A-B buys Goose Island for $38 million

Reads 18750 • Replies 129 • Started Monday, March 28, 2011 6:35:12 AM CT

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Message goldtwins beers 4319 º places 5 º 09:36 Mon 3/28/2011 I see the bigger problem being A-B telling bars they have to put other A-B products on if they want to get Goose Island. Taking away real estate from the craft beers. Same for shelf space at the stores.
Message capn_ahab 09:38 Mon 3/28/2011 Originally posted by OldStyleCubFan Only $38 millions? That seems insanely low. At that price A-B could buy them and just discontinue the beers. I bet AB spends 2 or 3 times that annually in Chicagoland marketing alone. They could make that back simply be converting half the GI tap over to an AB beer after killing the beers. Not to imply I have that in pocket change, but the price does seem disturbingly low. Who next? Stone? Bells? Founders? Lost Abbey? I would imagine that everyone has a price...
Message Reid beers 3533 º places 95 º 09:45 Mon 3/28/2011 Originally posted by after4ever I don’t know too much about what’s happened at Kona since AB bought them. But friends and family have visited, and say there’s no sign of any parent company anywhere on premise. Just a bigger deck, nicer furniture, more signage than in years past. The beers seem the same. For my money, Widmer has gotten more interesting since their purchase--more seasonals and experimentals. They were just OK before, now they’re a little better. Redhook has two shiny, state-of-the-art new breweries since their purchase. Beer seems the same. Biggest change? They have to use some of that mammoth capacity at the new place to help Widmer keep up with keg orders for their hef. Nothing else. AB seems, at least from what you can see from the outside in these three cases, to know how to stay out of the way. If it’s any consolation. Around here, they’ve actually done a fair bit now and then to sink marketing muscle (i.e., cash) into promoting homebrew events and other quiet parts of the craft beer scene. I note that without comment. I agree. And add even Redhook has done some "specials" It appears Inbev/A-B are pretty hands off .

Message Reid beers 3533 º places 95 º 09:46 Mon 3/28/2011 Originally posted by goldtwins I see the bigger problem being A-B telling bars they have to put other A-B products on if they want to get Goose Island. Taking away real estate from the craft beers. Same for shelf space at the stores. You know i drink at a few dive bars that serve loads of Bud/Bud Shite and they dont seem to be toeing the Inbev line..most dive bars here have Fat Tire not the Redhook or Widmer amber.
Message beastiefan2k P beers 5017 º places 294 º 09:47 Mon 3/28/2011 Originally posted by goldtwins I see the bigger problem being A-B telling bars they have to put other A-B products on if they want to get Goose Island. Taking away real estate from the craft beers. Same for shelf space at the stores. good point if you want any Bourbon County we want more Shock Top on your selves/taps.
Message SamGamgee99 10:21 Mon 3/28/2011 What’s with all the Widmer and Red Hook being bought by abinbev? As far as I know, Craft Brewers Alliance is only partially owned by ABInBev. Kona is fully owned by Widmer, and I’m not sure what the CBA stake in each of those is. It was a telling sign when I visited the brewery last fall and saw the stacks of kegs with the AB logo stamped on them. They told us they were leasing them to meet additional demand. Goose Island has been cutting deals for years now that have put them in this position. They were just as business minded as beer minded. Not everyone in craft beer cares about craft beer as much as others do. Some people just want to make money.
Message after4ever P admin beers 8025 º places 322 º 10:29 Mon 3/28/2011 Originally posted by joet I have competing reports about whether Red Hook changed their recipes or not after the AB acquisition. Getting confirmation on how things changed there is relevant. No matter what happens though, for me, it’s what happens in the glass that matters. I couldn’t call myself honest if the brand itself swayed me positively or negatively in my reviews. In the 80s and I think well into the 90s, Redhook famously had diacetyl presence, particularly in the ESB. At least one of their many brewers on staff these days has advanced degrees in chemistry, and they have a gas chromatograph in Redmond to analyze every batch. They never had that when they were a neighborhood brewer across town in Ballard. They’ve definitely changed their approach, at least to the ESB. One of their notorious limited beers, Double Black, used to be made with Starbucks. Not sure if they added coffee to the revival batches they brewed for that. Point is, people could hear these things and think they’re evidence of AB "changing things," but the changes aren’t necessarily for the worse. Sometimes they’re just differences, neither better nor worse.

