Northern Brewer Replacement

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Decimotox said:
Why is everyone up in arms about this? NB/Midwest. as I understand it, will still maintain their general structure. I'm sure there will be new products available eventually, but I just don't see the huge problem.

It's not like they're going to start selling only kits to make Budweiser, et al. I feel like it could only help in getting new ingredients, products, etc. What am I missing?
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It's not plausible that NB/Midwest will immediately start carrying completely different products, lay off all their staff, or divide up their assets and/or move operations elsewhere (though you could ask Rolling Rock fans about that, I suppose).

However, some don't like new corporate owner InBev's business practices and don't wish to support them, even indirectly, by shopping with a business that they own. And some prefer to support "small" or "locally owned" businesses on general principles, without having a specific bone to pick with InBev. Sounds like neither of these are concerns for you, so you can safely carry on shopping with NB/Midwest just as you did before the acquisition!
 
AZ_IPA said:
Has ownership changed? It's my understanding that the terms of the agreement were not released...
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AZ_IPA said:
Is Farley still the President and CEO? Yes or No?
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What does continuity of officers have to do with ownership of the company? Or are you suggesting that InBev bought only a minority, non-controlling share in NB/Midwest? If that were the case it would certainly change the discussion here (and would make me wonder what the hell InBev's strategy is, since its hard to see how they benefit here if they didn't acquire any control).
 
fosaisu said:
What does continuity of officers have to do with ownership of the company? Or are you suggesting that InBev bought only a minority, non-controlling share in NB/Midwest? If that were the case it would certainly change the discussion here (and would make me wonder what the hell InBev's strategy is, since its hard to see how they benefit here if they didn't acquire any control).
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Well, since we don't know the terms of the deal, isn't is a little odd to immediately assume the "worst" (whatever that is).

ZX-Ventures is relatively new, but already highly involved in lots of e-commerce stuff all over the world. Northern Brewer obviously does a lot of its business via e-commerce.

Farley has stated that the "leadership team will remain intact and our company will continue to be independent."

But, by all means, gather the pitchforks and torches and storm the castle. :p
 
Have been very happy with morebeer. I live in philly and am planing on moving to Kentucky soon. And will use morebeer if i can't find a local store.
 
AZ_IPA said:
Well, since we don't know the terms of the deal, isn't is a little odd to immediately assume the "worst" (whatever that is).

ZX-Ventures is relatively new, but already highly involved in lots of e-commerce stuff all over the world. Northern Brewer obviously does a lot of its business via e-commerce.

Farley has stated that the "leadership team will remain intact and our company will continue to be independent."

But, by all means, gather the pitchforks and torches and storm the castle. :p
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I'm not "storming" anything. I just wondered if you had some info on InBev's ownership stake/control. The stories I've read report that InBev "acquired" NB, which I think is fair to interpret as purchase of a controlling or majority interest.

Of course it's always possible that NB negotiated a deal where the original owners sold a majority stake to InBev yet retained disproportionate voting rights. Seems unlikely, since you'd imagine InBev would want the right to exercise at least some control over the companies it owns, and NB isn't exactly Google. But if that's the way the deal was structured, I imagine we'll hear all about it directly from NB if they in fact suffer a significant loss of business from customers turned off by the association with InBev.
 
fosaisu said:
I'm not "storming" anything. I just wondered if you had some info on InBev's ownership stake/control. The stories I've read report that InBev "acquired" NB, which I think is fair to interpret as purchase of a controlling or majority interest.

Of course it's always possible that NB negotiated a deal where the original owners sold a majority stake to InBev yet retained disproportionate voting rights. Seems unlikely, since you'd imagine InBev would want the right to exercise at least some control over the companies it owns, and NB isn't exactly Google. But if that's the way the deal was structured, I imagine we'll hear all about it directly from NB if they in fact suffer a significant loss of business from customers turned off by the association with InBev.
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This thread got off track. It's really about alternatives to NB/MW as an internet source for homebrew supplies.
 
GilaMinumBeer said:
So, the solution to the AbInbev buyout of NB & MWB is to use someone else and potentially put 100's to "maybe" a 1000+ employees out of work?
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Not likely. There are plenty of people who will still buy there. Plenty of people boycott places like WalMart and Sam's Club for the way they mistreat their employees, but they're not going out of business anytime soon.
 
noiz2 said:
T I think this takeover is going to be bad for homebrewing. How bad depends on how homebrewers react.
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The malt producers, hop growers and yeast companies aren't interested in having AB InBev control them or the home brew market. There's no reason why they would buy into anything like that. Northern Brewer will try to grow their business by increasing market share and/or increasing the overall market. There's just too much competition in the homebrew marketplace right now for one company to control anything. AB InBev relies on outside malt producers to supply 75% of their malt. They can buy malt cheaper than anyone else and k they will just use that buying power to increase their margins in the homebrew market, If they even stay in it.
I can't see how any of that will be good or bad for home brewers. Things will likely get more competitive, but I don't see how that is a bad thing.
 
