AB InBev Sells Northern Brewer

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Just heard that last night from a friend who attended a little shindig at Midwest.

The VC (Blackstreet) that acquired NB has an interesting mission: "seeks investments in the debt and equity of lower middle market businesses, corporate orphans in out-of-favor industries, and businesses undergoing some form of transition."
 
Will have to watch and see what happens. I started with Northern Brewer, but they haven't been on my list for quite a while. I can find most items less expensive elsewhere. Even before InBev...
 
I live literally down the street from their Minneapolis store, so I hope their business doesn't get messed with and results in their closure (probably would never happen, but still). Awesome store, great grain selection/prices/crush when I need it. Midwest is also really awesome, although I only pop in there when going on a Costco run and I really need something.
 
Sweet! They are the best LHBS I know of in the Milwaukee area. There is another I know of, but it is so far off the beaten path I felt I might get mugged going into the store, so I stick with NB for immediate needs. Most purchases are from Ritebrew though, with is only a short distance away so shipping is often less than $3. Far less than the 60 miles worth of gas, much less time, would cost me.
 
day_trippr said:
That was a pretty short love affair, left wondering whether AB Inbev saw writing on the wall that told them to cut their losses...

Cheers!
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I suspect it's more a question of changing priorities within ABI - there's been some comment recently about changes at their pseudo-private-equity-arm (which owned NB) which means more focus on the quarterly P&L and less emphasis on long-term strategic investing. They could bring some cute synergies, like selling NB stuff through their newly-acquired UK online beer retailer, but it always felt like at best they were just trying to get a bit of an insight into the market through what homebrew geeks were into rather than any great love of homebrew.

[usual disclaimer - I'm nothing to do with US homebrewing companies!!!!]
 
I never understood why they bought NB. I just attended Homebrew Con. Assuming the conference attendees were a reasonable representation of the home brewing population then we are still a low key bunch of nerds. I don't even think NB had a booth there.
 
My biggest issue with them was how expensive they were, not so much InBev although I do shy away from supporting Bud. Practically everything I need is cheaper at morebeer.com and I can easily hit their higher free shipping threshold even though it's higher than NB/Midwest. I do love free shipping
 
Homebrewing has declined from the mid-2010s peak when ABI acquired NB. They probably saw the writing on the P&L statement and decided to cut it loose. Likely nothing more to the story.

Acquisition by venture capital with a mission to buy undervalued assets usually means they plan on cutting the business down and then reselling at profit. Probably not great for the business or its employees.
 
BrewnWKopperKat said:
web search current news: ab inbev debt ipo
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I’m guessing that the sale of NB amounts to a rounding error in the amount of debt that AB InBev is carrying (more than $100 billion). Buying out your biggest competitor with borrowed money might make you feel like a winner-until it’s time to pay the mortgage.
 
As I said above, it's mainly about changing priorities at their venture capital arm - which is ultimately driven by the debt, but it's not a question directly of selling it to pay off debt.
 
Northern_Brewer said:
As I said above, it's mainly about changing priorities at their venture capital arm - which is ultimately driven by the debt, but it's not a question directly of selling it to pay off debt.
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It’s about reducing debt. The American bond rating companies have downgraded ABI’s bonds and one, Moody’s, has stated that if the company doesn’t get it’s debt below 4x earnings by the end of next year it will rate the bonds as junk.

Just a few days ago, ABI sold it’s Austrailian operations to Asahi Group for $11 billion USD.
https://markets.businessinsider.com...usiness-sale-to-asahi-group-2019-7-1028367944
 
Was away for the weekend. I came back to some emails that Brew & Grow in Minneapolis/St. Paul was closing it's doors. It was the only alternative to NB/Midwest in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, we have a population of 3.2 million. I hope that whatever happens to them they stay a viable homebrew store. I have boycotted them since the buyout, but I will now have no choice but to shop there again.
 
NeoBrew said:
Was away for the weekend. I came back to some emails that Brew & Grow in Minneapolis/St. Paul was closing it's doors. It was the only alternative to NB/Midwest in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, we have a population of 3.2 million. I hope that whatever happens to them they stay a viable homebrew store. I have boycotted them since the buyout, but I will now have no choice but to shop there again.
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I'm just 4 miles from Brew & Grow, so its closing will create a big void for me. The owner is a great guy, and I get it that he wants to wrap up the business and enjoy life. But I got spoiled being able to jump in the car and make a half hour round trip run for supplies. And I could ask the owner for a fresh pack of Wyeast or WL, he'd add one to his weekly order and call me when it came in.

It's a 50 mile round trip to Midwest or Northern. I'll probably shift to more online purchases from Morebeer, William's, etc., and only run to MW/NB for liquid yeast.
 
Wow thats a shame with no other local places in Minneapolis. Always thought it was odd from a purely sentimental/beer enthusiast point of view that a Belgium company (InBEv) from a country known for bitchin beers would have even bought Budweidser in the first place. Also odd that a japanese company now owns Fosters Lager. lol. Its just proof that this is a business, plain and simple. Its kind of like when sports fans get angry when their favorite team trades a famous player OR that famous player ditches the team in free agency - theres no loyalty because it is a business first and foremost.
 
