TNGabe
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=Idiot
Is this secret angry person code for 'Excuse me friend, but Michelob is a Bud product'?
=Idiot
This was all completely hypothetical. I figured that was obvious from my original post. My bad for not making that more clear. The beer in question is merely fiction. A mild thought experiment.
Sorry it took so long to reply, I am in a much different time zone than most of you.
For me, I agree with most of you here that say, "If it's good, it's good. I would buy it." Before moving to Finland, I drank Bud Light or Keystone Light. Now when I go back state side I do not order those unless that is all there is. It is a taste thing for me, after drinking European lagers for over 5 years, a bud light tastes of nothing to me.
The responses to this post were close to what I expected. "I drink what I drink and everyone else can piss off" (my thoughts exactly), and the other opinion, "damn the evil corporations that control the industry". I honestly thought that the latter would be more predominant. So I am glad I did post this.
I have worked for a very large, industry leading, company in the US. Now I am in business school learning to do what I already know how to do, but need a piece of paper to prove it, Damn Finns. Because of this, I look at these things from a different prospective. I have a terrific appreciation for the big three brewers, for Walmart, Monsanto and others of the same ilk. Their business models are what most companies would kill for, whether they admit it or not. They didn't get to where they are today by letting anyone take just a tenth of a precent of market share. For their lead pipe cruelty in their business practices, I have no issues. Ethics are a different issue. I could go into a diatribe on that and Beer Wars, but that is a can of worms I do not wish to open currently. Maybe I will have to buck up and become a full member to enter the debate forum.
How is it trolling? You will support a view of buying some bandaid tasting crap with an inch of sludge in the bottle over a nice tasting well made beer simply because the one is labeled "craft" while the other is made by a large scale professional brewery? Because if that is so, it should translate to all of your spending decisions, because it's fickle to just apply it to beer. So no General Mills or ConAgra products make it into your grocery cart? All of your food is produced by small local vendors. Not buying something just because it's made by a company who's been bought out by a large corporation is small minded. There are the same people that made it last week making it this week after the buy out, and they have mortgages to pay and kids to feed. Some of you guys are acting like Budweiser/InBev raped your sister, and it's likely not so. It's just BEER for gods sake.
Is this secret angry person code for 'Excuse me friend, but Michelob is a Bud product'?
In any case, the poster's knee-jerk (emphasis on 'jerk') reaction adds nothing to the conversation and serves only to highlight the fact that they are not truly interested in participating in the discussion (at least not interested enough to read and comprehend).
Faction #4. See my post #5 in this thread.
I don't think it's so common, but there are certain topics that seem to be fodder for debate. This topic is definitely one of them.
(and happy new year to you!)
I'm passionate about flavorful beer that is thoughtfully made in smallish batches.
Budweiser isn't thoughtfully made?
And what does batch size have to do with it, and how is smallish "defined"? The term "craft" had to be coined after microbreweries like Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada outgrew the legal term "micro."
For me, it comes down to what sort of people and business model I want to support. I'm passionate about flavorful beer that is thoughtfully made in smallish batches. I want my money to support people and companies who share that passion. That passion does not extend to groceries. It's fallacious of you to think that my passion for one category of product should extend to an overarching philosophy that dictates all of my purchases.
I found Beer Wars on Hulu and watched the first third of it or so. What I saw, and maybe I missed some, was that if anyone was to blame for the 3 getting so big it was the little guys who took the money they offered to close their doors. Had they have loved their business more than making money there'd have been more variety and those 3 would have had less market share.
Here's the difference between some of us, though!
I DO have my "passion for one category of product extend to an overarching philosophy that dictates all of my purchases". I really do.
I buy local grass-fed beef (and chicken, and lamb, and eggs), do not buy or eat anything out of a package, and don't go to Wal-Mart or B/P gas stations. I don't buy anything produced by InBev, and I grow my own veggies to avoid Monsanto. I don't buy anything (clothing) made out of the US- which is almost impossible I'll have you know! But I do it anyway. I'm upset that my March pump was put together in Mexico, but it was the only choice for me for a pump.
I'm not saying everybody should do what I do- it's MY belief system. It's not about the product produced (even Woolrich clothes are made in China)- it's simply standing by what I think is right.
