InBev buys Goose Island

[mr x]

http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2011/03/28/b ... _news_blog" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[akr71]

Read this story yesterday. Bad news for Goose Island drinkers, but they'll be able to reach a larger market with a better distribution chain. Who am I kidding AB will finda a way to fuck it up.

[mr x]

I find it telling that the head brewer resigned.

[akr71]

The head brewer & founder's son, no less.

Goose Islands brew-pubs were not part of the deal, so maybe he's heading back there.

[derek]

I wonder if the current brewmaster didn't like the change of ownership (oops, I see Robert already said he resigned):

"Goose Island Beer Co. announces Deschutes’ Brett Porter as new brewmaster"

What sort of name is "Brett Porter" for a brewmaster? Is it even acceptable to have Brett in Porter?

[mr x]

That's hilarious.

[akr71]

Kinda limits your career choices, doesn't it?

[BobbyOK]

Matilda on tap at the Goose Island pub at O'Hare still tasted great yesterday, as did a Honker's Ale at the pub closer to my gate. I suspect Bud only wanted a couple of their bigger brands, so it will be interesting to see what the Brewpubs continue to put out. I can't imagine Bud would allow the brewpubs to continue brewing whatever they want under the same name as something they own.

Speaking of O'Hare, they had bottled GI beers up front at the pub where they had food for take-away purchase. I didn't get to ask but anyone know if you can buy those to go?

[derek]

An interesting interview at Beer Advocate

While I agree with the writer that it's early to pronounce the death of Goose Island, I can't imagine what he's seen in the history of the mega-breweries to suggest that they won't interfere in the autonomy of this one...

[mr x]

I say the first thing that gets destroyed are the brewpubs...

[akr71]

I didn't think their brew-pubs were part o the deal...

And to play devil's advocate - Sapporo/Sleemans hasn't completely destroyed Unibroue (yet).

[derek]

It's hard to get a handle on what's going to happen to the brewpubs. They weren't, apparently, part of the deal, so InBev can't just close them down, but I'd expect Goose Island's recipes are part of the intellectual property now own by InBev. There'll be non-competition clauses, and all sorts of restrictions on what the brewpubs can actually do. InBev can't close them, but they may well be able to make it impossible for them to make a profit.

[mr x]

I could see InBev wanting to ram them full of their crap, using them as yet another marketing tool for their line of garbage...

[BobbyOK]

It's hard to get a handle on what's going to happen to the brewpubs. They weren't, apparently, part of the deal, so InBev can't just close them down, but I'd expect Goose Island's recipes are part of the intellectual property now own by InBev. There'll be non-competition clauses, and all sorts of restrictions on what the brewpubs can actually do. InBev can't close them, but they may well be able to make it impossible for them to make a profit.

Best move would probably be to rename the brewpubs. They've been around long enough that the regulars know the story and it wouldn't hurt the pubs to rename. Or they could go super cheeky and rename it Duck Peninsula or Swan Isthmus.

[chalmers]

Matilda on tap at the Goose Island pub at O'Hare still tasted great yesterday, as did a Honker's Ale at the pub closer to my gate. I suspect Bud only wanted a couple of their bigger brands, so it will be interesting to see what the Brewpubs continue to put out. I can't imagine Bud would allow the brewpubs to continue brewing whatever they want under the same name as something they own.

Speaking of O'Hare, they had bottled GI beers up front at the pub where they had food for take-away purchase. I didn't get to ask but anyone know if you can buy those to go?

I don't think the bottles were to go. At least, the guys behind the counter wouldn't sell to me to go, I had to drink them there (which I did, happily).

[derek]

Goose Island continues to make a splash...

http://beernews.org/2011/04/report-goos ... ses-at-bar" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[LiverDance]

Maybe that's InBev's new filtration process for the goose island brews

[mr x]

http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2011/05/02/b ... ure-clash/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In/Bev culture at work:

Some employees are upset about the company’s decision to discontinue a certain loan program for workers who relocated for the company. Some employees caught in bad housing markets could be hit hard, because the brewer is calling in the loans issued under the old regime, say people familiar with the matter. The company declined to comment.

Nice.

[derek]

Ouch. That's pretty sleazy. Even for InBev.