Goose Island and AB

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

I'm not too happy about this move. I'm a big fan of GI's more limited beers. Not a huge fan of things like 312 and honkers, but I'll buy Night Stalker or BCS anytime.

I'm glad to see the two breweries in Chicago aren't being sold, but if AB bought the GI name, then how CAN they continue to operate under the GI name?

I'm just glad I have a local liquor store owner who refuses to sell BMC products. Thanks to this, I know I'll always have a place to get good craft beer that isn't owned by big beer.

 

[ArcaneXor]

You'll start seeing this a lot more. Since industrial lager sales are regressing while craft beer is growing, this is the only way for the factory breweries to increase their market share. It's like making the small breweries an offer they can't refuse. Bastards!

 

[Revvy]

Yeah all the threads like this are getting merged with the thread where we've been discussing it all day...https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f5/goose-island-ab-235629/

Me, I don't think it's that big of a deal....

 

[jaycount]

No complaining about distribution in Arizona! I get wowed everytime I'm there.

Your wal-marts have a better beer selection then our liquor stores.

 

[jtakacs]

congrats to goose island.

 

[cheezydemon3]

Me, I do think it makes a diff.

SWMBO spilled coffee on the mac, and now the lette between "e" and "t" doesn't feaking wok.

This SUCKS.

don't have the patience to expand without a feaking " ".

 

[SickTransitMundus]

Hey, don't worry, Bourbon County Stout will still be around in 5 years. It'll just be brewed with corn leavings, watered down to 3.2% ABV, and sold by belching frogs.

Overall, it could have been worse. Better that GI drink the koolaid - er, cyanide-flavored ricewater - than 3 Floyds, Founders, or Bell's.

 

[GeoGirl]

I'm not too happy about this move. I'm a big fan of GI's more limited beers. Not a huge fan of things like 312 and honkers, but I'll buy Night Stalker or BCS anytime.

I'm glad to see the two breweries in Chicago aren't being sold, but if AB bought the GI name, then how CAN they continue to operate under the GI name?

I'm just glad I have a local liquor store owner who refuses to sell BMC products. Thanks to this, I know I'll always have a place to get good craft beer that isn't owned by big beer.

I wondered the same thing. How can they operate under the GI name if they were not part of the deal?

Who is this local store you mention? I get to Rockford now and then and would be quite happy to stop in.

 

[Revvy]

Hey, don't worry, Bourbon County Stout will still be around in 5 years. It'll just be brewed with corn leavings, watered down to 3.2% ABV, and sold by belching frogs.

I wondered the same thing. How can they operate under the GI name if they were not part of the deal?

Why do you guys wonder about it, or think any of their beers will change???

Has Leffe Blonde changed since it was snapped up by inbev? It's still a damn fine beer.

Both Greg and John have said, the brands and decisions will still be in the hands of GI...Greg said it in the interview posted above...

We said "Before we talk, we want to make sure you know we want to keep brewing in Chicago, management in Chicago, decision-making in Chicago and we want to grow brands and add capacity." And they said "Great, that works for us."

 

[motobrewer]

Both Greg and John have said, the brands and decisions will still be in the hands of GI...Greg said it in the interview posted above...

i personally don't think the beers will change, at least not in the short term....

but to think that a fortune 100 exec will keep his word in 5 years is pretty naive.

these guys' mantra is: "things changed"

if an executive isn't messing with things, he isn't doing his job.

 

[JNye]

That said, I'm going to be pissed if 312 wheat starts knocking off local brands here in PHX.

This is my thought as well. I like local beer, cause its fresh, and just cause its produced close to home. IMO most beer doesn't deserve or need to travel. Its not that hard to make a good beer. We don't need GI in the back pocket of AB. Eventually this will become a bad thing. Their big beers, say "niche beers" will certainly not be the focus of mass distribution, it will be the smaller, popular stuff and will direcly effect shelf space to your local brewer.

 

[Montanaandy]

Just received word that Goose Island has sold out to AB for roughly $30 mil. Sadly, the end of an era.

 

[Montanaandy]

Sorry - make that $40 mil.

 

[two_hearted]

Lots of good discussion here, I'll weigh in with my .02

I personally don't support AB/In-bev and would like as little of my money and support going to them as possible. I'll probably steer clear of GI because of this. Regardless of whether the product loses quality or changes, I just plain don't want to support AB.

 

[Brewkowski]

Although it does make complete business sense; physical plant expansion, increased distribution, and enough marketing resourses to put GI on every shelf in the US, it feels like a bit of a downer. Will quality change, probably not soon, but eventually GI will be another line of products. Like others have said, it just feels like the little guy sold out, it would have been a lot cooler if several breweries across the nation would have formed some kind of alliance, for pooling resources and distribution. I just hate thinking that eventually every decent brewery could get bought up by a medium sized company then by a large company and then by a huge company.

