Writing a Thesis/Support Paper

[Frankfurtvr4]

I am trying to prove that a combination of current legislation and organizations like InBev and SAB Miller control the market making it harder for US brewers to follow a model like Germany where there are multiple local breweries.

I outline how major brewing corporations were built here:

Brewing industry is marked by tremendous consolidation and the merger of brewing companies worldwide means that 55 percent of the 1.55 billion hectoliters came from just ten companies according to a 2009 study.

The largest brewing company in the world is Anheuser-Busch InBev. The Interbrew Company in Belgium had a flagship brand known as Stella Artois. The first acquisition of a brew company was Labatt. They then bought Becks in Germany as well as Bass and Whitbread in the United Kingdom. Interbrew soon merged with AmBev the Brazilian conglomerate to form Inbev. Inbev then acquired Aheuser-Busch in 2008 making them far and away the largest brewing company in the world. The number two is SAB Miller, South African Breweries acquired Miller from Phillip Morris formed the company that is headquartered in London, England.
Coors recently merged with Molson in Canada forming Molson-Coors. Even more recently Coors and Miller merged their US brewing interested to form Miller-Coors. There is an SAB Miller, and Molson-Coors but now they have merged their US interests into Miller-Coors. In Mexico Modello brews beer. Anheuser-busch owns a large portion of that company as well.

My legislation outline is here:

Taxation is a major contributor to production costs of beer around the world. In the US there are three layers of government levying taxes on beer. In 1862 Congress placed the first excise tax on beer. The Federal rate is 18 dollars a barrel since the tax was doubled in 1990 after lobbying by anti-alcohol advocates. The Tax levied by states varies greatly across the US. The current average is 18.25 cents per gallon. Sales taxes also apply most states. In Wyoming the taxed rate is around 2 cents a gallon compared to Alaska at 1.07. The tax levies make a huge contribution to all levels of government and has a huge economic impact on the US.

I need to find some way of getting data on how difficult it was for craft brewers to start-up. Any ideas?

 

[Pappers_]

I suspect you will have to compile the data yourself. Perhaps a survey, focused on measurables. But how are you going to get data on failed breweries? Hmmmm

 

[Frankfurtvr4]

I am knee deep in data right now. I just can't figure out how to get data about successful craft breweries. I really just need to find out what their obstacles were and how they overcame them. This is just a support paper not a full thesis. I just have to get it close to 800 words. I am just over half-way already and have until Sunday to finish.

 

[TheDom]

Since federal taxes are uniform, you could compare state tax/license rates vs breweries per capita in various states.

 

[Sigafoos]

Watch Beer Wars? It seems silly and not very academic to suggest it, but it has much of the same thesis you do.

 

[Frankfurtvr4]

I've never seen it. Good to hear that though.

 

[ejearn]

We all know that it is difficult to compete with the big boys, and yes, InBev and SAB Miller make it more difficult, so I support your study; however, you should be careful how you present your data. You don't want to "try to prove" a hypothesis; instead, you want to collect data first, then hypothesize. Otherwise, you may come off as biased and subjective.

I suggest a rigorous scientific method before writing your thesis statement.

Good luck!

 

[Frankfurtvr4]

I am planning to use data on alcohol trends in the US that have a negative affect on our country. i.e. Alcoholism, and Drunk Driving Rates since 1991.

 

[BurntOrngeLonghorn84]

Watch Beer Wars? It seems silly and not very academic to suggest it, but it has much of the same thesis you do.

+1 on the beer wars documentary, it streams on Netflix...

Learn all about the 3 tier setup (brewer, distributor, seller) and how that makes it hard for craft breweries to even distribute their product. That probably has more impact then taxation.

 

[RedGlass]

We all know that it is difficult to compete with the big boys, and yes, InBev and SAB Miller make it more difficult, so I support your study; however, you should be careful how you present your data. You don't want to "try to prove" a hypothesis; instead, you want to collect data first, then hypothesize. Otherwise, you may come off as biased and subjective.

I suggest a rigorous scientific method before writing your thesis statement.

Good luck!

+1. If you're going to rely on data, let the data dictate the conclusion rather than the other way around.

+1 on the beer wars documentary, it streams on Netflix...

Learn all about the 3 tier setup (brewer, distributor, seller) and how that makes it hard for craft breweries to even distribute their product. That probably has more impact then taxation.

The movie is great, but just double check the facts before you start citing it with authority. For example, several states permit self-distribution which makes the anti-3 tier component of the movie somewhat misleading (at least in certain places).

Good luck!

 

[lmerg]

Is this Economics or Political Science? Undergrad or Grad paper? Was there any secondary literature to comb through for data or models?

I assume your hypothesis is that the tax structure provides a barrier to craft brew success. This seems like a tough argument to make. On one hand, you'd have to show that *more* breweries might have been started (and I'm sure that the trend in craft breweries is up) in the absence of such laws. On the other hand, you have other examples where Walmart dominates but without the same kind of tax barriers you describe for SAB or inBev. I'm not sure whether this is a comparable example, but it seemed instructive.

If you're concerned with the policy of alcohol regulation in America, you could as several people suggest address the three tiered system. This is a different question, as I see it: not, "are taxes barriers to entry?" but "is the policy achieving its goals?" That question might be easily answered merely by looking at the ownership of major distributorships, as Beer Wars does.

