Do You Buy From Northern Brewer?

[DromJohn]

but I haven't bought from them since they took 2 freaking weeks to ship my order (before the buyout).

The poor turn around (and bogus reasons) before the buyout, almost lost me. But InBev corrected that problem by my next order. New ownership has done several things I don't like (new website, emptying my cart, charging for milling), but shipping has improved significantly.

 

[applescrap]

Oh no not another one of these threads. I've said it once, I've said it twice, and I'll say it again. Inbev employees 230,000 people. Most of them are nice honest hard-working red-blooded Americans just like you and I. I just don't get it. All these red-blooded Americans are somehow bad people in light of the prick who owns the lhbs by me. One of the lhbs by me is owned by a bunch of a-holes, how is supporting that jerk any better. A lot of the Brewers at the small Brewers by me are super chumpy, what's so cool about supporting these jerks. Nah I got no problem with people named Carl who have their name written on their shirt that work for inbev. I got no problem with the fact that they have a lot of mouths to feed. I know as a company they do some bad things but they are not alone.

How about my buddy who won't shop at companies like inbev. He's got no problem wearing shoes that came from countries that still have gender mutilation and or slave labor. It's hard to be American and not be a hypocrite. Don't believe me take a look at where your clothes were manufactured or anything else in your life. My friend drives a Volkswagen. They were in direct Cahoots with Hitler. Wasn't the bug his idea. I think I read somewhere that they used to make women give birth kill their babies and then send them back to work. He won't eat at Subway or wherever because a guy shot a lion or something but he'll drive a Volkswagen. We have spent a lot of time discussing this and it's a long discussion but in the long run you will have a hard time convincing me of your righteousness because you don't shop at Northern Brewer.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/1999/may/06/iantraynor

 

[MaxStout]

Oh no not another one of these threads. I've said it once, I've said it twice, and I'll say it again. Inbev employees 230,000 people. Most of them are nice honest hard-working red-blooded Americans just like you and I. I just don't get it. All these red-blooded Americans are somehow bad people in light of the prick who owns the lhbs by me. One of the lhbs by me is owned by a bunch of a-holes, how is supporting that jerk any better. A lot of the Brewers at the small Brewers by me are super chumpy, what's so cool about supporting these jerks. Nah I got no problem with people named Carl who have their name written on their shirt that work for inbev. I got no problem with the fact that they have a lot of mouths to feed. I know as a company they do some bad things but they are not alone.

How about my buddy who won't shop at companies like inbev. He's got no problem wearing shoes that came from countries that still have gender mutilation and or slave labor. It's hard to be American and not be a hypocrite. Don't believe me take a look at where your clothes were manufactured or anything else in your life. My friend drives a Volkswagen. They were in direct Cahoots with Hitler. Wasn't the bug his idea. I think I read somewhere that they used to make women give birth kill their babies and then send them back to work. He won't eat at Subway or wherever because a guy shot a lion or something but he'll drive a Volkswagen. We have spent a lot of time discussing this and it's a long discussion but in the long run you will have a hard time convincing me of your righteousness because you don't shop at Northern Brewer.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/1999/may/06/iantraynor

I'd like to subscribe to your newsletter.

 

[jmarkkaufman]

Oh no not another one of these threads. I've said it once, I've said it twice, and I'll say it again. Inbev employees 230,000 people. Most of them are nice honest hard-working red-blooded Americans just like you and I. I just don't get it. All these red-blooded Americans are somehow bad people in light of the prick who owns the lhbs by me. One of the lhbs by me is owned by a bunch of a-holes, how is supporting that jerk any better. A lot of the Brewers at the small Brewers by me are super chumpy, what's so cool about supporting these jerks. Nah I got no problem with people named Carl who have their name written on their shirt that work for inbev. I got no problem with the fact that they have a lot of mouths to feed. I know as a company they do some bad things but they are not alone.

How about my buddy who won't shop at companies like inbev. He's got no problem wearing shoes that came from countries that still have gender mutilation and or slave labor. It's hard to be American and not be a hypocrite. Don't believe me take a look at where your clothes were manufactured or anything else in your life. My friend drives a Volkswagen. They were in direct Cahoots with Hitler. Wasn't the bug his idea. I think I read somewhere that they used to make women give birth kill their babies and then send them back to work. He won't eat at Subway or wherever because a guy shot a lion or something but he'll drive a Volkswagen. We have spent a lot of time discussing this and it's a long discussion but in the long run you will have a hard time convincing me of your righteousness because you don't shop at Northern Brewer.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/1999/may/06/iantraynor

You have a point about consistency. I try to do what I can to vote with my dollars, but still buy stuff at Amazon. I bike to work but that means clients often drive to me. I don’t shop at WalMart but I do at Target, and there’s probably not a big difference. Ultimately it means I am a little more informed but still pretty spotty in my info. This one feels like InBev kinda stepped on my toes though.

 

[Soulshine2]

I have bought from NB. I've bought from Amazon ,I've bought from a LHBS (but there are none by me here in N.AL) ... I'll buy from whoever has what Im looking for and if theres more than one selling it , I'll buy from the one with the best deal whether it be price, free shipping or if I need it soon or it can wait.

 

[NeoBrew]

I love to see these threads pop up and spread the word. I feel we should all do our part and shop with our dollars. To dismiss what we do as consumers as not relevant to what happens in business, is to abdicate any say you have in how the world of business works.

Even after a few years nobody seems to know what AbInbev is up to. That in itself should concern us all. As someone said above, they don't do things like this without a plan. And if you are wondering "what's the harm?", consider the story of what happened in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area where NB is headquartered.

