Yuengling

[swampbrewcrew]

Two questions.

Are they considered "craft"?

Why aren't they buying the successful "craft" breweries?

Craft is in quotation marks because, if your big enough to catch the eye of a multi-national conglomerate, your motto of brewing great beer despite profits is long gone. AbInbev isn't targeting breweries with small margins. And the end goal of any business is to make money, period.

The greater question, why don't they buyout the successful ones who want to sell, other than AbInbev is offering them more money. They can expand their product line through an already established network, let the brewery owners avoid the backlash of "selling out", and fight the huge guys at the same time.

Goose Island is one of my favorites that's readily available in my area, I would much rather buy from Yuengling than the other guys.

 

[McGarnigle]

No, they aren't considered craft. I suspect they don't have the money to buy out smaller breweries.

That's a tough game to play. Often you have to overpay, and sometimes you lose money on the deal. What A-B is paying for craft breweries is chump change for them. And Yuengling doesn't have the distribution system that the big boys have.

I don't think Yuengling is nearly big enough to play that game.

 

[swampbrewcrew]

View attachment 400065

They are outright listed as the larges craft brewery in 2015 by the Brewers Association. If they aren't large enough to compete in buyouts, who is? Is it a doomed market waiting for either a collapse or conglomerate ownership? The bubble is bursting with craft breweries, right now more are opening than ones closing but it's not sustainable. When the dust does clear, I would like to see other players than the huge guys.

 

[JohnSand]

I believe they are still family owned. Maybe they don't want to own other breweries, just theirs.

 

[McGarnigle]

If they aren't large enough to compete in buyouts, who is?

AB-InBev, SA Miller, Carlsberg. Yunegling is tiny compared to them.

Also, I don't see why Yuengling would by our savior (assuming we need one). Now, Boston Beer Company is nearly as big as Yuengling and at least has it roots in real craft brewing (but they are also too small). Yuengling has never been part of the craft beer revolution. They're an old school 'pale lager' brewery that has survived. Good for them, but what do they know about good beer?

 

[swampbrewcrew]

They're an old school 'pale lager' brewery that has survived. Good for them, but what do they know about good beer?

Obviously they know pale lagers. What percentage of home brewers, or even small craft brewers, actually make good ones. It's one of the hardest styles to nail. Any flaw you make will stand out.

 

[tiredofbuyingbeer]

Yuengling is a surviving regional brewery that happens to be fairly large (for a regional, as opposed to multinational, brewery) with decent distribution. They're not craft.

I don't get the "dying market" claim. Look, for a long time, craft brewing has been a profitable business. That just means that there were relatively few sellers of craft beer relative to demand. Now, it's a more saturated market. That just means that the return on capital for breweries is lower because they're not getting such high returns from arbitrage (e.g., by being the only craft brewer in a given market). It's no longer the case that you can open a brewery that sells any lousy thing and make money. That doesn't mean that there aren't entrepreneurial profits in the industry. They're just smaller. Frankly, as a consumer, that's a good thing. It means that you've got more options and that sellers are less able to sell at a markup relative to the quality of what they brew. A $4 pint at a brewpub has to be better than it had to be 10 years ago to justify someone ordering it. It's bad for people who want to open breweries, or already own them, but only in the sense that they can't make as much purely entrepreneurial profit, i.e., profits for having the idea to sell craft beer in the first place. They can still make money if they have a better beer or a better price point.

I'm not some diehard libertarian or conservative. I get that mature, efficient markets can't solve all of our problems. But one problem they're pretty good at solving is satisfying demand for consumer goods. As long as people still want craft beer, there will still be craft beer. (Pace concerns about the influence of macrobreweries on beer distribution, which is a real problem that often involves market distortion in the form of rent seeking legal regulations on how beer may be sold.)

 

[NSMikeD]

From a Daily News article back in 2015

Under the Brewers Association’s old rules, a craft brewery had to be independently owned, produce 6 million barrels or fewer annually, and make it made an all-malt flagship beer. Yuengling, the oldest operating brewery in the U.S., uses corn in its beer.

The trade organization lifted the all-barley requirement in 2014, opening the door for Yuengling, August Schell Brewing Company and Narragansett Brewing Company to get the craft designation.





when it comes to buyouts, the financiers will put up the money if a deal makes sense. They have acquired production facilities but not outright acquisitions.

As family owned, traditionally it's bought out by an off spring. They announced plans for one of the daughters to acquire 51% but which daughter remains private.


