Beer wars: Yuengling fights massive merger of Budweiser and Miller Lite brewers

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WaltStarr

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I've given this one some thought. On the one hand there is a small brewer going to the Feds to get relief over a perceived threat to their existence while on the other hand you have a huge multi-national conglomerate attempting to continue massive year over year growth by purchasing their largest competitor.

At the end of the day I find I really don't care how the Feds go with this one as I cannot think of a single product produced by any of the organizations involved that I actually like!

Beer wars: Yuengling fights massive merger of Budweiser and Miller Lite brewers
 
While I'm not in love with Yuengling's products (though I do like their Lord Chesterfield Ale), I do support their cause as they have a brewery near me in Tampa. It's right next door to Busch Gardens (I have season passes) so I occasionally swing by to do the brewery tour, have a few samples, check out the gift shop, then head over to Busch Gardens to have some fun.
 
The beer wars are getting out of hand. I get everyone wants more money but it's unfortunate that it has to be how it is. I just try to keep my head down and rdwhahb.
 
Yuengling rulz! I would tattoo that on my fingers if I had like, WAY more fingers.

But seriously, Yuengling is a great brewery suffering from near-monopolistic BS. Their beer is good, better of you get it from the main brewery.

And they are one of the VERY few distributors with enough clout to distribute micro's like Cigar City and many others, with widespread enough distribution to make it worthwhile for those guys to bother with distribution.

I went to Cigar City this summer and they were talking about merging with several other "craft" breweries to form a distribution partnership... and that partnership would still be very small compared to Yuengling.
 
Cigar City was bought by Oskar Blues Brewery earlier this year...at least it wasn't sold to InBev.
 
robc311 said:
While I'm not in love with Yuengling's products (though I do like their Lord Chesterfield Ale), I do support their cause as they have a brewery near me in Tampa. It's right next door to Busch Gardens (I have season passes) so I occasionally swing by to do the brewery tour, have a few samples, check out the gift shop, then head over to Busch Gardens to have some fun.
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the people who run the tour and gift shop are super awesome! I wish the tour showed more but its a great free tour I recommend to everyone visiting tampa.
 
I live in PA and up here you can get a case on sale at tanzos for $15.97, can't beat that for a great crushable beer. Has anyone tried the Yuengling ice cream?
 
Up till a few years ago, when I lived in PA, 30 miles from the brewery, I used to buy 16oz flats of Yuengling for $17 from the local beer distributor. I really like their Black & Tan, also in 16oz cans. It's even better on tap.

The whole InBev development is becoming borderline cartel forming, IMO. Coca-Cola seems the be the next acquisition. I was wondering if Belgium is one of the few countries that doesn't have anti-trust/anti-cartel laws. The Belgians used to be very laid back with laws, creating a small Mecca for those wanting to walk the fine line.
 
IslandLizard said:
I was wondering if Belgium is one of the few countries that doesn't have anti-trust/anti-cartel laws. The Belgians used to be very laid back with laws, creating a small Mecca for those wanting to walk the fine line.
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They probably don't have a monopoly in Belgium. In a lot of European countries, the small breweries sell a lot to the locals, and I know in Belgium there's a ton of independent breweries and a few monasteries that aren't owned by large conglomerates. It's possible that the only country where AB InBev has this much control is the U.S. They bought the largest players in an industry dominated by a small handful of companies, and now that consumers are increasingly choosing smaller brands, they start buying those as well.
 
The problem with this is that a company like AB and InBev will have the money, connections and lobbying power to change legislation in the future. If you can't see that down the road from here they will either push to ban homebrew, make you pay tax on it, or set legislation so that you can only purchased from "approved" suppliers for quality, health or other BS reasons then please take note. In Oregon I ran a craft beer festival, and for the first 2 years a homebrewers competition wasn't allowed because of State rules. I feel that only because a State Senator was heavily into homebrew (name escapes me) that that law was changed. At the same time that AB were ridiculing the craft beer industry and its mandarin beer (sic) on Superbowl Day, they were purchasing 10 Barrel Brewing (a craft brewery) in Bend, OR. I have some very real concerns for the beer industry and in particular homebrew and suppliers. AB is an animal that simply wants to devour all and everything so you are left with no choice. And I understand that some might say it can't be done. But with money, connections and millions to get people elected with then maybe it can.
 
