Random Beer Thoughts

[beerindex]

Sorry for derailing the IKEA thread but Cloudwater getting called out.

Jeppe and/or the Evil Twin social media team are consistently *******, but they've got a fair point here.

 

[WhalezB4Rarez]

OK, which one of you ***** is this?


(Link to media)

Is that sunlight shining on those bottles?

 

[stupac2]

Sorry for derailing the IKEA thread but Cloudwater getting called out.

There was a ratebeer's best this year?

Also, I never understood the sturm und drang over ratebeer selling a stake, at least with breweries you can immediately see where the problem is, but with ratebeer ABI is going to do... what, exactly? Bias ratings? It would be easier/cheaper to do that from the outside, and plus, how would they even do it? I don't get it except as an "ABI BAD ME ANGRY" thing.

 

[BadJustin]

There was a ratebeer's best this year?

Also, I never understood the sturm und drang over ratebeer selling a stake, at least with breweries you can immediately see where the problem is, but with ratebeer ABI is going to do... what, exactly? Bias ratings? It would be easier/cheaper to do that from the outside, and plus, how would they even do it? I don't get it except as an "ABI BAD ME ANGRY" thing.

This. So many sanctimonious ***** boycotting anything ABI and chastising those that do still buy GI and ****. STFU, how is the view from your Ivory Tower?

 

[JCastle1]

There was a ratebeer's best this year?

Also, I never understood the sturm und drang over ratebeer selling a stake, at least with breweries you can immediately see where the problem is, but with ratebeer ABI is going to do... what, exactly? Bias ratings? It would be easier/cheaper to do that from the outside, and plus, how would they even do it? I don't get it except as an "ABI BAD ME ANGRY" thing.

They don't care about the ratings, all they want is the consumer data.

 

[stupac2]

They don't care about the ratings, all they want is the consumer data.

Right, but why does that mean that anyone should care? That information is all public anyway!

 

[Saind]

Right, but why does that mean that anyone should care? That information is all public anyway!

Strengthens ABI's position to, or helps them defermine which, other breweries to buy I guess? It's part of their overall strategy to **** over everyone (this is not necessarily my opinion) so it's a bad thing.

 

[JCastle1]

Right, but why does that mean that anyone should care? That information is all public anyway!

That's just not accurate at all. Having rating data available to the public is not the same as having it in a manageable, sortable, and accurate way. Consumer data is a massive advantage these days, that's the reason ZX Ventures was created. With this information (not from Ratebeer alone but from other ZX projects) they create better customer experiences, they can spot new trends, predict consumer behavior, predict styles growth in new locations. This kind of insight is also why they bought Northern Brewer, Picobrew, online beer stores, robotic delivery systems (also under ZX). This is all part of a bigger picture in order to grow in the craft beer market. There's a reason all the largest companies in the world are doing consumer data analysis, it's a big deal.

 

[TommyShitt]

I cannot wait for the inevitable stupac-ing that is about to happen.

 

[stupac2]

That's just not accurate at all. Having rating data available to the public is not the same as having it in a manageable, sortable, and accurate way. Consumer data is a massive advantage these days, that's the reason ZX Ventures was created. With this information (not from Ratebeer alone but from other ZX projects) they create better customer experiences, they can spot new trends, predict consumer behavior, predict styles growth in new locations. This kind of insight is also why they bought Northern Brewer, Picobrew, online beer stores, robotic delivery systems (also under ZX). This is all part of a bigger picture in order to grow in the craft beer market. There's a reason all the largest companies in the world are doing consumer data analysis, it's a big deal.

Even if you grant all that, you have given 0 reason why I should care.

 

[JCastle1]

Even if you grant all that, you have given 0 reason why I should care.

Nobody's saying you have to care, just giving the reasons I care. I own a brewery in an untapped market so Inbev creeping in here is a huge deal for me. They're pushing their stuff hard down here.

 

[beerindex]

Even if you grant all that, you have given 0 reason why I should care.

Not that I am particularly bothered by it, but insofar as you imagine the backend data they get will influence their acquisition targets, you might care if you dislike them buying up craft breweries.

 

[jmgrub]

Nobody's saying you have to care, just giving the reasons I care. I own a brewery in an untapped market so Inbev creeping in here is a huge deal for me. They're pushing their stuff hard down here.

Which brewery, out of curiosity?

 

[JohnnyBags]

A lot of that beer did noooooot age well.

What, you don't think that huge window that lets all that bright sunlight come through won't help the aging process?

 

[stupac2]

Nobody's saying you have to care, just giving the reasons I care. I own a brewery in an untapped market so Inbev creeping in here is a huge deal for me. They're pushing their stuff hard down here.

Well, okay, sure, "this giant company might be able to put me out of business" is a problem for you specifically (although I don't see why the ratebeer acquisition affects this in any meaningful way), but that's not what I was addressing. I said that I've never understood why people at large are upset about the ratebeer acquisition, and nothing you've said clarifies that beyond general "ABI BAD I ANGRY" like I said before.

Not that I am particularly bothered by it, but insofar as you imagine the backend data they get will influence their acquisition targets, you might care if you dislike them buying up craft breweries.

Sure, if you want, like, a fifth-order effect to be mad at. That's sort of like saying that a brewery being popular makes them a more enticing target, so you'd better stop buying beer so no one gets bought!

 

[FoudreGuy]

This. So many sanctimonious ***** boycotting anything ABI and chastising those that do still buy GI and ****. STFU, how is the view from your Ivory Tower?

It’s really nice up here. Good weather.

If you still buy their products that’s great, but I don’t buy ABI at all anymore. No GI, no Elysian, etc.

 

[Lutter]

What, you don't think that huge window that lets all that bright sunlight come through won't help the aging process?