 

[EricScott]

Why do you guys wonder about it, or think any of their beers will change???

Has Leffe Blonde changed since it was snapped up by inbev? It's still a damn fine beer.

Both Greg and John have said, the brands and decisions will still be in the hands of GI...Greg said it in the interview posted above...

We think it will change for several reasons:

First, the GI brewmaster is stepping down as part of this deal. This is a huge, huge indicator of things to come. We've read his official, vague statement in which he states that he wishes to pursue "other things" but he could have pursued "other things" yesterday, tomorrow, or next year. The timing makes this suspicious. In addition, he cannot very well come out and say, "AB will not allow me to continue to pursue my experimental style, artistic style of brewing and commitment to only the highest quality and quantity of ingredients and production methods, which they believe are simply too expensive."

Second, we've Googled AB's mission statement, and notice the stark contrast between its stated goals and the goals we know have lead to the beers we love (and yes, dont love) from GI. AB's mission statement mentions beer ONCE, and its in the context of MARKETING and SELLING beer, not in actually MAKING GOOD BEER. "Be the world's beer company," is the exact quote. It talks about logistics, marketing, and return to shareholders. Nowhere does it mention having a commitment to creating great beers, experimenting with new ingredients, rare, lost, or new styles, valuing quality over quantity, or accepting the bottom line risk associated with such experimentation that everyone on this board knows is necessary in a craft brewery.

Third, those of us who have lived through a buy out or two, know that the parent company ALWAYS says, "Nothing Will Change (tm)" and it is always a lie. The parent company's culture, methods, and goals are always imprinted on the child to some extent. Already something has changed. The brew master is stepping down.

Finally, Id rather have a single BCS once a year than all bud lite + black food coloring year round.

 

[jbrookeiv]

We think it will change for several reasons:

First, the GI brewmaster is stepping down as part of this deal. This is a huge, huge indicator of things to come. We've read his official, vague statement in which he states that he wishes to pursue "other things" but he could have pursued "other things" yesterday, tomorrow, or next year. The timing makes this suspicious. In addition, he cannot very well come out and say, "AB will not allow me to continue to pursue my experimental style, artistic style of brewing and commitment to only the highest quality and quantity of ingredients and production methods, which they believe are simply too expensive."

Second, we've Googled AB's mission statement, and notice the stark contrast between its stated goals and the goals we know have lead to the beers we love (and yes, dont love) from GI. AB's mission statement mentions beer ONCE, and its in the context of MARKETING and SELLING beer, not in actually MAKING GOOD BEER. "Be the world's beer company," is the exact quote. It talks about logistics, marketing, and return to shareholders. Nowhere does it mention having a commitment to creating great beers, experimenting with new ingredients, rare, lost, or new styles, valuing quality over quantity, or accepting the bottom line risk associated with such experimentation that everyone on this board knows is necessary in a craft brewery.

Third, those of us who have lived through a buy out or two, know that the parent company ALWAYS says, "Nothing Will Change (tm)" and it is always a lie. The parent company's culture, methods, and goals are always imprinted on the child to some extent. Already something has changed. The brew master is stepping down.

Finally, Id rather have a single BCS once a year than all bud lite + black food coloring year round.

Well said, sir. I think that pretty much sums up our side in this thread. They ALWAYS say nothing will change, but it almost always does.

 

[Andrewtherooster]

I had some Goose Island last night. Man, their beer was a lot better before they were bought out by Budweiser.

I'm kidding. This sucks, though.

 

[Homercidal]

"Gee, I wish we could continue brewing beer here in Chicago, but sales have just gone through the roof! We'll have to shift production to St. Louis. It's ok though, we have extra capacity since "Bud Micro Light Clear Sparkling Spring" didn't sell too well... I know we told you that nothing will change, but what can we do?

By the way... There's going to be a couple of large trucks delivering some corn this week. We have an idea for a new recipe that we think people are going to love!"

 

[SickTransitMundus]

Has Leffe Blonde changed since it was snapped up by inbev? It's still a damn fine beer.

Yes, Leffe is still a good beer, though there are better examples of the style pre- and post-acquisition.

My concern is more specific to Anheuser-Busch. I lived in Oregon in the late '90s and early 00's. Widmer Hefeweizen was an excellent beer that was only available in the Northwest. When AB bought a large share of the Widmer Brewery, Widmer got access to AB's distribution network (good for them!) but also began brewing at AB plants. You could truly taste the decrease in quality before and after. So, now that I live in Chicago, I can get Wid-Hefe, but it's just isn't worth it. A similar situation occurred with AB's investment in Red Hook - vastly wider distribution but degraded product.

