Beer Wars: The Movie

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Gremlyn1 said:
luckily we live in CA so we can self distribute :)
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I don't think that makes us lucky. Lucky wouldn't be so far in debt that we get gouged every other way we can possibly get poked.

On the other side, bars and stores have the right to go directly to breweries, but I think only a fraction actually do. They would rather have the consumer pay for the markup, be lazy and have a third party handle all of the gathering of different brands for them.
 
Pretty decent turnout here in CT. It was a "dry" showing unfortunately. Although, someone in the back did come prepared, as halfway into the viewing, someone accidentally kicked over all over their empties. Shame on them for not sharing.

I thought the piece was interesting. The first part about the real estate of the beer cooler was really quite interesting to me. As they brought back the image later in the film and showed all of the beers that have been bought up by the big three on the shelves, there were more than a few groans, especially for Bass and Boddington.
 
RandalG said:
I also loved the bit about the blind taste test.Of course who knows how many got it right compared to what they showed.
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I was thinking the same thing this morning, exactly how much of that scene was edited to get the desired result for the movie focus to move forward. I don't doubt there were a few people that hit 100% but I'm thinking that most were pretty far off.

Also I was wondering how I would do in this. I may have to pick up some 22s (no need to buy more than that) and give it a whirl.
 
lamarguy said:
I saw the movie and I think it's worth noting that AB became big after they developed light, adjunct beers (innovative at the time of 6-row barley). Who made them successful? American consumers. Who continues to make them successful today - American consumers and the fact that they have a monopoly.
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Define "monopoly," please... :confused:
 
I thought the movie was ok. It was a bit jumbled, and there was no real story arc... it didn't feel like anything was that different at the end of it versus the beginning. As for the choice of Rhonda being a central character in it- I hate to say this, but I think she got there because she is a woman. She's trying to be successful (and working pretty damn hard at it) in an industry that is mostly men. That's the only real reason I could see somebody who makes caffeinated beer being one of the centerpieces of a movie about craft brewing.

Now while the guy from beeradvocate did call her out, I gotta say- that guy is a jackass. I sure hope that he doesn't end up being the face of craft brewing. I'm sure he took a lot of joy out of calling someone's product "crap" to their face. He's the prototypical beer snob.

And lastly, the panel at the end only confirmed my previous thoughts- Ben Stein is an idiot. At first I thought he was doing a (really) good job of playing devil's advocate, but then I started to realize that he actually believed what he was saying, and at the same time made no effort to even try to understand craft beer before showing up for the panel. He truly believes that Stone and Dogfish Head are "failures" if they don't pursue market dominance. But hey, that's his deal. He goes on CNBC and talks about how "market forces" make everything better.
 
MacBruver said:
Now while the guy from beeradvocate did call her out, I gotta say- that guy is a jackass. I sure hope that he doesn't end up being the face of craft brewing. I'm sure he took a lot of joy out of calling someone's product "crap" to their face. He's the prototypical beer snob.
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He won't be the only face to the craft beer scene. People like Sam from DFH, Greg from Stone, Vinnie from Russian River, Garrett from Brooklyn, and many more are the real people think about when they think about the industry. Todd A. runs a website and that's about it.

That said, F that Moonshot lady. That product was a marketing gimmick and just that. I wouldn't think twice about telling someone how I thought of their product if it was something like that. There's nothing wrong with opinions. It is products like that which take up more shelf space from good products. And she isn't doing it for a love of the craft. She's doing it to get rich.
 
I hate to say this, but I think she got there because she is a woman.
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I'm going to disagree. I feel her place in the story was to demonstrate that someone trying to emulate the very successful BMC marketing strategy, with a product that had notable following where it was offered, could not compete because of the current three-tier distribution model.