The thing I find most surprising about the merger is that it is only worth 106 billion dollars. It seems that Anheuser-Busch InBev SAB Miller would be worth more than that. Compared to the pharmaceutical industry, that's chump change.
 
I don't want this to turn into a political discussion, because that has no place here on a forum about home brewing, (at least it shouldn't, imo). I would hope that government intervention isn't necessary, but if InBev keeps trying to monopolize everything, perhaps we DO need Trump (and by Trump, I mean government in general) to step in. Their business practices are horrible from what I've been reading, always squeezing out the little guy. Please keep in mind, I am new here and fairly new to home brewing / wine making as well. And I most certainly don't want to step on any toes. If I have crossed any lines or ticked anyone off please be gentle in correcting me. (or I might need a safe space LOL) :eek:
And lastly, being from PA, my parents were from the coal region right near Pottsville, my uncle lived about a mile from the brewery for years, I have always liked their products, especially their porter, black & tan, and Oktoberfest. I even have some Chesterfield in the fridge right now, which is also pretty good. The only Yuengling I can honestly say I didn't like was their summer wheat. No reason, I just didn't like it.
OMG sorry. I just realized how much I wrote. Ugh.
Thanks for letting me throw out my 2¢. Sorry to be so long winded.
+1 For America's Oldest Brewery!
 
While Yuengling's done enough shady crap in the past to make me pass on their beer, I'm completely against the merger.
 
It would be a damn shame if anything happened to Yuengling. I had read earlier this week that AB-InBev was apparently also considering a possible take over of CocaCola!

It seems like they want to control just about anything liquid that goes in our mouth....I'm waiting for news that they are trying to buy my local water company!!!
 
Not only does AB/InBev (a Belgian company) control a huge number of breweries and beer companies world wide, they recently bought Northern Brewer which is the largest homebrew retailer in the US. So yeah, they are into EVERY aspect of what we love. I stopped buying their products when I read about them putting up $150M to pay off distributors to stop carrying non-AB/InBev craft brands.
 
This whole thing makes me sick to my stomach. I don't want Yuengling to become part of that juggernaut, but at the same time I'm pretty indifferent to Yuengling's well being. "Beer" is supposed to be a happy, neutral island where we can all come together and be at peace. Mergers like this are usually driven by corporations with ideals closely related to those of Dick Yuengling. I'm sure he would have more support if he hadn't decided to take political sides during the election, and be so vocal about issues specific to his employees in the past. If you Google about this you'll find that recently bars all over the place are taking Yuegling off the menu.

So do I want this merger to go through? Heck no--but it has nothing to do with my respect for Yuengling. Not anymore. Beer should bring us together--not take sides. But we are seriously running out of cheap-beer options that don't fuel AB-Inbev.
 
wantonsoup said:
The hypocrisy of Yuengling to be so pro-Republican and yet run to the fed when they want something is staggering.
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True, but isn't this also a classic example of a domestic company vs a foreign owned company? IIRC the pres elect campaigned on penalizing companies who moved operations out of the US. Presumably he would also support the domestic company here over the one taking its profits out of the country.
 
WaltStarr said:
At the end of the day I find I really don't care how the Feds go with this one as I cannot think of a single product produced by any of the organizations involved that I actually like!
Click to expand...

Oooooo I wish I had your palette! It sounds so refined!
 
wantonsoup said:
The hypocrisy of Yuengling to be so pro-Republican and yet run to the fed when they want something is staggering.
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Hypocrisy? Yes. Capitalism 101? Absolutely. Use the tools at your disposal to get what you can, while you can, nevermind what or whom you trample in the process. Then complain about the rules that prevent you from feeding your greed, or worse, limit your accrual of increased wealth and power.
 