Since they are sort of an oddball, I don't know what the benefit of buying a craft brewery will get them. They don't have the marketing and distribution muscle to justify the price needed to separate a craft brewer from his baby nor do I see a synergy with any brands.

IMO, they will keep growing organically as Americas largest and oldest US owned brewery until a Yuengling heir decides to sell out.

 

[hockeybrewer]

Yuengling is a surviving regional brewery that happens to be fairly large (for a regional, as opposed to multinational, brewery) with decent distribution. They're not craft.

No they're the oldest brewery in America and yes they are craft. They make their pale lager that is a great beer and it's only $17 a case, you can't beat it. They have also started trying different beer such as they're summer wheat and Indian pale lager. They probably don't want to deal with another brewery's problems as they just started an ice cream brand.

 

[swampbrewcrew]

I get the distribution problems. A big three type company owns most of the distribution and you cant carry Budweiser etc. unless their products occupy x percent of the shelf space.

 

[NSMikeD]

No they're the oldest brewery in America and yes they are craft. They make their pale lager that is a great beer and it's only $17 a case, you can't beat it. They have also started trying different beer such as they're summer wheat and Indian pale lager. They probably don't want to deal with another brewery's problems as they just started an ice cream brand.

nope, another family member reintroduced the ice cream, it's a different company than the brewery.


and whether or not they are craft is debatable, since definitions vary. The Brewers Association did not consider them craft until a few years ago when they change their definition.

And the majors have all rolled out summer wheats and IPAs. that doesn't make them craft breweries.


I'm not sure that Yuengling uses corn to make the beer better the way traditional craft brewers use adjuncts. Given their history, I'd bet it was merely a cheap filler commonly used prior to the craft movement.

You like their beer, and that is all that counts.

 

[swampbrewcrew]

You like their beer, and that is all that counts.

This is the only thing that matters.

http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insigh...s-stick-to-their-favorite-alcohol-brands.html


True, craft drinkers are more likely to experiment, I only say no to sours and funky brews. I've tried dozens and making my own to no avail. I still have my go to brews. I'm in Mississippi so I pick my favorites out of Lazy Magnolia, Southern Prohibition, Lucky Town etc. The store by my house carries none of them. If I'm out and I don't want to drive 30 miles round trip, Goose Island it is. I walk out with my head hung low, but not drinking Budweiser.

 

[tiredofbuyingbeer]

No they're the oldest brewery in America and yes they are craft. They make their pale lager that is a great beer and it's only $17 a case, you can't beat it. They have also started trying different beer such as they're summer wheat and Indian pale lager. They probably don't want to deal with another brewery's problems as they just started an ice cream brand.

Any definition of craft breweries would be contentious. I would think that it counts against a proposed definition if it classifies Yuengling as a craft brewery, because that would be to inaccurately describe the beer industry in the United States. Craft brewing is a movement that started in the 70's. As you note, Yuengling predates that movement, and their core brands (lager, porter) haven't changed much since then.

This isn't a knock on Yuengling. Far from it. A lot of beers marketed as craft beers taste bad. Yuengling lager, on the other hand, is a fine example of an amber (not pale) lager.

The increasing barrel amount to qualify as a craft brewery as defined by industry trade groups is not intended to lump regional breweries like Yuengling with craft brewers. It's to accommodate large actual craft breweries like Sam Adams that have grown faster than Yuengling. It's a side-effect that now Yuengling counts as a craft brewery. Their owner is a freakin' billionaire. They've had labor relations problems. We're not talking about some mom & pop operation here. They're what Budweiser or Pabst would be if they didn't expand nationally.

Anyway, the original question was with an eye to the a distinction that would make it different in some meaningful way for Yuengling to buy out a craft brewery instead of AB-Inbev. I don't see how the sense in which Yuengling might count as craft under some industry definition would make a difference vis-a-vis Inbev buying your favorite craft brewer.

 

[tiredofbuyingbeer]

Anyway, the original question was with an eye to the a distinction that would make it different in some meaningful way for Yuengling to buy out a craft brewery instead of AB-Inbev. I don't see how the sense in which Yuengling might count as craft under some industry definition would make a difference vis-a-vis Inbev buying your favorite craft brewer.

Other than, I'll add, that Yuengling doesn't have national or international distribution, so they'd probably be less well-positioned to sell the brand everywhere. But I don't think spotty national distribution is the issue here.