So on the one hand you have Sam and other craft brewers struggling with a quality product and on the other hand you have Rhonda trying to follow a marketing plan that she used in the successful rollout of Sam Adams. The difference being that AB has a built in mechanism for thwarting her product via the distribution chain vs with Sam they use lawsuits and copy-cat pseudo craft brewery shenanigans. The flaw with her product is it is easier to convert her client base with an easy knock -off than you can with Sam's product.
 
olllllo said:
So on the one hand you have Sam and other craft brewers struggling with a quality product and on the other hand you have Rhonda trying to follow a marketing plan that she used in the successful rollout of Sam Adams.
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The reason it worked with Sam Adams is that she had a good product to market. That's her downfall.
 
I agree. I was kind of annoyed that a lot of the movies focus was on her and her product. I'm glad they show him calling her out for it. She should have learned by now that she has a bad idea for a product. I mean, AB stole the idea, marketed it, and did very poorly with it. That shoudl tell you that there is not enough of a marlek for that type of drink.
 
Some thoughts about Beer Wars:

1. Someone who can't drink, and therefore appreciate, beer should never make a movie about it.
2. Moon Shot is a stupidass gimmick, and Rhonda is an idiot for leaving Boston Beer Company when her house wasn't even paid off.
3. What a poorly produced movie. People have compared the way this film was made to Michael Moore. I see the comparison, but whether or not you like Michael Moore, I would definitely not give Anat Baron that much credit.
4. Waste of 15 bucks.
5. The most interesting part to me was at the end when Sam and Greg were asked about how they could expand DFH and Stone, and keep their identity. It's a good question for sure. Even Boston Beer Company, who I do like having grown in MA and been christened in Boston Lager, seems to have sold out some. I know they do great stuff, but rolling out the Cranberry 'Lambic' isn't exactly impressive. I guess the point is that even if Stone did become monstrous and lose its way some, there would still be Pizza Port, Russian River, Three Floyds, etc to continue carrying the flag of great CRAFT brew.
 
I did notice the gigantinormous size of his ears

Beuler... Beuler... Beuler... :)

Phillip
 
GuitarBob said:
If selling pig urine in a can would make me hit the jack pot then I would do it. That one seems like a no brainer to me.
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The problem with this idea is supply. Obviously the demand is there judging by how much BMC is sold. But there are only so many pigs producing so much urine.
 
dontman said:
The problem with this idea is supply. Obviously the demand is there judging by how much BMC is sold. But there are only so many pigs producing so much urine.
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Homer: Hmm... Bold, refreshing, and something I can't quite put my
finger on.
[at the Red Tick Beer brewery, dogs are swimming in the tank]
Man: [takes a sip] Hmm... Needs more dog.
 
dontman said:
The problem with this idea is supply. Obviously the demand is there judging by how much BMC is sold. But there are only so many pigs producing so much urine.
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I could give the pigs plenty of cheap beer that should go right through them, and get them producing. Or maybe i could just sell the cheap beer and say it's pig urine.

Hmm.. something about that statement doesn't seem right.
 
After the botched live intro, I couldn't convince myself to stick around for the discussion afterward. Just in case she was on camera again.

overall, I wasn't as impressed as I'd hoped I would be upon walking out. Perhaps it's because I didn't already hate BMC walking in. No doubt some of the things they do are questionable... but unfortunately that can be said for many businesses. Not that that's an excuse, but the problems reflected in their conduct is a symptom of a much larger problem in the US/world.

anyway... I wanted more beer/brewing history & info and less sad story. I guess that's why it was called beer wars.


Plus, $15?! Bad night to take the girlfriend to the movies. :cross:
 
We had around 30-40 people at the downtown Seattle showing. I thought it was a pretty small turnout given the beer scene here, but it was playing in a couple of the suburbs too. While it wasn't the movie I wanted to see (a movie more about the history of craft beer), I thought it was good for what it was.
 
GuitarBob said:
I could give the pigs plenty of cheap beer that should go right through them, and get them producing. Or maybe i could just sell the cheap beer and say it's pig urine.

Hmm.. something about that statement doesn't seem right.
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No wait, you are onto something. People pay beaucoup bucks for coffee cherries that have been digested through a palm civet. Kopi Budlak beer.

