Lagunitas sells to Heineken , another good brewery sells their soul to corpor...

[akthor]

Come on guys let's be real. You spend blood sweat and tears not to mention your life savings and more plus take on mountains of debt starting a business.

Then someone offers you far more than you ever thought to buy it. Enough to for you and your family for generations to live free and happy.

Who wouldn't take some of these deals craft breweries have been getting? Honestly?

Especially now that the market is saturated. Brewery numbers increase, the amount of money spent on beer has not. You have more breweries competing for the same amount of money. Life is going to get tough for many.

I say congrats to anyone who builds their dream and is able to sell it on their own terms for more than they probably ever imagined.

 

[capthanson]

Red Hook is finding out the hard way. They are closing their doors and I have to say I'm not sorry. In or around 1980 they opened up in a friend of mine's warehouse and was the best beer ever. They just got better and better as they expanded to The Fremont Trolley House. Then Budweiser bought interest and forced them to make mediocre beer to make more profit. Just plain no reason for anyone to drink mediocre beer anymore!The good news is that they are opening a new micro brewery and rumor has it that they are going to focus on quality again. "Ya Sure You Betcha"!!

 

[blkmagik98]

Just got back from two weeks in Amsterdam this past Thursday, and coincidentally met the Lagunitas rep in my favorite bar (lived there for eight years). He said that they 'were working with Heinken' but didn't mention that they'd actually been completely bought by Heineken.

Michael

I live down the street and know the brewery very well. Tony McGee will still operate Lagunitas and still design future beers but now under Heineken. Their goal is to create a "craft beer" division, which will be under Lagunitas for worldwide distribution. They mainly just operate out of Petaluma, CA and Boston right now with more in he works in Europe, potentially Amsterdam.

But it is sad to see a small local brewery grow so large and be bought out by a corporation as large as Heineken. C'est la vie!

At least we still have Russian River Brewing Company

 

[corney]

Damn. I drink Lagunitas every summer when I'm back in the States. I guess no more Aunt Sally and SUCKS for me...

Well they didn't come out with Aunt Sally until after they sold the first 50% in 2015 so...maybe this means you wont have to wait til your back in the states...

 

[FatDragon]

Well they didn't come out with Aunt Sally until after they sold the first 50% in 2015 so...maybe this means you wont have to wait til your back in the states...

Fair enough. Since the months before the US presidential election, I've been getting more political and more willing to act on political beliefs, so where buying a craft beer half-owned by Heineken wasn't a big deal to me the last time I was in the States, it's more of an issue to me now.

 

[starsman20]

Don't fool yourselves. There is not a single person on this forum that if they started a brewery business and grew it so it could be sold for millions and millions of dollars wouldn't sell. Most of these breweries are started from the beginning with that intent. No one starts a business to lose money.

 

[TenBeers]

I don't think anyone doubts that most people would take the money. If my neighborhood micro brewery was bought out I'd be really happy for those guys. Unfortunately, in this instance the impact goes beyond just those guys getting a big payout. It's about InBev getting stronger and being able to close out a lot of small brewers. 10? 20? 100 brewers nationwide? Hard to say how many, but for every sellout to InBev comes with them getting closer to owning what choices you have to drink. InBev doesn't care - guarantee you on that. Actually, ALL they care about is being your only choice for beer.
It's especially bad in the case of Wicked Weed - they were considered one of the most respected cornerstones of craft brewing. Taking them down was like taking down Moby Dick. That sent a message to every brewer no matter what size. Sure, for some that message will be, "hope we're next!" and for others they will see that their chance to compete on a level playing field might be slipping away.

 

[Syke]

Don't fool yourselves. There is not a single person on this forum that if they started a brewery business and grew it so it could be sold for millions and millions of dollars wouldn't sell. Most of these breweries are started from the beginning with that intent. No one starts a business to lose money.

It's important to consider who you are selling to. Selling to InBev stifles the market for the small guys. I know many brewers who would not sell to InBev for any amount of money, because doing so hurts their friends and the entire craft beer market.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I know many brewers who would not sell to InBev for any amount of money, because doing so hurts their friends and the entire craft beer market.

Hah. Easy to say when you haven't been offered.

 

[cmac62]

None of us know the true language of the deal/contract. If I had a brewery that started small and got as big as Lagunitas I'd want to sell it too. All the hassles of being a big business can be taken care of and the brewers can brew again (with a billion $ in their pockets) instead of dealing with everything else. I say wait and see, if the beer changes to something you don't like stop buying it. It will also be interesting to see how good the seasonal beers are.

I think Sucks is the best hopped beer I have ever tried and Pliny the Elder is just another big IIPA. When I think about it I don't buy Lagunitas because my capper doesn't work on the bottles and they get tossed. So to each his own.

 

[WitShadow]

The corporate paranoia on this site is so over the top it is borderline ridiculous.

