Anheuser-Busch InBev Acquires Northern Brewer & Midwest Supplies

[beirav]

love ritebrew!

 

[Diane Wight]

screw these brands anyway ...there is plenty of better craft beer here

 

[stalwort]

What? No talk about where your LHBS gets THEIR supplies from? In fact, where do they get them from? I have a feeling AB-InBev is looking to be THE main supply chain to all LHBS and online searchers. This is how they intend to make up some of their shrinking beer sales revenue I guess. Not good.

 

[Spartan300man]

"TheHairyHop on October 15th, 2016 - 6:51pm
This article states that AB InBev owns Coors. It does not. Coors is a part of MolsonCoors"
Miller/Coors has merged with AB INBev.

 

[Spartan300man]

so I think that AB_InBev only plans to mix the hops pellets 50/50 with hay and straw, for that distinctive taste they like. So we will need to adjust our recipes accordingly.

 

[Minky]

I guess I will reserve judgement until we see how things shake out, but I won't be surprised if we start seeing some of the supplies, such as the rarer, small-crop hops, disappear from the other suppliers, only to be found at Northern and Midwest.

 

[beerme70]

Well, in order to do that, they will have to buy up L.D. Carlson first. I am all for big business, but man, do I hate BIG BUSINESS. You know what I mean?

 

[WaltStarr]

My response is simple. I've unsubscribed from the NB and MW emails and simply won't purchase a thing from them ever again.
Done deal, plenty of homebrew shops out there. Just have to watch for Morebeer being bought out next.

 

[douglas873]

Cannot blame InBev. You cannot fault them for what was willingly SOLD. If these were privately held companies InBev could not acquire them through force of the dollar. I won't be supporting them though. Hope the Midwest and NB guys made their money and are happy. Good luck to them.

 

[Bill]

I agree with the comments about poor service. Some of their staff, in particular, Cheers James J are rude, arrogant, disrespectful and condescending. I no longer do business with them because of it. I see no change in the homebrew market as there are plenty of other suppliers.

 

[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 ******* CRAZY ITS TIME TO TAKE THESE FUCKERS 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....