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  1. Episode 178 - The Shot Heard Round The World | The Craft Beercast
    May 11, 2017 @ 4:01 pm

    […] Post-craft core […]

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  2. Craft Brewing on Easy Mode: Wicked Weed Brewing & AB-InBev • thefullpint.com
    May 11, 2017 @ 9:45 am

    […] READ: Beachwood Brewing Issues Statement on ABI Owned TheBeerNecessities.com […]

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  3. Julienne
    May 5, 2017 @ 4:19 pm

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  4. Uncle T-Bone
    May 4, 2017 @ 6:34 pm

    I’m NOT a brewer, but I did experience the reverse of this whole process: I took a department I built at a multinational public corporation and turned it into an independent company a few years back, when said multinat lost interest.

    The differences are stark. Now, for example, when balancing the cost of high-quality processes and materials against the need for profit, I often spend more than the minimum I can get away with. I know that a big part of what makes a best-possible product is the cumulative result of these decisions, and that I don’t have to squeeze every dime to see a profit, since I’m not working in a bottom-feeding market.

    Back at the multinational, when I had to go in front of bean counters once a month to justify why I was spending *their* money in unnecessary ways, it didn’t always go well. I was reminded of this the last time I tasted a Sculpin: Ballast Point now exists in an environment where I’m sure every decision is scrutinized, and the mental fatigue of justifying a laundry list of not-the-cheapest-available choices must be huge.

    From a macroeconomic point of view, the main result of making an indy into part of a multinat is that the parent company takes a vig (as the Sopranos called it), which is more likely to land in a bank in the Cayman Islands than to be spent on appliances in the brewer’s home town.

    Yes, tying up to a major company lends certain types of stability (unless they have a board meeting where your division shows up in red for the quarter and they decide to chase a different shiny object), but screw that.

    BTW, I have lots of sympathy for the people who sold. If anyone wants to buy my company for $5 on the dollar, let’s talk, as long as I don’t have to stick around after I cash my check.

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  5. GregT
    May 4, 2017 @ 5:44 pm

    Suggested correction: Beachwood of Seal Beach and Long Beach.

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  6. CT Davis
    May 4, 2017 @ 10:50 am

    Bryce, I think you misunderstand what’s at stake here. Firstly, it’s obvious nobody goes to work every day just because they want to. We call that a hobby. We all work to make a living. But what’s better than just making a living? Making a living doing something you like to do and care about. That’s the fundamental difference between independent brewers and multinational conglomerates. AB InBev exists as an organization solely for shareholder value, nothing more. They gain shareholder value by eliminating their competition, which they do through various means, mostly centered on mergers and acquisitions. The more labels they own, the more shelf space they control, and the more anti-competitive strategies they can employ. They are under relentless pressure to keep costs down and sales up. A competitive market doesn’t bother me and is generally better for all of us, but I get mad when companies use their market clout to compete unfairly and deceptively and nothing is more deceptive than a global industrial brewer trying to sell itself as “craft”.

    The thing with the hot brewers selling tickets for people to stand in line isn’t about being unfair to the consumer it’s about managing demand instead of just ratcheting up the price to where only a few people could afford it, like scotch whiskey or bourbon makers do. I can afford to buy the best beers in the world if I’m willing to wait in line but I can’t touch the best cognac in the world.

    We do not need to look past the idealism you are dismissing. That idealism is the very thing that makes us want to buy and drink independent craft brews and it’s the reason they are successful and it’s the reason the huge conglomerates are now targeting them for competition.

    I personally know many brewers and know why they do what they do. They are passionate people who embrace their communities and care personally about what they want and are committed to brewing the best beers they can. For the mega-brewers the bottom line is just that: the bottom line, nothing else matters. This whole push is just ABI’s marketing bullshit. Don’t be fooled.

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  7. Alan
    May 4, 2017 @ 7:18 am

    Sorry if this posts twice: Much as it pains me I must generally agree with Bryce’s comment but with a tweak. If someone opened a brewery more than 6 years ago I’d say their reason was for profit, but recently most new breweries are being opened by millennial homebrewer’s who don’t think of it as a business, and sadly they will eventually pay the price and go bankrupt because of it. They think that if they have a beard and perhaps some tats no one will notice that they are making horrible tasting beer. It doesn’t matter to me who ‘owns’ a brewery. I care about quality, especially if I am paying a premium price for it. Also, to say that ABI lacks creativity is a stretch, light beer when it was first introduced was creative, bad beer with lime in it is creative and I’ve had some great tasting ABI beers at GABF years ago that their test brewery has made such as a oak aged vanilla stout and they were creative with it as they added the oak staves directly into the fermenter. ABI isn’t evil, yes they are an empire but no one can really say they are evil, just look at the craft brewers that they are making rich through buyouts.

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  8. Alan
    May 4, 2017 @ 7:03 am

    Much as it pains me I must generally agree with Bryce’s comment but with a tweak. If someone opened a brewery more than 6 years ago I’d say their reason was for profit, but recently most new breweries are being opened by millennial homebrewer’s who don’t think of it as a business, and sadly they will eventually pay the price and go bankrupt because of it. They think that if they have a beard and perhaps some tats no one will notice that they are making horrible tasting beer. It doesn’t matter to me who ‘owns’ a brewery. I care about quality, especially if I am paying a premium price for it. Also, to say that ABI lacks creativity is a stretch, light beer when it was first introduced was creative, bad beer with lime in it is creative and I’ve had some great tasting ABI beers at GABF years ago that their test brewery has made such as a oak aged vanilla stout and they were creative with it as they added the oak staves directly into the fermenter. ABI isn’t evil, yes they are an empire but no one can really say they are evil, just look at the craft brewers that they are making rich through buyouts.

    Reply

  9. Tony
    May 4, 2017 @ 6:56 am

    Hey Dan, please clean up the typos.

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  10. Tara Nurin
    May 4, 2017 @ 6:29 am

    I adore and respect Beachwood but it should be said that the website is very clear about its ownership. The writer may not have felt it necessary to mention it but anyone can easily find that info on the site. I realize it wasn’t live at the time but now a simple click on the site will tell you. In full disclosure, my first story appears on the site today.

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  11. Bryce Winterson
    May 3, 2017 @ 4:51 pm

    I have to say this article made for hilarious reading.

    In your article you state

    “AB-InBev has not embraced “craft” brands and quality beer because they share the values of independence and creativity that have fueled the craft beer revolution; they do so because it furthers their only real interest—the endless pursuit of profits”

    The real reason why most craft breweries go into business is to make a profit. Hence why they are a business, selling their beer and not just some guy in his garage brewing and experimenting for fun. To think otherwise, is looking at the industry through rose tinted spectacles or more to the point, idiotic.

    The creativity you speak of, is all aimed at making a beer successful, making a beer standout in an over saturated marketplace…why? To increase sales and thus profits. Proof? Craft breweries charge a premium for their special release beers and make people wait in line to get their hands on them. If they cared so much about their community and values – they wouldn’t do this. They would make it available for a normal price and not make people buy tickets just to get in line. If they truly cared for their community in the way you state, wouldn’t they welcome a company coming in with the power to help them really grow and in turn create more jobs for their local community?

    You and many others need to look past this idealism of craft breweries being some local individual who doesn’t care to turn a profit and just wants to help his local community through his independent values and creativity. It’s simply not true and it makes you look like a fool, for falling under the trap of the same marketing techniques that the brewery giants use. Instead, realize craft breweries are just as much a part of the corporate machine as the brewery giants are.

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