My favorite in New England is maltoseexpress.com
I get the shipment two days after placing my order, they pack the yeast in ice and they always answer any email questions within a couple of hours.
 
Looks like I'll be making the 75 mile drive to Oklahoma City to the LHBS there. The only other option i have is the online retailers and the expensive shipping cost. Home Brew Supply was good while they had grains included in there flat rate shipping. But now its cheaper for me to drive....
 
Throttle79 said:
Looks like I'll be making the 75 mile drive to Oklahoma City to the LHBS there. The only other option i have is the online retailers and the expensive shipping cost. Home Brew Supply was good while they had grains included in there flat rate shipping. But now its cheaper for me to drive....
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Buy in bulk from Morebeer. Free shipping.
 
GilaMinumBeer said:
I'd not be surprised either. Never said making a purchase was a charity. But choosing to go elsewhere solely on the basis of who's name is on the title does nothing but punish those who are still employed by a domestic enterprise.

It'd make more sense to embargo any new ventures the previous ownership attempts to create.
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What if the new owners were crazy terrorists, hell-bent on your destruction? Would it be wise to buy from them so employees mightn't lose their jobs?

Previous ownership probably couldn't care less at this point. If they made out well, so be it. Good for them. If people wish not to support an AB/INBev venture, so be it. Spend your money where you wish.
 
I use both ritebrew and home brew supply. My first place to check is ritebrew. I buy about all my grains from ritebrew and really like their quick grain page where I can enter a grain bill for a recipe down to the ounce. I dont use NB or Midwest because I can usually beat their price at both my prefered sites and I rarely do recipe kits. I do a lot of wine kits and find midwest prices high. A couple of weeks ago, Home brew supply had a 15% off sale (or maybe it was 20%). I bought an eclipse wine kit with shipping for $60 kess than other places price without shipping. I also like home brew supply's daily specials.
 
I've only ordered from Homebrewsupply.com twice, but have been happy with both orders. And their shipping time from Texas to Maine was quicker than NB's Minnesota to Maine. I probably will throw more business their way.
 
popgunandy said:
Do you even know who owns any of these shops on the Internets or your local? The whole NB thing is out there because it was announced, but the ownership status of any other shop/purveyor is completely unknown, including those most people will switch to. So what are you avoiding and where are you going?

Am I the only one who finds this odd?
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I know my LHBS owner. Just because you may not know any doesn't mean others don't.
I find your assumption odd. Go where you wanna go, brew what you wanna brew... Shop where you wanna shop :fro:
 
I don't get this panic... Northern Brewer is going to keep on as is according to the owner with no interference from Inbev. This was mostly a capital infusion from what I got out of it so they can expand. I would love to see a NB satellite store out in SW MN! They could partner with a liquor store and share the space and both would win! I still buy and try new beers, and when I am pushed for time like I have been all October I dropped back to drinking Fat Tire until I can get back to brewing in a week. This week is get 6,000 pounds of corn in storage for the corn/pellet stove!
 
biochemedic said:
I love this shop because you can order specialty grains by the ounce, and organized grain bills into recipes. They ship very fast, and I seem to get stuff very quickly, considering that it's coming to me in PA from TX.
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Oh, and I would also like to mention that I do love Farmhouse Brewing, as many others have mentioned. I do wish that they had actually moved to Pittsburgh, but I wish them all the best regardless!
 
So, I haven't read all 225 posts, but want to offer my .02. It's obviously an individual choice on whether or no to support NB. Personally, I choose not to. I have already I unsubscribed from the mailing list. My personal beliefs are that this move puts other smaller online retailers and LHBS's at a disadvantage. I've always spread my purchases between NB, Morebeer, LHBS, & others. For me it's a personal preference. I live near a brewery acquired by AB-InBev and quit supporting them as well. There are plenty of other good options out there and I will choose to share my business with small business owners.
 
As long as NB continues to provide excellent service and product selection, I'm sticking with them. If ABinbev wants to start supporting home brewers that's fine with me as long as they don't try to control the conversation, so to speak.
 
I think the discussion comes down to whether you want to support "big" business or "small"
business. AB Inbev isn't "supporting" home brewing, they are just investing in a company.

As I have said before, buy what you can locally. Get the rest from good sources online and out of your area. I'm also in favor of growing and preserving your own stuff as much as you can. If not growing it, then get it from local producers or trade for it. You get better stuff and support the local economy, and sometimes it's cheaper.

Whenever it's possible. If it matters to you.
 
I'd have to cast my vote for Rebel Brewer. They're my LHBS and I go there for almost all my needs. The only negative I can say about them is they have a tendency to run out of my preferred yeast. I have another place locally that I can that from though no big deal.
 
