Bud/Inbev has the right to buy any brand they like. Small brewers have the right to sell to any corporation they like. An informed public can make the choice to drink what they want. It is a free market.
The problem here is how to inform the public. Is it false advertising not explaining who owns a newly acquired brewery? Should Ab/Inbev be required to put their label on cans and bottles of all the breweries they own? Judging by the reaction to Wicked Weed selling {selling out} that would lead to a drastic loss in sales
Here are some headlines from the web.
“Beer Industry Whacks at Wicked Weed Deal”,
“Wicked Weed beer sale marks flashpoint in brewery turf wars”,
“Majority of 70 brewers withdraw from Wicked Weed event for charity in protest of big beer”
And here is some post from social media.
“Your cowardly embrace of the enemy of craft brewing has made my birthday dinner the other night the last time I will be patronizing your business,”
“Sold your soul for cash, thankfully there is enough competition to avoid you completely. Thanks for the beers, good riddance,”
The folks at InBev are not dumb. They knew this would happen. They bought Goose Island Brewery and immediately shut it down. Then Inbev moved brewing to one of their large facilities. Goose Island IPA was at that time a premium beer. Now it is sold at discount prices
.
So why do it? To gain access to state legislature, that’s why. No one in state government is going to listen to a company with no dog in the fight. Buy a small brewery in the state, with revenues that will be negligible to your bottom line, and poof the doors to the state capitol open.
When the idea of raising the limit of barrels of beer a small brewery can self distribute comes up your lobbyist can now help local leaders decide no.
How about lowering the tax rate on brewers producing less than 20,000 barrels? Big beer lobbyist don’t like this either.
Big Beer has done this before. Remember wine coolers
.
But instead of three or four national brands fighting small brewers it is 2 multi-national behemoths pulling out all the big dollar stops.
So please remember the dark ages (1960s, 80s and 90s). Remember all the “cheese cake”, cartoons and talking dogs they used to sell a bland product. Remember when all beer tasted the same.
