PLEASE let the Northern Brewer buy-out be a hoax!

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UncleLankyFrank

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A source close to Northern Brewer told me today that AB/InBev/SAB/Miller/Coors recently have quickly and very quietly acquired Northern Brewer and Midwest Supplies (merged in 2013) !

At first I didn't get why InBev would care about a little local company with only 3-4 retail outlets. My source informed me that Northern Brewer is the largest ONLINE retailer of home brew supplies and ingredients! They are the Amazon of home brew resources and InBev just bought home brewing

According to source, InBev has already moved in to the Northern Brewer headquarters.

Again, unconfirmed. Maybe just a sick nightmare. God I hope so! I would love to be dead wrong and have this post flamed and deleted a million times.
 
What did your source say that InBev/Miller/Coors/Bud/etc was going to do when they descended on Northern Brewer's headquarters?
 
Obviously ...

white-house.gif
 
Who is your "source close to Northern Brewer?" You mean they live nearby?

InBev wants to eliminate homebrewing so they can sell more Bud Light.

Troll?
 
A source close to Northern Brewer told me today that AB/InBev/SAB/Miller/Coors recently have quickly and very quietly acquired Northern Brewer and Midwest Supplies (merged in 2013) !

According to source, InBev has already moved in to the Northern Brewer headquarters.


100% true. InBev owns Northern/Midwest.

Not sure it is a bad thing though.

Think about it, NB get access to all of AB's resources. Hops, grains, brewers. Might turn out to be pretty great.

...or it's the end of days. either way, should be fun to watch.
 
Certainly there must be some kind of proof of this, right? I'm not seeing anything.

Why would they want some rinky-dink homebrew supplier operation?

Also, wasn't one of the AB InBev/SABMiller merger stipulations that they sell off their U.S. Miller operation completely to Coors? So there wouldn't be an AB InBev/SABMiller/Coors, right?
 
Maybe it will make their shipping faster LOL. I hate how they don't even ship your order out for damn near a week.

You order on a Saturday, thinking it'll go out first thing Monday. Nope! Never seems to ship until Thursday, so it takes another week to get to you. I figure they have one part time guy that only comes in on Wed/Thurs to deal with the shipping.

laughing.gif
 
You order on a Saturday, thinking it'll go out first thing Monday. Nope! Never seems to ship until Thursday, so it takes another week to get to you. I figure they have one part time guy that only comes in on Wed/Thurs to deal with the shipping.


Yeah, I made my order Tuesday night, now Monday and it hasn't been shipped yet. Being in Cali, even if it ships tomorrow I am likely looking at next Monday.
 
At first I didn't get why InBev would care about a little local company with only 3-4 retail outlets. My source informed me that Northern Brewer is the largest ONLINE retailer of home brew supplies and ingredients! They are the Amazon of home brew resources and InBev just bought home brewing

I find it interesting that they could be the largest online supplier. I've always found home brewers to be frugal bastards so i can't understand why so many would pay 20% more then they would at other retailers. At best you can wait for Norther Brewer to run a sale to get you to parity with the other sites.

I would've guess More Beer to be the biggest given their fast (and free) ship to the population centers on the coasts.
 
Well ive run numbers many times and after adding in shipping etc NB was almost always cheaper. I wasn't happy with their shipping policy change either but hey if ya need it now then you have the option to pay for faster shipping. All of that said if INBEV now owns midwest and NB I will stop buying from them. These companies are not interested in the home brewing or craft brewing market except to destroy it and while they provide jobs to Americans they are not American companies. Me doing that will have little effect and I suspect but whatever if INBEV now owns them and wanted to put every other online home brew supplier out of business they could quite easily. All of THAT said Ill believe it when I see it in writing or see conformation from NB or Midwest who DO follow these threads.
 
Well ive run numbers many times and after adding in shipping etc NB was almost always cheaper.


well please enlighten us, so we can save some money. I've looked at NB at least 5 times vs more beer on orders greater then $59, always 20% plus higher. Just compare 50 lbs of Briess 2 row: NB=$74.50 plus 7.99 shipping vs MB = $53 plus free shipping. Is there a secret handshake to get better prices?
 
^^^ I know, I would buy it at this price all day long instead of making the trip to the LHBS. It would be the same price and I don't even have to leave my house!
 
These companies are not interested in the home brewing or craft brewing market except to destroy

Not so sure I agree. They want to own the craft industry so they can rework it to make it more profitable and pocket those profits. They'd love to get $10-$12 for a six pack that cost the same to get to market as a six of bud light. I also don't think they give a crap about home brewers.
 
Not so sure I agree. They want to own the craft industry so they can rework it to make it more profitable and pocket those profits. They'd love to get $10-$12 for a six pack that cost the same to get to market as a six of bud light. I also don't think they give a crap about home brewers.