Noob_Brewer said:
Wow thats a shame with no other local places in Minneapolis. Always thought it was odd from a purely sentimental/beer enthusiast point of view that a Belgium company (InBEv) from a country known for bitchin beers would have even bought Budweidser in the first place. Also odd that a japanese company now owns Fosters Lager. lol. Its just proof that this is a business, plain and simple. Its kind of like when sports fans get angry when their favorite team trades a famous player OR that famous player ditches the team in free agency - theres no loyalty because it is a business first and foremost.
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For what it's worth, pretty much every (ie: both) Japanese beers I've had taste like Bud. Haven't had a Fosters, but would'nt surprise me if it is in that same vein.
 
Noob_Brewer said:
Wow thats a shame with no other local places in Minneapolis. Always thought it was odd from a purely sentimental/beer enthusiast point of view that a Belgium company (InBEv) from a country known for bitchin beers would have even bought Budweidser in the first place.
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Beware the distortions of distance - the number one Belgian beer by a mile is a very ordinary Eurolager, Jupiler with around 40% of the market. Even Stella only has 6-7% of the market. On average, Belgian beer is Eurolager, same as everywhere else.

And as has been mentioned, although ABI is notionally headquartered in Leuven and run from New York, it's very much the Brazilians of AmBev in charge. Frankly what happens in Belgium, Europe and the US is almost a distraction, they've created a company to dominate the sale of Eurolager to developing countries in Asia and Africa.
 
kh54s10 said:
Will have to watch and see what happens. I started with Northern Brewer, but they haven't been on my list for quite a while. I can find most items less expensive elsewhere. Even before InBev...
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I started with AIH and NB. Still pretty loyal to AIH but I distinctly remember deleting my NB bookmark the day I heard about the acquisition. I was still an extract brewer at the time. If things go well I will consider NB again or at least shop their sales.
 
foam_top said:
I started with AIH and NB. Still pretty loyal to AIH but I distinctly remember deleting my NB bookmark the day I heard about the acquisition. I was still an extract brewer at the time. If things go well I will consider NB again or at least shop their sales.
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I think I've only done business with NB once since the sale to InBev. I was near their store in Milwaukee, stopped in to see if anything was on clearance or if there was anything I'd buy because of the convenience. I think I bought a spare lid for my bigmouth bubbler, that was it.

And yet...NB was where I started in home brewing. I screwed up my first brew instructions and in a partial panic called their help line. Good help on that end. I'd steeped the steeping grains at the wrong temp or something. The advice from their employee was essentially, "it'll be fine. Go forward." Or, in more common parlance, RDWHAHB. Except I didn't yet have any homebrew. :)

So I still have a soft spot in my heart (or maybe my head :)) for Northern Brewer. I have a couple Northern Brewer stickers and put one on a magnet sheet so I could put it on my keezer. Regardless of who owns them, they're an important part of my personal homebrew history, just like the other places from which I've purchased brewing equipment and the taprooms and breweries I've visited.
 
I was never in the crowd that would not by from NB just because they were bought by InBev. I stopped because I was able to find most everything for less elsewhere. When I did buy, their customer service was top notch!
 
I found other online retailers would ship faster. NB used to sit on orders or so it seemed. Plus, you have to buy a whole pound of grain. Others will sell portions of a pound.
 
kh54s10 said:
I was never in the crowd that would not by from NB just because they were bought by InBev. I stopped because I was able to find most everything for less elsewhere. When I did buy, their customer service was top notch!
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Just to clarify, I did not, and still don't, have that hate for BMC that many others share around here... I do remember my daily drive by this billboard that picked fun at craft beer whilst advertising Bud. I don't remember the details but it depicted a glass of beer garnished with what looked to be like kale and shellfish. There was a TV spot of the same ad. I just thought to myself "why would I buy craft beer supplies from a store who's parent company insults craft beer?" I stand by that decision but I have no doubts that the staff at NB were still every bit as dedicated to homebrew and customer service. And in all fairness, I've heard some pretty strange craft beer stories myself including "beard yeast" and "cat poop".
 
ncbrewer said:
I wrote off Northern Brewer when the safety issues with the Big Mouth Bubblers came to light. The way they handled it was unacceptable IMO. (See this post for some info: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/big-mouth-bubblers-are-dangerously-thin.486222/)
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I didn't see how they handled the problem, but for me it would have been a non issue in the first place since I would never own a glass fermenter bigger than 1 gallon. And I only have that because there is no PET equivalent.
 
brewbama said:
I found other online retailers would ship faster. NB used to sit on orders or so it seemed. Plus, you have to buy a whole pound of grain. Others will sell portions of a pound.
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Same here. My last order from Northern Brewer sat for 10 days before it even shipped. With Williams I can get it the next day if I order before noon...
 
kh54s10 said:
I didn't see how they handled the problem, but for me it would have been a non issue in the first place since I would never own a glass fermenter bigger than 1 gallon. And I only have that because there is no PET equivalent.
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They make 1 gal ported Fermonsters (sold at MoreBeer). They are crazy flimsy, but I haven’t had any issues so far.
 

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