If someone else has no qualms about drinking mass quantities of InBev products, that's fine for them. And we all know that there are millions and millions of them, since InBev is so successful. It's not about being snobbish about the quality for me, and I don't think that they make bad products. They just aren't something I can purchase.
All BMC sucks. my pony make enough for a small town. they are evil corporate fiends hell bent on destroying real beer! but I don't care who makes it if it's good. drink what you like. and all the people that bash any beer drinker because they drink what they like or BMC are stupid! what are we talking about again?
I like to cover all my bases.
You know what making those types of comments without responding to the topic of the thread is like, right?
Are most people -really- responding to OP? It's just turned into "Does InBev suck or not" again.
lowtones84 said:Are most people -really- responding to OP? It's just turned into "Does InBev suck or not" again.
iambeer said:What if a what if question was being ignored and instead people repeated their opinion for the hundredth time.
If you really care about beer, make choices that support beer. If you can read any of this and continue to make the argument that drinking and supporting Bud is the same as drinking and supporting Sierra Nevada or DeSchuttes or New Belgium or your local brew pub - then you really don't understand how the world works and you deserve the weak-arse, second rate, watered down swill the Big Boys traffic in. Just sayin'...
Beer drinkers aren't victims. If Becks changes, unhappy people can buy something else. There's no monopoly here. I believe that most people who drink Bud, Becks, etc, LOVE IT. If they didn't, they'd buy something else and AB would consider the error of their ways (in fact, this is happening right now). With the glut of regional microbrews, there are choices.
Remember New Coke?
I think that the craft brew/home brew movement is about more than creating/accessing great tasting beer. While the quality of the beer is uber important, I think folks who pursue craft beer and brew home beer are also making a statement.
Craft beer lovers are making a statement that they will support small, creative, dedicated brewers who value beer in and of itself over large, soulless corporations who value beer only so far as it creates revenue.
Budweiser could put out a great IPA and I still wouldn't buy it for the same reason I don't shop at Walmart even though I could save some money - the principal is more important than the product.
Left to their own devices, Budweiser would make panther piss if that's what they could sell the most of. I can't support that- you shouldn't either.
I don't think that's snobby, I think it's sensible to support those things that make our lives better and reject those things that don't.
That being said, while I won't drink a Bud product even with a gun to my head, I have had some of the Michelob specialty beers and they weren't half bad.
Beer drinkers aren't victims. If Becks changes, unhappy people can buy something else. There's no monopoly here. I believe that most people who drink Bud, Becks, etc, LOVE IT. If they didn't, they'd buy something else and AB would consider the error of their ways (in fact, this is happening right now). With the glut of regional microbrews, there are choices.
Remember New Coke?
I never once said their beer sucks! They have some of the "biggest" brands around- from Stella Artois and Beck's, and Hoegaarden to Goose Island.
I swore off AB because of their business practices, just as I boycott Wal-Mart.
I doubt In-Bev and Wal-Mart miss me, but I have to follow what I believe.
But you buy Coors or Miller?
And you shop at Target vs Wal Mart?
That is selective corporate animosity don't you think?
Target does the same thing Wal Mart does.
AlCophile said:Hate to complicate, but there was not more than a month ago an hour-long program, Channel 58(?) all about Beer.
Well, it showed AB's experimental folks, and they had about 30 beers, all different colors, ready to pounce. No, they did not solicit my opinion.
My guess is they are waiting to see if a craft brew takes off in the marketplace, then, wham!, it's got a cheaper, 'smoother-tasting' competitor.
There's no accounting for tastes.
Don't worry about their beer, watch their stock.
I have to ask where in her post you saw anything about buying MillerCoors products or shopping at Target?
I certainly don't fault the big 3 for buying the little guys out. It was the little guys who took the money over brewing anyway. But if you are using your financial clout to weasel out the competition that's a whole nother situation.
Target may be similar to WalMart, but I've not heard stories of them moving into little towns and putting the mom n pop businesses out.
I wish the evil 3 would make beer I like so the beer I like would be less expensive. Michelob came the closest with their Dunkel Weisse. I drink what tastes good and unfortunately I don't like Pilsners.
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