WaltStarr said:
So I don't like something and you decide to poke fun at me over it? How socially refined of you.
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If you had posted a thread titled "I don't like Yuengling" I wouldn't have clicked on it. You posted a thread titled "Beer wars: Yuengling fights massive merger of Budweiser and Miller Lite brewers". IMO you could have left your opinion out if you didn't want to hear others opinions on your opinion.

edit: deleted last line because maybe I was wrong.
 
Ohiosean said:
This whole thing makes me sick to my stomach. I don't want Yuengling to become part of that juggernaut, but at the same time I'm pretty indifferent to Yuengling's well being. "Beer" is supposed to be a happy, neutral island where we can all come together and be at peace. Mergers like this are usually driven by corporations with ideals closely related to those of Dick Yuengling. I'm sure he would have more support if he hadn't decided to take political sides during the election, and be so vocal about issues specific to his employees in the past. If you Google about this you'll find that recently bars all over the place are taking Yuegling off the menu.

So do I want this merger to go through? Heck no--but it has nothing to do with my respect for Yuengling. Not anymore. Beer should bring us together--not take sides. But we are seriously running out of cheap-beer options that don't fuel AB-Inbev.
Click to expand...

I feel you have misunderstood the article, or didn't read it and are just making an assumption.

This is NOT a thread about Yuengling being bought out. This is a thread about Yeungling taking a stand against the AbInbev and SAB merger.
 
And InBev's acquisitions have little or nothing to do with "wanting to control everything that goes in your mouth" and everything to do with the corporate level bonus program structure. Executives stand to get enormous bonuses for maintaining/increasing top- and bottom-line growth. Organic business growth is generally not enough to consistently reach those growth targets, so M&A activity is generally the solution. Oh, I can get a $5M bonus for doubling our revenue numbers this year? What, we can't sell that much stuff? Ok, I'll buy someone else who's already selling that much stuff and add it to our top line. Boom. bonus.
 
rtt121 said:
If you had posted a thread titled "I don't like Yuengling" I wouldn't have clicked on it. You posted a thread titled "Beer wars: Yuengling fights massive merger of Budweiser and Miller Lite brewers". IMO you could have left your opinion out if you didn't want to hear others opinions on your opinion.

edit: deleted last line because maybe I was wrong.
Click to expand...

It is bad form to post an article in a discussion forum and offer nothing of your own thoughts as that defeats the purpose of a discussion forum.

Opinions are fine. Vulgar insinuations merely point to the lack of thought on the part the person who makes them.

Auger said:
And InBev's acquisitions have little or nothing to do with "wanting to control everything that goes in your mouth" and everything to do with the corporate level bonus program structure. Executives stand to get enormous bonuses for maintaining/increasing top- and bottom-line growth. Organic business growth is generally not enough to consistently reach those growth targets, so M&A activity is generally the solution. Oh, I can get a $5M bonus for doubling our revenue numbers this year? What, we can't sell that much stuff? Ok, I'll buy someone else who's already selling that much stuff and add it to our top line. Boom. bonus.
Click to expand...

And here we have thoughts presented that get to the true heart of the matter on the InBev side of the issue at hand.
 
AB-InBev has a horrendous track record of engaging in anticompetitive practices that squeeze out the little guy. They managed to keep microbrews out of many stores for years by enticing distributors not to carry their products. They are one of the behind the scenes powers that keeps onerous distribution laws on the books in many states, limiting how much beer craft breweries can produce before they have to turn over all distribution to distributers. Anything that limits their growing clout gets my vote!
 