The reason that these giants buy 'smaller' breweries is not with hostile intent towards the brewery or its customers.
The purchaser is interested in buying only for the additional revenue, margin, and diversification.
The seller is looking for stability, growth, and a nice paycheck for the owners.

Why would a mega-brewer spend a ton of money to buy a successful craft brewer and then tear it apart? Do you really think that whether or not Lagunitas exists is going to impact Heineken sales in any way shape or form? They don't compete in the same market segment. If Lagunitas were to disappear forever, the impact on the existing line of Heineken products would be so minimal as to be negligible.

Heineken won't replace the brewery staff or change the fundamental production aspect of the brewery; they might absorb human resources, accounting, and marketing into their existing framework and use their management experience to help existing managers perform better, but that is all.

Craft beer snobs and the fringe homebrewers want it both ways; to see their passion as being legitimate without being accepted by the main stream.

I disagree. Heineken ruined Bohemia, which was one of the few great production brews until Heiny bought them and cheapened down the recipe with adjuncts and less hops. Bud has done the same thing to a few of the formerly revered craft brands they bought, turning them into watered-down versions of their previous selves. I don't begrudge the owners for getting paid, but I also don't begrudge the fans when they see the imminent end of an era of a great pioneer brand. I have been a big fan of Lagunitas for producing great beers and keeping prices fair for years, and am sad to see them go.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I disagree. Heineken ruined Bohemia, which was one of the few great production brews until Heiny bought them and cheapened down the recipe with adjuncts and less hops. Bud has done the same thing to a few of the formerly revered craft brands they bought, turning them into watered-down versions of their previous selves. I don't begrudge the owners for getting paid, but I also don't begrudge the fans when they see the imminent end of an era of a great pioneer brand. I have been a big fan of Lagunitas for producing great beers and keeping prices fair for years, and am sad to see them go.

I think it would be interesting to see actual proof of claims like these.

When a macro bought beer "changes" it is deemed to because they bean counted ingredients for maximum profitability.

But when craft beer changes, from year to year, it's accepted as being a natural product bound to the will of seasonal changes in ingredients, blah, blah.

Can anyone actually prove that the X beer (Bohemia) recipe changed after acquisition? I suspect it does happen, but not near as drastically, or as often as most claim.

 

[Norselord]

I disagree. Heineken ruined Bohemia, which was one of the few great production brews until Heiny bought them and cheapened down the recipe with adjuncts and less hops. Bud has done the same thing to a few of the formerly revered craft brands they bought, turning them into watered-down versions of their previous selves. I don't begrudge the owners for getting paid, but I also don't begrudge the fans when they see the imminent end of an era of a great pioneer brand. I have been a big fan of Lagunitas for producing great beers and keeping prices fair for years, and am sad to see them go.

Do you mean the Mexican beer Bohemia?
If so, that is a direct competitor to the Heineken brand, and i wouldn't be surprised if Heineken tweaked their processes to adapt to what Heineken sees as their strength (brewing mass market lagers).

Lagunitas is not going anywhere. You can still be sad, if you really want; but don't do it because you think they are going somewhere.

In a way I am happy the internet didn't exist when Bob Dylan went electric - my God, that would have been some epic salt.

 

[b-boy]

https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/05/the-straw-man-arguments-of-craft-beer-sell-outs.html

 

[maxxxx]

They have the SA hops too. Waaaaay expensive but they have them.

 

[WitShadow]

https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/05/the-straw-man-arguments-of-craft-beer-sell-outs.html

Good article.

 

[WitShadow]

I think it would be interesting to see actual proof of claims like these.

When a macro bought beer "changes" it is deemed to because they bean counted ingredients for maximum profitability.

But when craft beer changes, from year to year, it's accepted as being a natural product bound to the will of seasonal changes in ingredients, blah, blah.

Can anyone actually prove that the X beer (Bohemia) recipe changed after acquisition? I suspect it does happen, but not near as drastically, or as often as most claim.

Well, you're talking about companies that fiercely guard their processes and recipes so I don't think they'd be too forthcoming, in particular about anything that cheapened a recipe. However, when they produce an all malt beer, they post that all over the label.

I'd also be interested to see proof, but it would take a leak (no pun or double entendre intended). The proof is in the mug. The fact is that most anyone who is a fan of a beer or drinks it regularly can taste a change. Those with BJCP, Cicerone etc. certifications can even tell you what was actually done to the recipe just from drinking it. Adjuncts and lower hopping rates aren't difficult to spot.

I remember fans complaining vociferously about Sculpin changing from batch to batch long before the buyout, so I'm not sure craft brewers really get more benefit of the doubt as you suggest. But it is true that to a certain extent craft brewers are more at the whims of nature, while big brands employ a lot more science to compensate for any variance in ingredients.