Duvel Moortgat to acquire Boulevard Brewing Company

Reads 3990 • Replies 36 • Started Thursday, October 17, 2013 11:49:13 AM CT

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Message Drake P admin beers 21771 º places 1252 º 01:58 Fri 10/18/2013 Given that Boulevard reps have just entered Virginia, and they’re treating us like we’re hicks (they assume we don’t know what a good IPA is), then I welcome this move.
Message andrepintado beers 3998 º places 125 º 02:04 Fri 10/18/2013 I think this will be a nice opportunity to taste Boulevard beers in Europe, which in my humble european opinion is very very good.
Message 77ships P beers 14200 º places 918 º 04:45 Fri 10/18/2013 Originally posted by andregoncalves I think this will be a nice opportunity to taste Boulevard beers in Europe, which in my humble european opinion is very very good. Have you been getting Ommegang in Portugal? That stuff is brewed in Belgium but I have never seen it being imported. I see no reason as to why this news means that I will be seeing Boulevard. What I would really like to see for Duvel to start selling the unsweetened Liefmans base beer which is an absolutely wonderful beer. An incredible sour that exists but no one gets to ever drink because they say there is no commercial interest for it. I don’t see why this is the case, Rodenbach Vintage sells very well.

Message Elwood beers 3347 º places 108 º 05:28 Fri 10/18/2013 I think you are going to see a lot more of this in the future. American craft brands selling out to other craft brands or well established European brands. At some point the guys and gals who created these brands are going to want to get out. And I wouldn’t be surprised to see more of them sell out to ABInbev and MillerCoors. There aren’t many companies who have deep enough pockets for $100+ million buyouts. I think the obvious preference is to sell to someone you hope will take care of the brand you spent decades building.
Message robrules places 1 º 06:47 Fri 10/18/2013 Originally posted by TheBeerSommelier The lines keep blurring. How long before we can simply no longer define craft breweries predominantly by volume? or ownership.
Message andrepintado beers 3998 º places 125 º 08:21 Fri 10/18/2013 Originally posted by 77ships Originally posted by andregoncalves I think this will be a nice opportunity to taste Boulevard beers in Europe, which in my humble european opinion is very very good. Have you been getting Ommegang in Portugal? That stuff is brewed in Belgium but I have never seen it being imported. I see no reason as to why this news means that I will be seeing Boulevard. Actually in Portugal you just find belgium and german macros, so no, no Ommegang. But I was hoping that Moortgat would distribute american brews over the Europe (Spain, France, England) so I could at least buy them over the internet... But maybe I’m asking too much :-)
Message beastiefan2k P beers 5012 º places 294 º 08:33 Fri 10/18/2013 Originally posted by Drake Given that Boulevard reps have just entered Virginia, and they’re treating us like we’re hicks (they assume we don’t know what a good IPA is), then I welcome this move. if you send an email to Blvd with some precise complaints I think you will get some very good feedback. Blvd prides itself on making customers happy and I don’t think the people in KC would appreciate their reps in Virginia disrespecting people. Of note, aren’t reps usually from the area? Wouldn’t the Virginia rep be living somewhere on the east coast?

Message kramer 08:34 Fri 10/18/2013 Interesting to me that the purchase price is thought to be upwards of 100 million, and that the Goose Island deal was only 39 million just about 3 years ago. Makes the Goose Island purchase look like a super bargain. Not sure what the output of GI was before the buyout, but was it that much lower than Boulevards? Sign of the times for things to come. How many of us would turn down 100M to walk away from something we created.
Message fletche00 08:45 Fri 10/18/2013 I don’t see this as a bad thing because Duvel is looking to acquire their brewery more so than change what they do. In one of the articles, Duvel said no personnel changes, and day to day should remain the same. This will help expand their footprint in the market, and they have fantastic beers already, so why not. Boulevard already has some amazing collabs, and their new strategy in the marketplace is amazing if you ask me. They just did a 12pk that has 2 Brewery Only beers included that have never been bottled. It was quite refreshing to see something new (more like new to the market) from them, instead of them trying to discover the next best ingredient for a style of beer (not to knock on breweries that do that, its just great to see a different approach to "new"). I look at it like Sierra Nevada, they partnered with SABMiller for wider distribution, and they still make great beers with new beers coming out that are fantastic. I know we are all entitled to our opinions, but I wouldn’t write this off until we see exactly how Duvel runs the company. If they decide to make it as mass produced as possible and ruin its integrity (which I doubt they will do), then I may have to write them off. Looking forward to this though :)
Message fletche00 08:48 Fri 10/18/2013 Originally posted by beastiefan2k Originally posted by Drake Given that Boulevard reps have just entered Virginia, and they’re treating us like we’re hicks (they assume we don’t know what a good IPA is), then I welcome this move. if you send an email to Blvd with some precise complaints I think you will get some very good feedback. Blvd prides itself on making customers happy and I don’t think the people in KC would appreciate their reps in Virginia disrespecting people. Of note, aren’t reps usually from the area? Wouldn’t the Virginia rep be living somewhere on the east coast? For the most part yes, they try to keep the rep from the area, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that wasn’t the case for them. Recently, Boulevard revamped many of their reps, and expanded how many of them there were (use to have 1 guy covering 6 states, now its 4 guys covering those states). I know see the rep every 2 months, and use to see him once a year. And also, Boulevard has amazing customer service, if you were to email them any complaints, they will usually respect your comments and get back to you immediately. They take pride on that.