To me this is more than boycotting Midwest or Northern Brewer this is about the infiltration of a corporate conglomerate getting their fingers into our community. AB InBev buys Northern Brewer today what's next White Labs a grain supplier, hop farms? Sure you're not brewing a rice piss Bud clone but you will be brewing AB InBev and that's what sucks.

InBev doesn't give a crap about the homebrewer they laugh at us and mock us in their commercials and now there in are community and we will never get them out. :(
 
Sitting in front of a check with that many zeros, any of the other sites mentioned on this thread would sell to. It's easy to say you wouldn't. But you see all those zeros with your name next to it.... it would be pretty hard to resist
 
I used to buy a lot of stuff (almost exclusively) from NB since I didn't have any decent LHBS around.

Now, I have www.love2brew.com that I buy almost everything from. They are about 20 minutes from work and have fresh ingredients, great selection, and excellent prices. They seems to do a lot of mail order business every time I visit for supplies. Ron and Mark are both very knowledgeable and helped me put together my custom brew stand last year.

So, I won't miss NB at all.
 
Skydog60 said:
To me this is more than boycotting Midwest or Northern Brewer this is about the infiltration of a corporate conglomerate getting their fingers into our community. AB InBev buys Northern Brewer today what's next White Labs a grain supplier, hop farms? Sure you're not brewing a rice piss Bud clone but you will be brewing AB InBev and that's what sucks.

InBev doesn't give a crap about the homebrewer they laugh at us and mock us in their commercials and now there in are community and we will never get them out. :(
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I seriously don't get how people make this personal and think the sky is Falling. InBev is in business to make money and own their space. Doesn't matter if it is selling Bud Light at Buffalo Wild Wings or Blichmann burners through NB.

I doubt their grand strategy is to mock home brewers and take away our kettles, or brainwash us into brewing with more rice. Buy from them because they are a good supplier, or don't because you're fundamentally averse to "big business" but I'd wait this out before condemning anyone.

And for the record - my local rocks and gets nearly 100% of my business. ;)
 
Murphys_Law said:
but I'd wait this out before condemning anyone. )
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The company that mocks home brewers at every superbowl DOES NOT DESERVE the benefit of the doubt.
Some people see AB/INBEV as a problem to home brewing/craft brewing and they are right. Others apparently wouldn't mind being only able to buy "Budweiser brand Barley" to make their homebrew.
 
GilaMinumBeer said:
Hmm. Depends. Did the incumbent pay taxes while drinking Bud Light?

Do you always compare Palm Trees to Porcupines?
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True, not a good comparison, but my point is that if I think the overwhelming majority of consumers aren't concerned with keeping a business' employees employed when making purchasing decisions. If it was more a priority for consumers, then there would be no incentive for the business to do anything other than keep it's employees employed. It sounds nice, but most of the world doesn't work that way.

I'm certainly not surprised to read some of the comments about not using NB anymore now that they'd been bought out by a company that controls a third of the world's beer. I don't completely agree, but I'm not surprised. This is the same group of folks who won't drink Goose Island or Lagunitas anymore.

Clearly anyone can choose to or choose not to patronize a business for whatever reason they want, it just seems like an odd argument to make that a business' employees are the first consideration.
 
If you're in the northern US, you can try the online retailers in Canada. With the exchange rate you will get additional savings ($50 CAD = $37 USD). A couple I use are Ontario Beer Kegs and Prairie Brew Supply. OBK has everything under the sun and sells hops in original mylar. Prairie has excellent service, is centrally located and sells quality hops at low cost. He repackages in vacuum seal bags, but keeps a limited selection and has high turn over. Great product/service at PBS and I highly recommend.

PBS: http://prairiebrewsupply.ca/

OBK: http://www.ontariobeerkegs.com/
 
ImNoExpert said:
True, not a good comparison, but my point is that if I think the overwhelming majority of consumers aren't concerned with keeping a business' employees employed when making purchasing decisions. If it was more a priority for consumers, then there would be no incentive for the business to do anything other than keep it's employees employed. It sounds nice, but most of the world doesn't work that way.

I'm certainly not surprised to read some of the comments about not using NB anymore now that they'd been bought out by a company that controls a third of the world's beer. I don't completely agree, but I'm not surprised. This is the same group of folks who won't drink Goose Island or Lagunitas anymore.

Clearly anyone can choose to or choose not to patronize a business for whatever reason they want, it just seems like an odd argument to make that a business' employees are the first consideration.
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Actually, the point is that it is way too soon to make ANY kind of judgement given the lack of the terms of the deal. Everything is pure speculation at this point and yet, the tone of this discussion is about abandonment with an underlying wish that, solely because AbInbev is involved, it folds.

Imagine the irony if this is EXACTLY why they made the deal in the first place.
 

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