A simple question - will you buy Goose Island beer now that they are owned by AB InBev?
Here's my 2 cents. I do not plan on buying Goose Island beers. I have no problem with John Hall selling - he built a brand and then sold it for millions of dollars. Good for him. He says this sort of deal was necessary to continue to expand. I'm fine with that. He has assured everyone that the beer is going to remain unchanged. While I have a hard time believing that - maybe it will remain unchanged for a little while, I expect eventually the products will change to accommodate cheaper ingredients/processes or a more broad palate base - this is not the reason I will not buy his beers. My reason is that, quite frankly, I don't see any need to give AB InBev my money when there are 100s of other smaller, independently owned breweries out there that make really great beer. By all accounts Goose Island makes excellent beer. But is it so unique that I will miss it if I never have it again? I have other choices of really excellent beers. So, given the choice between two really excellent beers, I'm going to choose to pay for the one that is NOT owned by a multi-national, 30-billion dollar company.
Here's my 2 cents. I do not plan on buying Goose Island beers. I have no problem with John Hall selling - he built a brand and then sold it for millions of dollars. Good for him. He says this sort of deal was necessary to continue to expand. I'm fine with that. He has assured everyone that the beer is going to remain unchanged. While I have a hard time believing that - maybe it will remain unchanged for a little while, I expect eventually the products will change to accommodate cheaper ingredients/processes or a more broad palate base - this is not the reason I will not buy his beers. My reason is that, quite frankly, I don't see any need to give AB InBev my money when there are 100s of other smaller, independently owned breweries out there that make really great beer. By all accounts Goose Island makes excellent beer. But is it so unique that I will miss it if I never have it again? I have other choices of really excellent beers. So, given the choice between two really excellent beers, I'm going to choose to pay for the one that is NOT owned by a multi-national, 30-billion dollar company.