I hope he puts in his MBC listings that his beers are "lightly kissed by the sun" with a lips emoji.

 

[JCastle1]

Well, okay, sure, "this giant company might be able to put me out of business" is a problem for you specifically (although I don't see why the ratebeer acquisition affects this in any meaningful way), but that's not what I was addressing. I said that I've never understood why people at large are upset about the ratebeer acquisition, and nothing you've said clarifies that beyond general "ABI BAD I ANGRY" like I said before.

The Ratebeer acquisition alone might not affect you directly, just like I'm not affected by Starship or Picobrew either but they are relevant in the bigger picture. The ZX Ventures project puts them at a massive advantage that will allow for more growth and limit the market share for smaller breweries which will certainly cause many of them to close up shop. That's enough reason for people to be upset in my opinion.

 

[FoudreGuy]

The Ratebeer acquisition alone might not affect you directly, just like I'm not affected by Starship or Picobrew either but they are relevant in the bigger picture. The ZX Ventures project puts them at a massive advantage that will allow for more growth and limit the market share for smaller breweries which will certainly cause many of them to close up shop. That's enough reason for people to be upset in my opinion.

It's pretty surreal when I go to Nebraska and see Elysian taking up a huge chunk of grocery store shelf space that could go to local or regional independent brewers.

 

[stupac2]

The Ratebeer acquisition alone might not affect you directly, just like I'm not affected by Starship or Picobrew either but they are relevant in the bigger picture. The ZX Ventures project puts them at a massive advantage that will allow for more growth and limit the market share for smaller breweries which will certainly cause many of them to close up shop. That's enough reason for people to be upset in my opinion.

How? That's what I don't get.

 

[beerindex]

I can honestly say the only ABI acquisition that pisses me off, and I don't begrudge them their right to do it but it does make me categorically unwilling to buy anything else from ABI ever again, was their acquisition of Master of Malt, because following from it they stopped shipping to the US and indicated that customers should expect that to be the case going forward. I assume that policy change was legally necessary, either because MoM's US shipments were in a legal grey area at best, or because the three tier distribution laws that all 50 states have make acting as a merchant a problem for them. Nonetheless, it was the first time an ABI decision had a measurable impact on my ability to buy what I wanted.

 

[JCastle1]

How? That's what I don't get.

they create better customer experiences, they can spot new trends, predict consumer behavior, predict styles growth in new locations.

Having access to this data will allow them to focus their efforts on specific trends and make way more accurate predictions and decisions based on them. Keep in mind that the average craft drinker is what they're mostly after and us beer nerds are not representative of this. One of the big examples of this right now is Veza Sur's insane success. They analyzed what the local market was looking for and capitalized on it. That place is packed almost every day of the week.

 

[stupac2]

Having access to this data will allow them to focus their efforts on specific trends and make way more accurate predictions and decisions based on them. Keep in mind that the average craft drinker is what they're mostly after and us beer nerds are not representative of this. One of the big examples of this right now is Veza Sur's insane success. They analyzed what the local market was looking for and capitalized on it. That place is packed almost every day of the week.

My entire point is that getting priority access to RB's data (which is all they would have gotten in that deal) is, at most, a tiny, tiny fraction of the value add there. If it weren't then it would be worth way more than they paid. The stuff you're talking about isn't coming from RB, it's coming from owning other craft businesses. You know, the thing that makes sense to get cheesed about. With that they have direct (rather than several causal links removed) data on what's actually driving consumer behavior.

Also, I think your case isn't coherent. RB isn't for casual beer drinkers, it's for nerds. If the casual data is what they're after, how does buying part of RB help at all?

 

[JCastle1]

My entire point is that getting priority access to RB's data (which is all they would have gotten in that deal) is, at most, a tiny, tiny fraction of the value add there. If it weren't then it would be worth way more than they paid. The stuff you're talking about isn't coming from RB, it's coming from owning other craft businesses. You know, the thing that makes sense to get cheesed about. With that they have direct (rather than several causal links removed) data on what's actually driving consumer behavior.

Also, I think your case isn't coherent. RB isn't for casual beer drinkers, it's for nerds. If the casual data is what they're after, how does buying part of RB help at all?

I said Ratebeer alone is not the only reason but it's not as insignificant as you think. The forums might be for nerds but the rest of the site is huge outside the US. All the beer reviews, brewery maps, brewery schedules, new beer data, shop information, bar reviews, advertisement clicks, user locations, user demographics, trending search locations, check-in locations are all very useful data for them.

 

[furley]

https://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/ratebeer.com

https://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/talkbeer.com

step your game up Gene

 

[jbeezification1]

https://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/ratebeer.com

https://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/talkbeer.com

step your game up Gene

Have you not been following along? That’s a sure way to get bought by ABI and have the dozens of users data mined.

 

[reverseapachemaster1]

Have you not been following along? That’s a sure way to get bought by ABI and have the dozens of users data mined.

 

[WhalezB4Rarez]

Need to take this to the dome.

 

[stupac2]

I said Ratebeer alone is not the only reason but it's not as insignificant as you think. The forums might be for nerds but the rest of the site is huge outside the US. All the beer reviews, brewery maps, brewery schedules, new beer data, shop information, bar reviews, advertisement clicks, user locations, user demographics, trending search locations, check-in locations are all very useful data for them.

All of that information is public! At best they're getting easier access to it, which is worth something, but it's just not a big deal.

 

[JCastle1]

All of that information is public! At best they're getting easier access to it, which is worth something, but it's just not a big deal.

Some of the info is public but not all of it. Also good luck getting anything useful out of it in its current state, it needs to be sortable and downloadable in order to analyse and get anything from it.