Wolves in sheep's clothing (non-craft breweries)

[McBrewskie]

It is DOCUMENTED that ABInbev takes an accepted recipe, intentionally "cheapens" it, keeps the packaging and price the same, loses some market share, (that's right! They KNOW that some people will notice the crappier taste and actually PLAN on losing customers) but makes more money off of the ignorant masses who still buy the product with their now higher profit margin.

Ignorance is bliss? Knock yourself out!!!!

For me?

F*CK INBEV and the horse they rode in on.

Absolutely. I could careless that they make cheap beer, what pisses me off is the number of good beers they ruin.

 

[mike_in_ak]

Make all the lists that you want to make, please do not let me stand in your way. The last time I checked, this was a discussion forum, so I thought to discuss the motivation behind such lists.

So don't discuss it?

 

[Randy64]

Absolutely. I could careless that they make cheap beer, what pisses me off is the number of good beers they ruin.

Agreed

 

[Piratwolf]

Six Pints, Canada

 

[Clann]

Go ahead and blast me, but I find these kinds of lists to be pretentious and tiresome.

Goose Island made fabulous craft beer. InBev made them an offer that they couldn't refuse, but Goose Island still retains recipe and quality control. By all indications, the beer continues to be excellent. I will happily continue to buy their beer - and apparently, I'll have way more chance to do so now, seeing as I don't live in the Chicagoland area.

I'm not saying that the OP is going this far, but lots of beer snobs seem to think that being successful somehow makes your beer inferior. These guys are living the American dream, are they not?


As for 3rd Shift - I've had exactly one of their beers (the Amber lager). It wasn't amazing, but it was reasonably tasty, and I'll happily buy it again. Oh noes! MillerCoors is going to get money from me!


I honestly do not "get" the hangup over the whole "craft versus crafty" debate. If the big boys are pushing unfair monopolies by preventing the little guys from having the chance to sell their product (say, by unfair manipulation of the three tier system), then they should be smacked down and fined heavily by the government.

But the thing is, drinking beer is supposed to be about pleasure. Leave your politics and your economics at the door. Choose with your taste buds, not your pretentions.

I don't drink typical BMC becaue I don't care for it. Likewise, I avoid quite a few craft beers because I don't care for them. Most of the beer I buy *is* craft beer, but a good chunk is "crafty", and I don't apologize for that. To me, the fact that BMC is buying up craft brands/starting their own crafty brands shows that they get that there is a niche to fill. If they answer that need by ensuring that more quality beer is available, how is that bad?

Drink what you like, and leave the snobbery to the world of wine.

Good answer

 

[cheezydemon3]

Good answer

Suppose I take over your FAVORITE brewery. I take your FAVORITE beer and change the recipe slightly. I make it cheaper to brew by using less of the specialty ingredients, I sub a little rice for grain, I use less hops and hops of lesser price and quality.

I leave the label the same. I tell you nothing of this, and sell it to you at the same price.

You are not pissed? If not because I deceived you, then at least because I took a really good beer and watered it down, forever making it less of a beer?

Suit yourself.

 

[ericbw]

Suppose I take over your FAVORITE brewery. I take your FAVORITE beer and change the recipe slightly. I make it cheaper to brew by using less of the specialty ingredients, I sub a little rice for grain, I use less hops and hops of lesser price and quality.

I leave the label the same. I tell you nothing of this, and sell it to you at the same price.

You are not pissed? If not because I deceived you, then at least because I took a really good beer and watered it down, forever making it less of a beer?

Suit yourself.

SOMEbody likes it. So did they make it worse... Or different?

 

[Billy-Klubb]

Suppose I take over your FAVORITE brewery. I take your FAVORITE beer and change the recipe slightly. I make it cheaper to brew by using less of the specialty ingredients, I sub a little rice for grain, I use less hops and hops of lesser price and quality.

I leave the label the same. I tell you nothing of this, and sell it to you at the same price.

You are not pissed? If not because I deceived you, then at least because I took a really good beer and watered it down, forever making it less of a beer?

Suit yourself.

I can agree with this statement.

SOMEbody likes it. So did they make it worse... Or different?

if the recipe has been change to something different, it's not the same beer. if it still tastes good, then it's different. if I don't like it, it's worse. personal taste is a hell of a thing.

