Short’s Brewing sells 20% to Heineken/Lagunita’s

Originally posted by Gichigami

Originally posted by joet
Most of their competition for resources, shelf space and tap handles comes from other small brands and from larger international craft brands.

Statistics and source?

Most educated consumers also know this, but the disinformation campaign is coming from a few powerful sources including trade groups that draw support from large craft.

Source?

If this myth were true, and big beer has great power to limit consumer choice, why would we now be in the height of the golden age of craft beer?

AB InBev and other large breweries were slow to react. They didn’t seem to take small, independent breweries seriously, and then when they did first publicly take notice, they used advertising to attack such choices of beer. Since attacking proved unsuccessful, the strategy employed by these predatory, large breweries has evolved again. Now, they have moved on to the, "If you can’t beat them, buy them" phase. This strategy is by far the most dangerous to small, independent breweries, because I doubt that many consumers know who owns which breweries. A decade ago, your macros were in one area, and all of the "craft" beer was in another. Sure, there were a few macros mixed among the micros, but the demarcation was fairly clear. Now, I find more and more "crafty," macro-owned brands taking up shelf space every time that I go to the liquor store. The illusion of choice is there, but the new brands are all really just parts of the same predatory, aggressive, multinational corporation. I can say with confidence that we are very, very unlikely to go back to the days of Bud, Miller, or Coors being the only brands on the shelves. However, we do face a very real future where the vast majority of shelf space is taken up by brands owned by a few mega corporations. Why do you think that the Brewers Association is so concerned that they made their seal?

I don’t know if you honestly believe that breweries such as AB InBev won’t hurt small, independent breweries, or if you are just saying that to help yourself justify the Faustian bargain that you agreed to last fall. If you really don’t think that AB InBev will use RateBeer data to hurt smaller breweries and consumer choice (if consumers care about who makes their beer), then I challenge you to answer the following questions:

Assume that there are two breweries for the following scenarios. Brewery A is a multinational conglomerate that has over 400 brands, unlimited resources at their disposal (advertising, lobbying, etc.), and owns around 1/3 of the distributors in the United States. Brewery Z is a small, mom-and-pop brewery with very limited resources, and a modest geographic range that they sell to.

Question 1. Based on market data, five of Brewery A’s brands start producing a new IPA. Brewery Z has been producing a beer of similar quality and flavor profile to those beers (although they all look similar, and there is no way of knowing that Brewery A actually owns all of the competitors). Due to economies of scales and vertical integration, Brewery A is able to produce the similar beer for a fraction of the price, and therefore undercut Brewery Z at the store. How do you think Brewery Z will fare in this environment?
a.) Brewery Z’s beer will outsell Brewery A’s beers
b.) Brewery A’s beers will outsell Brewery Z’s beers
c.) Brewery Z’s beer will not be affected by Brewery A’s beers

Question 2. The only distributor in Brewery Z’s area is owned by Brewery A. The distributor being owned by the massive company is likely to:
a.) Help Brewery Z’s sales
b.) Hurt Brewery Z’s sales
c.) Not affect Brewery Z’s sales

Question 3. As Brewery A continued to buy up Brewery Z’s competitors and give them access to more capital and cheaper resources, Brewery Z would be:
a.) Helped
b.) Hurt

Originally posted by NobleSquirrel

Originally posted by JK

Originally posted by Gichigami

Originally posted by JK

Originally posted by Skyview
Well, that is one more US brewery that can not use the Brewers Association’s Independent Craft Brewer (drain pour logo) seal on their packaging and point of purchase displays.

Yeah, and do you know who else cannot use it? Schells. Merely because they produce too much.

Brewers association guidelines:

Annual production of 6 million barrels of beer or less (approximately 3 percent of U.S. annual sales). Beer production is attributed to the rules of alternating proprietorships.

August Schell’s Brewing Company annual production as of a couple of years ago: ~150,000 barrels

So unless they have increased their production by a factor of 40, they are okay (I believe with their expansion a few years ago their max capacity is now ~250,000 barrels a year). They are also listed by the Brewers Association as a craft brewery, so I think all of these rumors about them not being able to use the new seal should be verified before being repeated.

Thanks for the correction.

Actually, based on Skyview’s prior post, they aren’t allowed due to the date that the brewery was founded (1860) and their status as a regional brewery. Not that it matters, since the new logo is a bullshit gimmick that most of the local brewers here in Chicago are annoyed with. Pretty fucked up when Sierra Nevada & Anchor can’t use it, but Sam Adams can...

Not that I care about micro’s (or whatever this Shorts might be) selling out to whatever Lagunitas is now...I just wanted to say that a quick scan of the forum’s post titles had me think I saw "Leinenkugel" for a second instead of "Heineken/Lagunitas".

Maybe Shorts will get their quality control taken care of now...

I had the pleasure to visit Shorts a few years ago and felt so much at home in this tiny town brewery. I could envision discussions about the dog catcher, etc. going on there. And the beers were tasty! Congratulations to the brewer. I have no idea how much money was involved (didn’t read the link). As Yakov Smirnov said "What a country!"

Originally posted by Gichigami

Originally posted by DietPepsican
LOL reached character limit on first post much? What’s your personal agenda to make more money by using the platform you call into question?

That took longer than expected for a member of the RateBeer spirit squad to show up. I was banking on ClarkVV, but you post almost as often in these threads. As usual, you also have nothing of substance to add to the thread, and you will dodge relevant questions if I pose them to you. Nice job!

Originally posted by nuplastikk

Originally posted by Gichigami

Originally posted by DietPepsican
LOL reached character limit on first post much? What’s your personal agenda to make more money by using the platform you call into question?

That took longer than expected for a member of the RateBeer spirit squad to show up. I was banking on ClarkVV, but you post almost as often in these threads. As usual, you also have nothing of substance to add to the thread, and you will dodge relevant questions if I pose them to you. Nice job!

+1

Shorts has been in WI for a few years. I find the vast majority of their beers to be sub par. What does a six pack or twelve pack run in MI? I’ll scoop of the mixed twelves for 14-15 in WI and get my tick on, but have little interest in any full sixpacks. The anniversary sour was horrid, at least the one I had on tap.

Originally posted by nuplastikk
Shorts has been in WI for a few years. I find the vast majority of their beers to be sub par. What does a six pack or twelve pack run in MI? I’ll scoop of the mixed twelves for 14-15 in WI and get my tick on, but have little interest in any full sixpacks. The anniversary sour was horrid, at least the one I had on tap.

Originally posted by JK
Everyone knows 20% is a minority share, right? In any event, i am not aware of Heineken engaging in unethical and possibly illegal practices like Budweiser, targeted against craft beer, and I am confident in saying the majority of beer drinkers consider Heineken a premium brand.