NB and Midwest supplies started well before my homebrewing started. By the time I hit the scene they had merged into one company. They were good, no doubt. They were so good that our metro area of over 3 million people had only one other viable homebrew store in business. (Brew and Grow). There were a few others on the periphery when I started, all gone now because of NB/Midwest dominance in our market. This left us vulnerable when they reached a deal with AbInbev. One possible scenario for them is that they spend a few years perfecting the business, and then start buying up or opening LHBS across the country. When they put their $$ to work on that it will push out the little guys. And because of the hypocritical nature of all of us as pointed out by applescrap above, it could happen like Wallmart, HomeDepot, etc. and kill selection, quality, and variety for everyone. Did we not see them do this to beer over the last several decades?

Don't get me wrong, Brew and Grow is a good store, and thankfully they are pretty close to my house, but many in my area have to drive all the way across town and past NB/Midwest to get to the north side. And they can't always keep up with stock. When the takeover first happened NB/Midwest was the only place locally to get White Labs yeas for instance.

I know I can sound a little paranoid, but it became very personal for me due to my allegiance to them before the buyout and the lack of options I have here.

 

[kh54s10]

I love to see these threads pop up and spread the word. I feel we should all do our part and shop with our dollars. To dismiss what we do as consumers as not relevant to what happens in business, is to abdicate any say you have in how the world of business works.

Even after a few years nobody seems to know what AbInbev is up to. That in itself should concern us all. As someone said above, they don't do things like this without a plan. And if you are wondering "what's the harm?", consider the story of what happened in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area where NB is headquartered.

NB and Midwest supplies started well before my homebrewing started. By the time I hit the scene they had merged into one company. They were good, no doubt. They were so good that our metro area of over 3 million people had only one other viable homebrew store in business. (Brew and Grow). There were a few others on the periphery when I started, all gone now because of NB/Midwest dominance in our market. This left us vulnerable when they reached a deal with AbInbev. One possible scenario for them is that they spend a few years perfecting the business, and then start buying up or opening LHBS across the country. When they put their $$ to work on that it will push out the little guys. And because of the hypocritical nature of all of us as pointed out by applescrap above, it could happen like Wallmart, HomeDepot, etc. and kill selection, quality, and variety for everyone. Did we not see them do this to beer over the last several decades?

Don't get me wrong, Brew and Grow is a good store, and thankfully they are pretty close to my house, but many in my area have to drive all the way across town and past NB/Midwest to get to the north side. And they can't always keep up with stock. When the takeover first happened NB/Midwest was the only place locally to get White Labs yeas for instance.

I know I can sound a little paranoid, but it became very personal for me due to my allegiance to them before the buyout and the lack of options I have here.

I don't quite get the message here. You are complaining that NB and Midwest merged and drove out other LHBSs. You also said this happened before InBev bought them. I have not seen any difference in NB or Midwest since the buyout. In fact some said customer service had gone downhill in the time before the buyout and has since returned to the good reputation it had early on. I have seen no evidence that they are trying to force other stores out of the market. I will reserve judgement until there is some evidence, rather than condemning them because Budweiser was a very successful brand.

 

[RPh_Guy]

For many reasons I'm happy to use my buying power to support homebrew suppliers not owned by AB InBev.

Also, I don't always buy beer, but when I do it's from independent breweries.

Cheers!

 

[NeoBrew]

I don't quite get the message here. You are complaining that NB and Midwest merged and drove out other LHBSs. You also said this happened before InBev bought them. I have not seen any difference in NB or Midwest since the buyout. In fact some said customer service had gone downhill in the time before the buyout and has since returned to the good reputation it had early on. I have seen no evidence that they are trying to force other stores out of the market. I will reserve judgement until there is some evidence, rather than condemning them because Budweiser was a very successful brand.

I think we would tend to divide along belief systems in how the world works on this one.

It's true, nothing bad has apparently happened since NB was bought out. I have no evidence of it anyway.

I am one to think that consolidation into fewer and fewer companies is overall not great for us in the end. It has a nice effect of reducing prices in the short run, but in the long run it leads to less variety, stifles innovation, and pushes independent organizations out of business. You can look to Wall Mart, Home Depot, car manufacturers through most of the 20th century, and on and on.

One that might hit closer to the topic at hand would be the consolidation of beer into the hands of only a few companies. 4 companies produce almost half the beer in the world. They have demonstrated over the years many attempts to use their power and finances to inhibit competition.

The question is only whether they see the homebrew supply market differently than they see the beer market? That seems unlikely to me as it is a natural tendency of any business to want to grow and push out the competition. That's just how the forces within companies work. So I'm of the mind that their involvement in the market will hasten the consolidation of the industry. And the nightmare scenario would be that they gain an overwhelming part of the market and then decide to start dictating what we all have access to.

 

[MaxStout]

I get what you're saying. It's sad to see the market held by fewer and fewer players. Lots of industries are becoming oligopolies: beer, record companies, airlines, etc. I like to find what I need from the indie vendors when possible, but I have to strike a balance between that, and my consumerist tendencies. I might be willing to pay a little more to support the little guy, but I'll order from the big guys if the savings is significant.

Being a large corporation, in and of itself, isn't enough reason for me to boycott it.

 

[GoeHaarden]

I noticed the fine print on NB’s last few 20% off sales does not include grain...

Still try the code, because I've gotten different 20% off codes to work a few times. Then all you fruitless haters can truly stick it to the man by decreasing their profits.

I love to see these threads pop up and spread the word.

This topic is redundant AF!