Anheuser-Busch InBev Acquires Northern Brewer & Midwest Supplies

The rumors started days ago have ended in the last 48 hours with confirmation direct from Northern Brewer and Midwest Supplies today that indeed, they were acquired by Anheuser-Busch InBev, the multi-national super conglomerate that owns Budweiser and Miller. More precise the deal was announced as being completed by 'ZX Ventures', the disruptive growth unit of AB InBev. Anheuser-Busch InBev now has market share of 70% of beer sales in the United States after getting Justice Department approval of a merger.

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Northern Brewer opted for Chris Farley, the listed 'Founder' and not the Northern Brewer President to confirm the announcement today.
Many of you have seen the news that we’ve closed a deal to be acquired by ZX Ventures, the global Disruptive Growth Unit of Anheuser-Busch InBev.

Why would AB InBev Bother with a Homebrew Supply Shop Like Northern Brewer?

Northern Brewer & Midwest Supplies were likely a sought after purchase due to a reported annual revenue of at least $50,000,000. Some worry this acquisition along with their deep capital could allow them to pivot into the wholesale market in an attempt to gain massive control of the homebrew industry in a vertical growth move.
Many on Homebrew Talk and reddit have speculated on exactly what disruptive growth means to the small and tight-knit homebrew community. Only time will tell what impact they will have on the hobby and smaller retailers that help grow and teach the industry.

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[stainlessbrewer]

Potential profits are the reason for AB doing this but given their public treatment (bashing) of the craft brewing industry I will no longer do business with NB or Midwest.

 

[beernutz]

AB Inbev acquired SABMiller back in July but as part of that acquisition they were required to divest fully their MillerCoors stake. So AB Inbev and MillerCoors are fully independent of each other.

 

[IloveWorts]

**** THIS!!!!!!! TIME TO TAKE BACK AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!! **** BIG BUSINESS!!!!!!!!!! GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD NEVER APPROVE OF THIS COUNTRY NOW!!!!!!! THIS COUNTRY WAS COLABORATED IN TAVERNS AND PUBS OVER PINTS OF ALE AND STOUT!!!!!!!!!!!!! EVERYONE NUTT UP AND START BREWING LIKE ****ING CRAZY ITS TIME TO TAKE THESE ****ERS DOWN!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Magnus314]

NB and Midwest have both sucked for years. Bland recipes, high ingredient pricing, and nothing interesting to separate them from the better, higher quality competition.
A perfect match.

 

[GHBWNY]

Because of the convenience of "having it all" in homebrew supplies and ingredients via online distribution, there are an unprecedented number of homebrewers on this globe. It is a cycle of 'availability of supplies = brewers = availabilities of supplies', etc.. But if that were to drastically change or go away, the true homebrewer will somehow still find barley, hops, yeast and basic equipment and persevere and make good beer.

 

[shooby]

AGREED 100% This is a bad thing all around! They will eventually monopolize the market forcing us to purchase lower quality over refined products... I will no longer purchase from these two (once fine) establishments. Hopefully the remainder of our beloved small, home brew supplier 'DON'T SELL OUT!'

 

[brandonnys]

To address a few of the "AB InBev doesn't own MillerCoors" guys... You're right. They don't own MillerCoors. They own SABMiller, and were forced to sell their 58% stake in MillerCoors to Molsen for $12 Billion.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-millercoors-molson-coors-1012-biz-20161011-story.html
As for the deal at hand, I personally have never relied on NB for anything. I have a few LHBS here in Oregon. My problem is how NB being bought will affect my LHBS. If AB decides to slim their margins out and push volume in order to be the "go-to" destination for HB supplies, it could drastically impact my LHBS, forcing them to either match the pricing and sacrifice their margin, or only cater to people who need it now and are willing to pay a premium. This would cause reductions/stagnation in inventory, potential supply chain issues (if AB decided to reserve exclusivity of some products simply by buying all of the available inventory), or many other issues that could arise.
Or, if could just be a money deal that has no affect on the homebrew world. That is also entirely possible.

 

[PittsburghBrewer]

After buying my first three kits from NB, I went to LHBS for the first time on Saturday to get supplies for batch #4. The main motivator was that I don't like ordering liquid yeast by mail. After reading this disappointing news, however, LHBS will be seeing much more of me.
This deal seems incredibly tone-deaf on NB's part. It would be like Monsanto acquiring Whole Foods. I know that I got into homebrewing to avoid supporting the AB-InBev's of the world. If they made great beer, I would never had gotten the idea of making my own.
I used to think that NB was a "cool" brand, and I was happy to have their logo on my fermenter. Their products have been good, so I probably won't stop using them completely. Now, however, they have moved from first choice to "if I have to, I guess."

 

[brick_haus]

Hope they open a HBS in Ventura County! This move may well be the deal that grows our hobby exponentially.

 

[bigtex52]

Look for prices to go up to replace the cut in their sales volume that craft and homebrewing has caused.

 

[rustygates]

This is disappointing. I will be taking my business elsewhere.

 

[RishoBrew]

Inbev has ruined many a good beers in their ruthless monopoly games. It was the reason I started brewing as they effed up Becks which doesn't taste the same.

 

[Mwaller]

Finally we can all get our hands on that sweet sweet beachwood!

 

[mike_g08]

small is beautiful. I'm glad I have an LHBS now, I'll continue to shop local.

 

[skraeling]

Eh, sorta. Midwest is selling reconditioned ball lock kegs for 100 bucks each... seriously 100.00. I could pick up refurbed from my local one for 79. or new ones for 100.
As it is i ordered new ones from farmhouse for 75 lol.

 

[djk]

Sad, as my first homebrew setup was from MW, and I used NB for more recent upgrades. I had great customer service experiences, but that was also over a year ago...
At least there are 2 LHBS nowadays for me to go to.