Now, of course the situation here is different. Widmer existed in a different time and market. This was before the widespread experimentation in "extreme beers", which GI has been at the forefront of. Widmer also did not have a wide array of good product - indeed, their hefe was the only standout among their stable. I really hope AB doesn't futz with GI's high-end beers like Bourbon County Stout, Pepe Nero, Matilda, etc, as they are the best thing about GI. History has suggested otherwise.

In any case I'm happy for the Hall family - they have built an excellent brewery with diverse and interesting brews, they have strongly supported the craft and homebrewing community in Chicagoland, and they deserve their success. Hopefully GI's quality and traditions will persevere, but I am skeptical given AB's track record of investing in microbreweries.

 

[McMalty]

Goose Island was just sold to AB. First of all, damn you goose island, wth, way to literally sell out.

Second of all, go to hell AB, stay away from our craft brews. You have enough people who like your terrible beer, stay away from the smarter market share. I may have given you a pass if you were still American owned, but you're not. A foreign company purchasing part of an American revolution kinda pisses me off.

 

[Revvy]

That will just mean more bourbon county stout for those of us who don't think it's that big of a deal, especially after reading some of the articles posted in this thread, where your thread will probably get merged with just like the 10 other threads that have sprung up in the last 24 hours.....

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/goose-island-ab-235629/?highlight=goose

 

[bob1852]

I don't remember people complaining when AB "sold-out" to a much bigger InBev.

 

[Revvy]

And it's not like they haven't ALREADY been in partnership with AHB....

According to John Hall's statement on Goose Island's website they've been in partnership with them for 5 years...

Over the past five years our partnerships with Craft Brewers Alliance and Anheuser-Busch have enabled Goose Island to reach a growing number of beer drinkers. This has fueled our growth to the point that demand for our beers has outgrown the capacity of our brewery. Recently, we’ve even had to limit production of some classic and medal-winning styles. To keep up with growing demand from drinkers we’ve explored a variety of paths too secure new capital to support our growth.

(Bet you now totally wish you could piss out all the beers of their you drank BEFORE you just found out that they've been aligned with the evil empire for that long, and the beers haven't changed, just become more readily available....)

 

[McMalty]

I don't remember people complaining when AB "sold-out" to a much bigger InBev.

Probably b/c none of us care about AB. Personally, i was happy to see it go, hoping that it would lose some market share since all the flag-waving budweiser crowd wouldn't be drinking an american beer anymore and maybe would venture into microbrews. I thought it was and still do think it's a good thing for the industry, i think it allows some elbow room for some of the little guys so we can further the revolution.

 

[McMalty]

And it's not like they haven't ALREADY been in partnership with AHB....

According to John Hall's statement on Goose Island's website they've been in partnership with them for 5 years...



(Bet you now totally wish you could piss out all the beers of their you drank BEFORE you just found out that they've been aligned with the evil empire for that long, and the beers haven't changed, just become more readily available....)

I hear what you're saying, it just seems wrong to me. I don't want AB buying up a bunch of microbreweries. If they want goose island, fine, but stay away from the other guys. I'm tired of AB owning the market. Their time is over

 

[TheMan]

Goose Island is overrated anyway, I live in Chicagoland and don't buy their beer. There is far better beer to be had IMO. Who cares if they sell to a big company anyway? As long as they keep the same brewmaster they should still come out with the same types of beer.

 

[Yooper]

Goose Island is overrated anyway, I live in Chicagoland and don't buy their beer. There is far better beer to be had IMO. Who cares if they sell to a big company anyway? As long as they keep the same brewmaster they should still come out with the same types of beer.

Well, they didn't...................the brewmaster from Deschutes is coming to Chicago.

I think Goose Island was 58% owned by AB already. They just took over the final 42%, so it's really not a big deal. The majority interest was AB before this, too. They just didn't publicize it.

 

[bob1852]

Probably b/c none of us care about AB.

That's a pretty broad blanket statement...

I care about AB. If it wasn't for Budweiser, I wouldn't have started to drink beer when I was younger. I mean, how many people's first venture into beer is a double oaked, chili, Russian Imperial Stout?

To me; AB is a great gateway "drug" for getting people into the obsession we have with beer. Whether it be a light American Lager, or a double oaked, chili, Russian Imperial Stout.

Personally, i was happy to see it go, hoping that it would lose some market share since all the flag-waving budweiser crowd wouldn't be drinking an american beer anymore and maybe would venture into microbrews.

And how has that worked out?

I thought it was and still do think it's a good thing for the industry, i think it allows some elbow room for some of the little guys so we can further the revolution.

And AB-InBev acquiring Goose Island has helped that how?

Oh that's right; it will help the micros with increased distribution, market share, etc....but many seem too blind to recognize that....

 

[devilishprune]

I'm happy for them. Primarily because they may be able to expand their distribution and give me some BCS down here.