Spot on, Michael.
Went to the Elysian brewpub in Capitol Hill last month and really enjoyed myself. Had a Loser (pretty good) and a Space Dust (very good) and a super tasty Caesar Salad.
Interesting to read all of the so-so comments on their beer, seems I really missed out on the best local stuff.
I still buy Boulevard Brewing and I’m not complaining.
A bottle of Lolita last year was really good. I just picked up a bottle of this year’s and may get more.
I don’t begrudge brewery owners for selling to a larger brewer, in fact, I’m kind of happy to see that some of the industry leaders can cash out. I personally will look for independent and smaller brewers with my beer dollar but appreciate that many of the breweries that sold an interest to the big guys still make some good beer. Another way to look at it is that the overall quality across the country is improving and the big guys want to sell better beer. The only thing I take offense with is when the big guys buy someone out to put the label out of distribution. That seems wrong to me.
And I’ve enjoyed my visits to Elysian brewpubs over the years although it has been several years.
Oh this guy ![[berserker.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/8600bbd4810d342b8fbd4ffb62b4f0026275fd37.gif "berserker"){kind=small}
It wasn’t celebrating the $38 million acquisition of his family’s brewery by Anheuser-Busch – it was just a birthday party. But it ended with a bartender saying that Goose Island brewmaster Greg Hall urinated into two beer glasses while standing at the bar and Hall saying he “(screwed) up big time.”
His comment about Elysian comes off as d-bagish and defensive. If I hadn’t already stopped buying Goose Island, I probably will now.
This isn’t about hating corporations. Generally it is not good for the actual quality of the beer but that doesn’t matter since there are still lots of local artisans.
As a side note, the other day I drank a Red Hook. Well I tried. It was awful. Here is one of the best beers in the nation in the 80s which is now undrinkable. But its in distribution! Good for them. They are “successful” and I bet the brewers are drinking their home-brews. And if I was Red Hook, Elysian, or Goose Island, and InBev came knocking, I am pretty sure I would sell.
Speaking of Goose Island, I see they are now pumping the local 312 to every market. And there are more of them. What do you do with you weakest beer? Expand the series and make more!
Cheers,
Jason
If one is to believe Kendall at the Washington Beer Blog (I think he’s usually pretty good), Dick was in the minority and didn’t want to sell:
· Who made the decision? There is (was) more than one owner of Elysian Brewing: a small group of private owners, not “shareholders.” Selling to Anheuser-Busch was not a unanimous decision, but it was the majority decision. Dick Cantwell, one of the founders and the head brewer, was in the minority. To a large extent, Dick is the face of the brewery and many people have been talking as if it was his decision, so people should know that he was outvoted. I do not know how other individuals voted, only that Dick opposed the decision, which is something he told me and others.
This has been an interesting debate for me to watch from where I am, on the other side of the pacific. AB-Inbev is not a big player in my market and while some Elysian beer makes it into the country, I’m yet to be at the same place an Elysian beer is pouring so I’ve never tried it.
There is so much of the behind the scenes stuff, we don’t know when there is a buyout like this. We don’t know the finances of the company, nor the individual partners (I think I read that there were 3) so I’m reluctant to scream sellout.
We have some similar examples over here where corporates have taken over craft breweries and I’d have to say that the jury is still out on those. What I also know is that the industry has changed and is constantly changing and that anybody who isn’t doing a good job will fall by the wayside as new brewers emerge.
It isn’t in AB-InBev’s interest to do a crap job with Elysian, but if they do someone else will replace them. I remember reading somewhere last year that in in the US there were a couple of thousand breweries in planning. I don’t know how accurate that is, but even if that is a gross exaggeration, there is still a lot of new players entering the market all the time and a small % of those may do great things.
It’s funny to compare the reaction to this news compared to the Siduri/Novy sale.
Not really apples to apples. I’m sure if Rick Allen was to announce a sale and presumably a big paycheck, he would get lots of congrats, just as Adam is getting.
All corporations are not equal. InBev is not the same as Kendall-Jackson, and even less like Duval Moortgat which was mentioned earlier.
P Hickner
I don’t think that most craft breweries do a very good job of succession planning. Luckily, I already have this arranged with my daughter. I did tell her, though, that if InBev makes me a huge offer, all bets are off. 
![[rofl.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/a/a7452fcd8e675af869f8da01174474a545b03944.gif "rofl"){kind=small}
So where do we go to check the corporate evil spectrum? I’m assuming this is a list that is published somewhere. KJ is huge and makes a lot of crappy wine, so why are they less evil than A-B Inbev? What about big bourbon distillers, good or bad? I guess I don’t see why beer is a special category not allowed to sell out or where one assumes that the effect will be more detrimental. I view beer and spirits as products made essentially by recipe, so there should be an ability to recreate the recipe. Wine I would worry much more, as it seems more sensitive to process and particularly to a lot of manipulation. Of course, there is always the risk that the big company changes a recipe or ingredients to maximize profits, and that does suck, but I don’t know that this is any worse than any of the other examples cited.
Sometimes when people say Red Hook used to be great or something else used to be great, I have to wonder if the beer changed or if they did. I mean, Goose Island always seemed okay for the most part, with a few particularly good beers. I don’t see that that has changed.
A-B: It depends on what the corp suits plan and maybe they don’t even know yet. How much interference? Even if they say ramp up and double production next year then that’s interfering. In the past they’ve bought part ownership of breweries to help distribution, like with Kona.
K-J: Their biggest issue IMO will be maintaining grower relationships as Siduri sources from a bunch of different people.
All in all, I’d rather support the smaller family outfits.
Both changed. But the person changing doesn’t mean they would not be able to recognize the beer. There are lots of other beers of that era that are still making the same beer. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Red Tail Ale, Anchor Steam and even Samuel Adams all still taste and smell the same. Red Hook, not so much.
I drank Matilda (and a fair amount of Sofie) for years. Certainly at least 1 a month. After the purchase, Goose Island let the quality control slip. That change was almost immediate.
Jason
Acquisitions are a sign of a growing and robust industry. That’s a good thing.
Virginia is about to have 100 breweries. I remember the first.
To me the only downside of acquisitions is that it is hard to find independents at Verizon Center for Caps games. Last year they had a local tent and this year they don’t. Still a couple of good lines but you have to look. That’s probably the only time that I complain about the acquisitions by the big guys. The rest of the time there are so many options I don’t have to drink beer made by the majors.
Well, I don’t actually remember the first brewery in Virginia but I do remember Chesbay which is the first micro after Prohibition I believe.
So no discussion about Bud slamming one of their own by making fun of pumpkin-peach beers (one of the Elysian beers).