I've never had a Yuengling product - maybe they aren't available west of the Mississippi. I would personally be against Budweiser getting their hands on any brewery, though. My husband worked for a beer distributor in Fresno, CA, when Miller, Coors and Corona were still separate entities. The Bud distributor trained, encouraged and rewarded their employees for sabotaging the products of their competitors. They unscrewed bottle tops, destroyed neon signs, rearranged the coolers so their products had more space, even against the orders of the store owners. They were bullies. In addition, they moved their operations from St. Louis, Missouri, to Belgium, effectively making them tax dodgers. I won't be surprised if the Justice Department gives them the green light - money talks.
 
Hi,
Just giving my cent...
All this is my opinion.
I live in Brazil, and worked several years ago in Brahma beer company when they bought the second biggest here ( Antarctica Beer Co.) and then born the AmBev. Since then they just think to reduce costs in every place.. ( in insane mode I think)
Then they founded the InBev and you can see that every company that go to this Co. change the quality during the next years (by my opinion)... I saw severals like Franziskaner, etc, etc.
Today most of the beer here is too bad (by my opinion) as you can not imagine.. the quantity of quimics products added to make the beer "good" is totally insane (by my opinion)... 3 days the beer is already in the streets for sale as I know. For example, if I drink one of this beers my blood pressure raise during next day to 19x15 .. I'm lucky man to detect this before any deep problem to my healthy. So.. think about what else products are included in this beers to make it so cheaper in market and be able to buy every other Co.

Note: This is why I started to brew my own beer.. and of course I do not give my money to this people that don't care with us by my opinion.
Note2: they are trying to sale different beers now.. but those beers is everything except what they say that is.. by my opinion.
Note3: I left that Co couples months after AmBev raise.

Fermenting: Galaxy Pond Pale Ale
 
IslandLizard said:
Up till a few years ago, when I lived in PA, 30 miles from the brewery, I used to buy 16oz flats of Yuengling for $17 from the local beer distributor. I really like their Black & Tan, also in 16oz cans. It's even better on tap.

The whole InBev development is becoming borderline cartel forming, IMO. Coca-Cola seems the be the next acquisition. I was wondering if Belgium is one of the few countries that doesn't have anti-trust/anti-cartel laws. The Belgians used to be very laid back with laws, creating a small Mecca for those wanting to walk the fine line.
Click to expand...
For real, the Yuengling Black & Tan is top notch. I didn't care too much for their lager but the Black & Tan on tap is amazing. I also liked Lionshead when I lived in Philly. We used to pound those and try to figure out the pictograms on the inside of the Lionshead caps.....the more we drank the more "creative " our solutions were!
 
The underlying issue here is greed. And the fact that some of these corporate boardroom monsters forgot that they are humans like all the rest of us. If you don't stand up against mega-corporations then you are supporting the demise of humanity including the true crafts that have been handed down since the beginning of time.
 
This is the direct logical result of the near-medieval Alcohol Distributor system we have in America. It's not capitalism.

The idea that in "The Land of the Free" a small brewery can't just sell their beer to any legal buyer who wants it is ridiculous. And it leads to the inevitable roll-up of the industry by those at the top with the pre-existing means to strong arm the industry.
 
Agree with the above. Maybe it'll force lawmakers to reinvent the 3-tier system of distribution. Brewers need a way to get their beer out there but there shouldn't be so many restrictions on how they do it.
 
Magnus314 said:
This is the direct logical result of the near-medieval Alcohol Distributor system we have in America. It's not capitalism.

The idea that in "The Land of the Free" a small brewery can't just sell their beer to any legal buyer who wants it is ridiculous. And it leads to the inevitable roll-up of the industry by those at the top with the pre-existing means to strong arm the industry.
Click to expand...

ScubaSteve said:
Agree with the above. Maybe it'll force lawmakers to reinvent the 3-tier system of distribution. Brewers need a way to get their beer out there but there shouldn't be so many restrictions on how they do it.
Click to expand...

This isn't the only industry with such a foolish distribution model, especially in the 21st century. Automobiles immediately spring to mind. The arcane distribution models are harmful to consumers.
 

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