- OOOORRRR -

Convince people that drinking it will solve global warming / economic crisis, etc and the gov't will either make drinking it a law or give you a huge bailout.

Either way. SCORE!!!
 
dontman said:
No wait, you are onto something. People pay beaucoup bucks for coffee cherries that have been digested through a palm civet. Kopi Budlak beer.

- OOOORRRR -

Convince people that drinking it will solve global warming / economic crisis, etc and the gov't will either make drinking it a law or give you a huge bailout.

Either way. SCORE!!!
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I guess I could sell new eco-friendly beer, maybe put a picture of the earth or a polar bear or something. It would certainly give a new meaning to the phrase green beer.

Or maybe free-range beer. Beer that gets to run around free instead of being locked in a fermenter most of it's life.

Tofu flavored beer? Hmm.. that one might need a little work.



p.s. People actually drink coffee that has been digested by some animal?
 
mkade said:
Some thoughts about Beer Wars:

5. The most interesting part to me was at the end when Sam and Greg were asked about how they could expand DFH and Stone, and keep their identity. It's a good question for sure. Even Boston Beer Company, who I do like having grown in MA and been christened in Boston Lager, seems to have sold out some. I know they do great stuff, but rolling out the Cranberry 'Lambic' isn't exactly impressive. I guess the point is that even if Stone did become monstrous and lose its way some, there would still be Pizza Port, Russian River, Three Floyds, etc to continue carrying the flag of great CRAFT brew.
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The cool part is that DFH can never get that big. The only way to sell that much beer is to become mainstream. To become mainstream you either have to brew what the masses want (something I can't see him doing) or spend a shiatload on advertising to convince the masses they want his product (something he can't afford). It is pretty much a moo point.
 
we had a packed theater where I was, and it was one of 4 theaters in the city that was showing this movie. Needless to say we have quite a microbrew culture here, but even then, it was quite the turnout. It was a "dry" theater, but by the end it was about as dry as Washington in spring.
 
Freezeblade said:
we had a packed theater where I was, and it was one of 4 theaters in the city that was showing this movie. Needless to say we have quite a microbrew culture here, but even then, it was quite the turnout. It was a "dry" theater, but by the end it was about as dry as Washington in spring.
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Were you at Mission Valley? There was a lot of clanking bottles. I might have been guilty.
 
This has just been released on DVD today.

I found out through my good longtime friend, Dave Stone, who did the animation for the film.
Can't wait to get my hands on a copy!
 
Looks like people are reading too deep into it. They just want to educate the people that there is more beer out there other than BMC.

Edit: just watched it; good watch. The idea that Busch could potentially buy out Coors and Miller is very frightening. I'll stick to drinking my homebrew and buying only craft beers.
 
I saw this months ago and I really enjoyed it.

It just goes to show you the power that corporations have and how they can squash their competitors. The way AB is operating is simply monopolistic. When you have the money to make the rules, the free market goes out the window. They pretty much dictate how beer is distributed, they have a nearly infinite marketing budget, they bully small craft brewers and other competition, and most importantly they control the retail shelf space.

Also, I will agree that they spent too much time with the Moonshot lady. She was pushing a product that no one wanted purely for financial gain and that was it.
 
BlueSunshine said:
Also, I will agree that they spent too much time with the Moonshot lady. She was pushing a product that no one wanted purely for financial gain and that was it.
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Totally. It demonstrates that competition is hard first hand, but they didn't need to spend that much time on it. They should have focused on more micro-breweries and nano-breweries. The movie was attempting to pass the message that part of the American dream is to do what you are passionate about and make a living out of it. That lady didn't seem to have much passion in anything besides trying to make the next big thing by considering the people. A better message would have been showing the passion of brewers and the love that goes in to the beer.
 
You can't compete with Inbev on quality or marketing, that was my Takeaway. Rhonda was the marketing side of the equation.

This never was a story solely about craft beer.
 
You can't compete with Inbev on quality or marketing, that was my Takeaway. Rhonda was the marketing side of the equation.

This never was a story solely about craft beer.
 

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