Message beastiefan2k P beers 5017 º places 294 º 10:46 Mon 3/28/2011 Originally posted by SamGamgee What’s with all the Widmer and Red Hook being bought by abinbev? As far as I know, Craft Brewers Alliance is only partially owned by ABInBev. Kona is fully owned by Widmer, and I’m not sure what the CBA stake in each of those is. The link I posted earlier states that A-B has a 40% stake in Widmer, which I guess means that they have a 40% stake in Kona. Not sure exactly how much of a stake in Red Hook but they own 49% of Dominion while the CBA owns the other 51%. And A-B owns a third of CBA. Its not like their control over a line such as Shock Top but A-B is a major owner in these companies.
Message SamGamgee99 10:55 Mon 3/28/2011 Originally posted by beastiefan2k Originally posted by SamGamgee What’s with all the Widmer and Red Hook being bought by abinbev? As far as I know, Craft Brewers Alliance is only partially owned by ABInBev. Kona is fully owned by Widmer, and I’m not sure what the CBA stake in each of those is. The link I posted earlier states that A-B has a 40% stake in Widmer, which I guess means that they have a 40% stake in Kona. Not sure exactly how much of a stake in Red Hook but they own 49% of Dominion while the CBA owns the other 51%. And A-B owns a third of CBA. Its not like their control over a line such as Shock Top but A-B is a major owner in these companies. I guess I’m still confused. After some more research, I was under the impression that CBA completely owns Widmer, Red Hook and Kona and is 1/3 owned by AB. Regardless of the specifics, the Goose Island deal makes me a little sad. My Siebel class last fall met for seven hours of lecture a day at Goose Island Clybourn for six weeks, so I got to know the place pretty well. We only went to the Fulton brewery once for a tour, but I reeally admired what they were doing there. One of the lead brewers is from my home town in California and used to brew at one of the local brewpubs. But like I said before, it wasn’t hard to see it coming. I haven’t gathered what the specifics on the retention of the brewpub is, but I would guess that they would make some sort of deal so that they can still use the goose island brand at the pub but nowhere else. I read elsewhere that the Wrigleyville brewpub is closing soon anyway for a big redevelopment project and likely won’t reopen.
Message Naven beers 1000 º places 109 º 10:58 Mon 3/28/2011 Originally posted by after4ever I don’t know too much about what’s happened at Kona since AB bought them. But friends and family have visited, and say there’s no sign of any parent company anywhere on premise. Just a bigger deck, nicer furniture, more signage than in years past. The beers seem the same. For my money, Widmer has gotten more interesting since their purchase--more seasonals and experimentals. They were just OK before, now they’re a little better. Redhook has two shiny, state-of-the-art new breweries since their purchase. Beer seems the same. Biggest change? They have to use some of that mammoth capacity at the new place to help Widmer keep up with keg orders for their hef. Nothing else. AB seems, at least from what you can see from the outside in these three cases, to know how to stay out of the way. If it’s any consolation. Around here, they’ve actually done a fair bit now and then to sink marketing muscle (i.e., cash) into promoting homebrew events and other quiet parts of the craft beer scene. I note that without comment. Nice to see a different point of view. Personally, I think GI will be just fine. While AB are not exactly brewers of world class beers, they have a history of making pretty solid business moves, and I suspect that the buisness plan here is not to buy the company so that they can put their own mark on it, but to grow it and direct it with their $ and marketing.