 

[sa1126]

I would really prefer to avoid a battle about craft vs. big companies.

I just want to compile a list for anyone interested. It doesn't mean the bought out companies cannot make great beers, it is just for reference. It intrigues me how larger companies either buy or try to market like craft companies do. If you are interested, Beer Wars on netflix is a great documentary. This is sort of like an addendum to where they left off.

 

[Yooper]

I would really prefer to avoid a battle about craft vs. big companies.

I just want to compile a list for anyone interested. It doesn't mean the bought out companies cannot make great beers, it is just for reference. It intrigues me how larger companies either buy or try to market like craft companies do. If you are interested, Beer Wars on netflix is a great documentary. This is sort of like an addendum to where they left off.

Yes, let's stick to the topic and keep our opinions to the Debate forum (if you want to debate it) or to the other kazillion threads about BMC.

The topic of this thread is compiling a list as stated.

 

[drainbamage]

Are you counting breweries like Kona, Widmer Brothers, Red Hook and whoever else is in the Craft Brewers Alliance (who is owned by AB-InBev if I'm not mistaken)?

I'll throw in Magic Hat as well since they're making plenty of enemies today anyway.

 

[sa1126]

Are you counting breweries like Kona, Widmer Brothers, Red Hook and whoever else is in the Craft Brewers Alliance (who is owned by AB-InBev if I'm not mistaken)?

I'll throw in Magic Hat as well since they're making plenty of enemies today anyway.

Yes, thanks.

 

[ipaman00]

North American Breweries was a new parent corporation established by New York City investment firm KPS Capital Partners to manage its brewery acquisitions:

• Genesee Brewing Company,
• Dundee Brewing Company,
• Pyramid,
• Magic Hat,
• MacTarnahan's.

The company also managed Labatt USA, which imports Labatt beer into the US, and imports Imperial beer from Costa Rica. The company is based at the Genesee Brewing Company corporate office in Rochester, New York. It has been owned by Florida Ice & Farm Co. since December 2012.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Breweries

 

[mike_in_ak]

This shiat is crazy. A lot of these brews seemed suspiciously mass produced but I was never sure and was too busy drinking to look them up. Widmer for sure! Red hook yeah! Pyramid hell yeah.

Many of these just popped up one day at the beer store as if they had been around for ever.

 

[bob1852]

This shiat is crazy. A lot of these brews seemed suspiciously mass produced but I was never sure and was too busy drinking to look them up. Widmer for sure! Red hook yeah! Pyramid hell yeah.

Many of these just popped up one day at the beer store as if they had been around for ever.

They have been around for a long time. The only reason you're seeing Pyramid and Red Hook now is because they sold a portion of their companies to BMC in return for increased distribution. They aren't new "faux" craft beers. But they're more available now, which is a good thing, right?

 

[Mongrel]

Are you counting breweries like Kona, Widmer Brothers, Red Hook and whoever else is in the Craft Brewers Alliance (who is owned by AB-InBev if I'm not mistaken)?

I'll throw in Magic Hat as well since they're making plenty of enemies today anyway.

Last numbers I saw InBev only owns 35% of Craft Brewers Alliance which is an independently traded company. They do handle their distribution though.

 

[mike_in_ak]

They have been around for a long time. The only reason you're seeing Pyramid and Red Hook now is because they sold a portion of their companies to BMC in return for increased distribution. They aren't new "faux" craft beers. But they're more available now, which is a good thing, right?

Yeah sure but I mean they've popped up in the craft beer section of the stores I go to an weren't distributed here until recently. Well I guess red hook always was.

1. Buy craft brewery.

2. Package in overproduced glossy 12 packs and take up tons of shelf space squeezing out smaller breweries.

3. Profit.

 

[mike_in_ak]

And I don't think merely being available is a good thing. If BMC buys Widmer and then Widmer becomes available coast to coast in every store it's really just more homogenization and monoculture.

But don't get me wrong i like that I can buy west coast and east coast beers up here, and Chimay, and dopplebocks, and we just got New Belgium!

But more shelf space for BMC means less for Full Sail, Deschutes, and Ninkasi, and even more so for the littler guys and obscure imports.

And somebody please start distributing Bells up here already. For the love of God.

 

[stvo]

yep

 

[Homercidal]

So where is the list? Wasn't the OP going to compile the list?