 

[Jacksky2]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/taranurin/2016/10/10/its-final-ab-inbev-closes-on-deal-to-buy-sabmiller/#784e5cb837d6

 

[Anderbrau]

Craft beer and, by extension, homebrewing, have an element of localism at their core. One of the greatest benefits a craft brewer brings to a community is the sense of community identity, a sense of it being "our" brewery. I'm sure everyone on this comment board has gladly paid a premium for locally-brewed beer. LHBS shops are no different. They are part of the local community. They add to the city's financial strength, and a good LHBS will provide knowledge and guidance for its customers in a way that no online store can do. For this reason, I am pledging to do ALL of my business at my LHBS from this point on. I will gladly shell out a few more dollars in order to support a local business, rather than see the community-oriented aspect of brewing sacrificed in the name of price.

 

[Dwain]

Sorry mate, ABInbev has just bought out our local and world's second largest brewer SABMiller...

 

[Ryan]

They most certainly do own SAB-MIller as of a few weeks ago actually....

 

[nsphilip]

The recipes they use to brew macros are rice-heavy. Hard to imagine they want any of "our" grain for themselves. My guess is they're going to make it increasingly expensive to brew at home, or at least own the home brew market since controlling the commodity is the only way to invest in such a fragmented industry as the craft brew model.

 

[bobawallace]

T'is sad. Happy for the millions the owners made, sad for the HB community. I hope they realize what they did to local home brewers by selling their soul. They had to know we'd be upset. but do they care?
I agree that nothing good will come of this for Minneapolis area. What other LHBS will be scarfed up by the other big brew companies I wonder. Is this the start of the end? For inBev this a drop of wort in a million gallon Boil Kettle, for us it is the whole kettle. Makes you wonder what kind of service and product will be available for a company that thinks intelligent beer drinker are the enemy.

 

[kahunapig]

This is the real issue. Giant corporations have only one mantra... "profits". That's OK. It's what they do. However, our ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES are the ones bailing on us. It's why we have to choose a President from such poor choices. We should be focusing on a Congress that will control bigness without 4000 page regulations that the small guys can't cope with.
Also, If someone offered you millions for your business, would you be able to resist? Really?

 

[skoodog]

From a business perspective this will probably be great for the homebrew community. This merger will help Northern Brewer get better quality ingredients as the leverage of the name InBev as a buyer from grain/hops growers will be much bigger than Northern Brewer alone.
For LHBS shops the downside is that this may turn NB into the Walmart of online suppliers for the exact same reason. It behooves the small LHBS side to maintain the best relationships they can with local suppliers, which for those not living in the best hardiness zones, will be an issue.

 

[ShaLaH]

I also pledge to shop locally & from small shops for a few bucks more. I don't want big business capitalizing on my hobby. Adventures in Homebrewing is usually where I shop. I'll pay a few extra bucks to my LHBS or AIH instead of Northern Brewer/Midwest. It's a shame that all great grass-roots communities get co-opted by massive corporations once we've laid the groundwork for proven success.

 

[stamandster]

I guess I won't be shopping at Midwest/NorthernBrewer anymore... LHBS FTW!

 

[Wester]

It's pretty ironic that so many people are upset that the largest brewing conglomerate now owns the largest homebrew supplier. Its not like you cared about supporting small businesses...

 

[Jim]

What about Midwest supplies? The Homebrew community can quickly change to another supplier

 

[wischwm]

At least we should get great prices while they're running everyone else out of business.

 

[chuckalhashib]

As of a week ago, yes, they do own Miller, and are tied up with Coors.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/taranurin/2016/10/10/its-final-ab-inbev-closes-on-deal-to-buy-sabmiller/#1d05810937d6

 

[kahunapig]

This also is right on. AB-InBev is not a retail outlet business. It is a supplier. It will be practically irresistible to your LHBS, if like mine, they stock a lot of equipment, malts, and kits. Will it be bad? Probably not in the short term, probably yes in the long run.

 

[joe]

If you happen to live in Minneapolis/St. Paul and you like the smaller local shops, give Brew and Grow a try. They've upped their game a lot in the last year or so. Nice grain room, good selection of products, attentive customer service, prices are competitive. I kinda felt Midwest and Northern slipping away from our local scene a few years back, and so Brew and Grow gets my business. Cheers.

 

[sladek]

"...the global Disruptive Growth Unit of Anheuser-Busch InBev." pretty much says it all! I am done with NB and Midwest Supplies, I will shop local privately owned/mom and pop brew shops, from now on.

 

[scotthower]

Rad guys or not, I will never support AB InBev in any way, shape or form.

 

[Desupero]

Bastards...

 

[tchudson]

Definitely. I used Northern Brewer quite a bit as my nearest homebrew supplier is 120 miles away.

 

[jayboat999]

Agree, as does my wife who happens to be employed by an unnamed large brewing concern.

 

[mikelikesit2000]

I agree. There are plenty of small shops that could really use my hard earned money, and now they WILL get it!

 

[joe]

I don't see any issue here. Inbev wants to win back business.
Doubt they are trying to kill homebrew. Seems like a profitable market research move.
What better way to know what people are making/drinking than to study what they buy.
What better way than to have a live connection to the shopping lists of millions of LH'ers?
And make money doing it? Win/Win.
It's just market research, not some evil plan to make all taps pour equine filtered water.

 

[luvmesumbeer]

I bought my first homebrew kit from Northern Brewer 4 years ago. They helped me get started homebrewing. Now I buy almost everything from my local HB supplier with the exception of an occasional specialty item .
Homebrewing and craft beer go hand in hand. AB InBev is not a friend to the craft beer industry or home brewers. I will not make any future purchases from Northern Brewer or MidWest Supplies out of principle.