They might even be trying to make good beer.
 
100% true. InBev owns Northern/Midwest.

Not sure it is a bad thing though.

Think about it, NB get access to all of AB's resources. Hops, grains, brewers. Might turn out to be pretty great.

...or it's the end of days. either way, should be fun to watch.

Not seeing a reference here....?
 
They might even be trying to make good beer.

Nope, just money. I'm sure the actual brewers want to make good beer but the corp just wants to make money. I wouldn't be surprised at all to find out the first conversation that takes place any time they purchase a little guy is "how much of the grain bill can we replace with rice/corn". If they wanted to make good beer they easily could given their resources.
 
I don't know what website you looked at but Breiss 2 row from NB is $35 + shipping, typically around $20 MoreBeer is about the same + shipping. I live in MN so shipping to me from NB is cheaper than anywhere else...


well please enlighten us, so we can save some money. I've looked at NB at least 5 times vs more beer on orders greater then $59, always 20% plus higher. Just compare 50 lbs of Briess 2 row: NB=$74.50 plus 7.99 shipping vs MB = $53 plus free shipping. Is there a secret handshake to get better prices?
 
Nope, just money. I'm sure the actual brewers want to make good beer but the corp just wants to make money. I wouldn't be surprised at all to find out the first conversation that takes place any time they purchase a little guy is "how much of the grain bill can we replace with rice/corn". If they wanted to make good beer they easily could given their resources.


I'm sure there are people within any company that just want to count the money. And I am sure there are people who want to deliver a good product. And there are likely some who want to deliver it while reducing costs.

The actual brewers are the worst. They just go in to work and punch the clock to make money. If they believed in their "craft," they would be homebrewers and not take filthy money for it. (That part is sarcasm, this is not:) They go to work to make money, like all the rest of us. It happens that some companies have products that a lot of people want, so they make a lot of money.
 
well please enlighten us, so we can save some money. I've looked at NB at least 5 times vs more beer on orders greater then $59, always 20% plus higher. Just compare 50 lbs of Briess 2 row: NB=$74.50 plus 7.99 shipping vs MB = $53 plus free shipping. Is there a secret handshake to get better prices?

When I look at Morebeer, it won't even let me add grain to the cart. It's 37.99 for a bulk sack, but since you can't add it, is that eligible for free shipping?
 
I feel bad for people without local homebrew stores. My shop carries just about everything at around or less than the cost of the online retailers and there is obviously no shipping. Bulk hops direct from suppliers and fixed priced items (ssbrewtech etc) that a lhbs can't get any margin on, are all I buy online.


I also love the people who fuss about InBev but forgo their local shop to buy at online retailers.

Edit: I have received a surprising amount of comments on this so let me clarify. If your shop is just a bad business well that is there fault and they don't deserve your money. $2.50/lb for grain while online it's $1.50/lb again that is a problem with the lhbs.

Now if your lhbs is $50 total and the online mega store is $40-$45 then I believe you should still be shopping local. This is just my opinion and it is what I try to do infall of my purchasing endeavors. (shop local (and in season) whenever economically possible)
 
I feel bad for people without local homebrew stores. My shop carries just about everything at around or less than the cost of the online retailers and there is obviously no shipping. Bulk hops direct from suppliers and fixed priced items (ssbrewtech etc) that a lhbs can't get any margin on, are all I buy online.

So you never find yourself wanting a specialty grain or a (non-bulk) hop that your LHBS doesn't carry?

Really?
 
I feel bad for people without local homebrew stores. My shop carries just about everything at around or less than the cost of the online retailers and there is obviously no shipping. Bulk hops direct from suppliers and fixed priced items (ssbrewtech etc) that a lhbs can't get any margin on, are all I buy online.


I also love the people who fuss about InBev but forgo their local shop to buy at online retailers.

I agree on this. I have several good shops nearby, and I try to give them business, even if it costs a little more. I go online for some gear because they either can't compete or don't carry the things I want. But for ingredients, I almost always go to the store.

Hops distributors usually have fresher and different hops. Otherwise it's all Hop Union, which is fine.

I do my best to support the little guys, though!
 
Running a "Business" that is in the industry you "love" will hopefully be profitable

Running a "Business" because you "love" the industry usually will not.

also, there is no such thing as "Selling out"

if, big IF (since I cannot find proof of this either, legal header is still "Copyright ©2016 Northern Brewer, LLC. All Rights Reserved"

and if InBev was going to buy a homebrew site, it's because they are profitable. On a side note, they would probably only be purchasing the online site, and leaving the brick and mortar sites out of the deal.
 

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