 

[sa1126]

So where is the list? Wasn't the OP going to compile the list?

Did you not see the original post? I have been updating it as I go.

Pyramid used to be a really inexpensive brew the past few years and now it is $9.50 a 6 pack here. Bummer because I love their hefeweizen.

 

[Johnnyhitch1]

Did you not see the original post? I have been updating it as I go.

Pyramid used to be a really inexpensive brew the past few years and now it is $9.50 a 6 pack here. Bummer because I love their hefeweizen.

Just got there apricot and imperial IPA in bottle shops around here.
Huge fan of fruit beers and they nailed it on the apricot, creamy dense head chewy wheat/pilsner body and tart tones of the fruit.
The imperial on the other hand was not so great for being "dryhoped" ,love when breweries put this on there label like im supposed to go HOLY $hI! dry hoped?!?
It was a little earthy and to much pine to really mkae me grab another, another good thing about my local shop is they sell singles.

On another note as i saw that pyramid is now owned by NAB,
I saw Henry Weinhardts pop out of no where this winter....they were purchased by SABMiller....Add it to the list!

 

[McBrewskie]

They have been around for a long time. The only reason you're seeing Pyramid and Red Hook now is because they sold a portion of their companies to BMC in return for increased distribution. They aren't new "faux" craft beers. But they're more available now, which is a good thing, right?

Not if you've ever had Pyramid or Red Hook.

 

[TxBrew]

So this is a reminder to be polite. I take great pride in HBT being a friendly site with a helpful community and in order to accomplish that we all need to be cordial.

If you don't like this thread, don't post to it. If you would like to debate whether a BMC ruins beer, please see the debate forum. I'm sure we have more than a few threads already started about it.

 

[ericbw]

This shiat is crazy. A lot of these brews seemed suspiciously mass produced but I was never sure and was too busy drinking to look them up. Widmer for sure! Red hook yeah! Pyramid hell yeah.

Many of these just popped up one day at the beer store as if they had been around for ever.

What does that mean, "as if they've been around forever?" Are they supposed to announce their arrival with fanfare?

 

[Homercidal]

Did you not see the original post? I have been updating it as I go.

Pyramid used to be a really inexpensive brew the past few years and now it is $9.50 a 6 pack here. Bummer because I love their hefeweizen.

Well to be honest, I expected a complete listing of each breweries' beers, not links to their websites. Kind of thought it was going to be a quick and easy place for people to check to see if the beer they are interested in was made by the Evil Empires.

Anyone who can pull up HBT can also surf to miller.com or whatever.

 

[cheezydemon3]

Well to be honest, I expected a complete listing of each breweries' beers, not links to their websites. Kind of thought it was going to be a quick and easy place for people to check to see if the beer they are interested in was made by the Evil Empires.

Anyone who can pull up HBT can also surf to miller.com or whatever.

Disjointed posts, and the expiring ability of the OP to EDIT, make this a daunting task.

I was asked to do it in the NETFLIX thread and it is impossible.

Perhaps in threads like this, posts like:

REDHOOK
Leinenkugel


(end post)

Should be the norm unless someone wants to dispute a claim.

 

[sa1126]

Well to be honest, I expected a complete listing of each breweries' beers, not links to their websites. Kind of thought it was going to be a quick and easy place for people to check to see if the beer they are interested in was made by the Evil Empires.

Anyone who can pull up HBT can also surf to miller.com or whatever.

I didn't want to list every brew from each brewery so I figured I would just add the ones relevant as "craft". Feed free to post ones you feel I am missing and I can add them.

 

[bobmcstuff]

Some people in the "worst craft beer" thread have mentioned Heineken, this IS NOT craft beer! They are the third largest brewing conglomerate in the world...

Also I think most of the British beers I've seen mentioned on here are owned by corporations of varying sizes, I suppose it makes sense though because they have the finance to get distribution in the States.

 

[Homercidal]

I didn't want to list every brew from each brewery so I figured I would just add the ones relevant as "craft". Feed free to post ones you feel I am missing and I can add them.

No thank you. This list is not for me. I just had a different expectation is all. I'm perfectly happy to look up any pseudo craft beer on my phone if I want to. Plus about 90% of the beer I drink is made in Michigan by myself, or the craft breweries I am familiar with. The other 10% is mostly made up of craft from other states that I manage to find at local stores.