In terms of data, perhaps there is something in a brewery trade journal? Otherwise, god help you, you'll have to create the data set yourself. Good luck.

P.S. I'm a Ph.D. student in Poly Sci, but I study philosophy not empirical science.

 

[Frankfurtvr4]

I am using Brewmaster's art a lecture series from bamforth as a cornerstone. He goes into great detail about the difficulties of marketing and distribution in one of his lectures. If I have room I plan to go into it a bit.

 

[Frankfurtvr4]

Is this Economics or Political Science? Undergrad or Grad paper? Was there any secondary literature to comb through for data or models?

I assume your hypothesis is that the tax structure provides a barrier to craft brew success. This seems like a tough argument to make. On one hand, you'd have to show that *more* breweries might have been started (and I'm sure that the trend in craft breweries is up) in the absence of such laws. On the other hand, you have other examples where Walmart dominates but without the same kind of tax barriers you describe for SAB or inBev. I'm not sure whether this is a comparable example, but it seemed instructive.

If you're concerned with the policy of alcohol regulation in America, you could as several people suggest address the three tiered system. This is a different question, as I see it: not, "are taxes barriers to entry?" but "is the policy achieving its goals?" That question might be easily answered merely by looking at the ownership of major distributorships, as Beer Wars does.

In terms of data, perhaps there is something in a brewery trade journal? Otherwise, god help you, you'll have to create the data set yourself. Good luck.

P.S. I'm a Ph.D. student in Poly Sci, but I study philosophy not empirical science.

I am embarrssed to say this is for a creative writing class. 101 level.

 

[Sigafoos]

Well in that case you can say whatever the hell you want, can't you?

Beer Wars could have been a Michael Moore movie. I agree with what it's saying but it gets too close to 'big breweries are bad!' propaganda on some spots. I know that, so does everyone else watching, ease up on it a bit Anat.

 

[Sujeto]

I, too, would recommend going after the 3 tier system and how it is a major obstacle for a small craft brewery to get product to market. I second the recommendation of watching Beer Wars. It might give you a better idea/direction on how BMC makes it difficult for a craft brewer to succeed. Which it sounds like you are trying to do already. As far as taxes go and how the financial barrier is prohibitive to a small brewer, it would be difficult to prove taxes caused a brewer to fail and not big business (BMC).

I understand you have a limited amount of time before this paper is due and wish you the best of luck!

 

[Frankfurtvr4]

Well in that case you can say whatever the hell you want, can't you?

Beer Wars could have been a Michael Moore movie. I agree with what it's saying but it gets too close to 'big breweries are bad!' propaganda on some spots. I know that, so does everyone else watching, ease up on it a bit Anat.

I might be able to get away with making it up but that isn't how I like to do things. I figure this is a good learning tool for me and since I get to choose the subject I wanted it to be something I am intersted in.

 

[Frankfurtvr4]

I wish I had a copy of beer wars. I am in Afghanistan so getting a copy before I finish the paper is next to impossible. The internet connection is pre 14.4 tech and it takes forever to download anything. I may jump over to the three tier after reading some of these posts. I didn't think to much about it during that lecture but I can see it as a huge obstacle.

 

[Mongrel]

I might be able to get away with making it up but that isn't how I like to do things. I figure this is a good learning tool for me and since I get to choose the subject I wanted it to be something I am intersted in.

Research is good, makes your story more believable, but don't get bogged down in fact. Creative writing gives you artistic license to mess with the facts to tell a good story. Get a little sleep deprived and let the story flow out.

Small brewer in Texas becomes battles the big boys, and local prejudices against quality beer. Does he persevere with his passion, or does he become so despondent that he breaks into a brewery and drowns himself in a giant vat of BMC?

A history paper would be written completely differently, but this is creative writing. Have fun with it.

 

[Frankfurtvr4]

it is supposed to be a thesis based on fact cut down to 800 words.

 

[Mongrel]

Sure, just remember movies "based on a true story" are about as factual as any other piece of literature. If there is no room for creative license, then it's really not creative writing, but a history thesis instead.

 

[lmerg]

Creative writing = ignore me.

 

[pnh2atl]

This may have some info you can use.

www.freewebs.com/mattmitzel/Capstone.doc

 

[BurntOrngeLonghorn84]

The movie is great, but just double check the facts before you start citing it with authority. For example, several states permit self-distribution which makes the anti-3 tier component of the movie somewhat misleading (at least in certain places).

The only exception to the three tier system I know of is if the producer and final seller are the same entity(brewpubs who brew thier own beer - wineries who sale their own wine bottles, etc.).

As far as I know, if you're selling to a reseller, you must have a distributor in place. So yeah, you can sell it directly yourself, but to a very limited market, unless you're going to be the next starbucks of beer.

Since it's a federal law, states actually have very little authority to make exceptions.

 

[BurntOrngeLonghorn84]

I didn't think to much about it during that lecture but I can see it as a huge obstacle.

Also, monopolies are allowed in the distribution system, so instead of having competing distributors, it's perfectly fine for markets to be restricted to a single distributor, who is also allowed to have ties to a particular brewery.

Most distributors don't care to be craft brewery brand exclusive...it just doesn't make business sense.

 

[Frankfurtvr4]

Creative writing = ignore me.

Your post=I'm an ass.

Degree requirement, not taking it for fun, I've been putting this one off forever. Thanks for your input and run along.