as it is. Do we really need them controlling 95% of the beer market?

I've stayed away from buying AB-Inbev stuff for the most part. We are surrounded by so many other options, that it's not that hard to find something other than Goose Island, Elysian, 10 Barrel, Golden Road, etc.

I guess the question becomes how do you feel about what Firestone and Lagunitas have done? I can accept Firestone, a little less so Lagunitas but at least it's not AB. I fear, and I expect, the buying out of independent brewers will become more common. If you can't beat them, co-opt them.
 
BeerMan said:
I wholeheartedly NOT recommend any beers owned by InBev. that includes Goose Island, unfortunately.
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I disagree. Goose Island has kept their quality top notch. Still using some of the same brewers that were there before InBev purchased them.
 
mitchrock said:
I disagree. Goose Island has kept their quality top notch. Still using some of the same brewers that were there before InBev purchased them.
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I agree, their quality is topnotch, it's just that I ain't giving them a cent that eventually goes to InBev. therefore, I ain't supporting InBev.
 
This article does a pretty good job of looking at the whole InBev/Craft issue. While I admire Beerman for his convictions, I can enjoy so few beers these days, I'm not willing to give up Bourbon County. Anyway, here is the article, a somewhat lengthy read, but worth it in my opinion. Link:
 
Prost.
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BeerMan said:
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I'm trying this right now. I like it. It tastes a lot like root beer but gets you buzzed. Or maybe that's my pain meds, I don't know. I didn't know if I'd like it so I only got a single 12oz bottle. But I'd have no problem getting this again.
 
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