John Hall steps down as president of Goose Island, Anheuser-Busch Craft Advisory Board established

Discussion in 'Beer News' started by Todd, Nov 16, 2012.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. pweis909

    pweis909 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,176) Aug 13, 2005 Wisconsin
    Pooh-Bah Society

    To me, this sounds like the change is about marketing, not brewing. Not really surprising given that marketing is how the King of Beers has stayed on the throne. I'm trying to look at a plus side. Perhaps this means that Honkers and GI IPA, two beers that I happen to like, will be consumed by a broader audience and elevate our collective beer consciousness. The beers' qualities don't necessarily have to change.

    I'm not sure what happened to Becks. Hasn't it always been skunky? At least that's the way I remember it.
     
  2. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,181) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    It all jibes with Anheuser-Busch's intense and aggressive focus on profit at all costs. Here are some of the moves made by CEO Carlos Brito to shore up profits, according to Bloomberg Businesweek:
    •Shifted the brewing of Beck's from Germany to St. Louis, alienating fans who said the taste was weakened.
    •Laid off 1,400 people, or 6% of its American workers.
    •Sold the SeaWorld and Busch Gardens theme parks.
    •Made its labels smaller, the glass in its bottles thinner and cardboard packaging weaker.
    •Used broken rice instead of whole grains in its beer, something previous management would not do.
    •Cut the number of employee BlackBerry phones and told execs to start flying commercial.
    •Cut purchases of high-quality hops, like those from Germany's Hallertau region, in favor of cheaper hops.

    Above is from: http://money.msn.com/top-stocks/post.aspx?post=05e1af69-653a-40f1-9c7a-7b72498f6afe

    Cheers!
     
  3. Lare453

    Lare453 Pooh-Bah (2,822) Feb 1, 2012 Florida
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Get your 2012 bcbs a no their variations because next year will suck
     
  4. sind310

    sind310 Initiate (0) Nov 15, 2011 California

    No need to get political, but Obama celebrates his second win with 312. Marketing and media department did a great job of getting new consumers. But now this happens. Of course A-B jumped on it! Why didn't someone just hand his ass a Bud-Light instead?!? What a jack-ass move!
     
  5. Ford

    Ford Initiate (0) Sep 8, 2012 Texas

    With everything they've done to all the other beers they have purchased... no way they leave Goose Island alone in the long run...
     
    mikeburd1128 likes this.
  6. emannths

    emannths Initiate (0) Sep 21, 2007 Massachusetts

    Obviously I know nothing about the rationale behind the GI purchase, but I wouldn't be surprised to see A-B run it like the luxury arm of a car company rather than another faux-craft brand like Shock Top. A-B created the Shock Top brand from scratch--why buy another brand just to make it another Shock Top? I think it's much more likely that A-B uses GI as a brand to capture the dollars spent on high-priced, high-margin craft beer like BCBS. In that role, GI fills a hole in the A-B brand portfolio, rather than duplicating an existing product. Cost-cutting that also sacrifices quality won't be common. I suspect A-B looks more at the Duvel-Moortgat or Sam Adams models for GI rather than the Shock Top one.

    And yes, I'm willfully ignoring the pedigree of the new GI head... :wink:
     
    Pahn and creepinjeeper like this.
  7. ComRock12

    ComRock12 Initiate (0) Sep 28, 2010 Massachusetts

    Goose Island's standard beers suck anyway, I'll just hold on to my few remaining Vintage series and move on. They never really took much of my budget anyway... Curious as to what they mean by Craft Advisory Board though.
     
    keef likes this.
  8. bound4er

    bound4er Maven (1,347) Jul 4, 2007 Wisconsin

  9. Jplachy

    Jplachy Pooh-Bah (1,664) Feb 12, 2012 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    I'm still confused as to why AB-InBev will absolutely positively 100% for sure ruin Goose Island. It doesn't make sense. Goose Island was the brand that got my foot in the door of "craft" beer. And this has happened to at least a dozen people I know. They ask me to recommend a beer. I say "312" they say "I loved it!" then they try a 3Floyds beer, love that, etc, etc, repeat, repeat until they are one of us.

    Even post AB-InBev I'll bring a 12 pack of 312(which to me still tastes the same as it did when I first had it)and blow minds. I got a text last week from a friend "Hey I'm at this place Revolution, its pretty good..." etc, etc, repeat, repeat until they are one of us.

    As more and more people shift away from the macro brews(I saw 2 bros at Osco carrying 24 packs of Miller Lite through the liquor dept the other day when one of them stopped and exclaimed "THEY HAVE DAISY CUTTER!")wont AB-InBev need Goose Island and their higher priced brews to keep afloat? And margins be damned you can't mess with the taste, because as soon as it tastes bad I'll stop recommending it. They have to keep ME happy, because I'm the one who buys their stuff en masse, and recommends it to people who have never veered from squeezing a lime into their clear glass bottles.

    Until Goose Island's beer doesn't taste like the delicious beers that got me here(this message board and well....paying $18 for a bomber of a barrel aged stout)I'll stand by Goose Island and AB's decisions. The bigger Goose gets, the more we can convert to the cause of craft beer with their decently priced now WIDELY available beers. And even if they don't convert, wouldn't you rather have someone order a Honker's Ale than a Bud Light? I mean at least it tastes good(for now*).

    *and maybe forever
     
    creepinjeeper likes this.
  10. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,181) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    “I'm still confused as to why AB-InBev will absolutely positively 100% for sure ruin Goose Island.” I am not 100% sure that AB-InBev will ‘ruin’ Goose Island and I genuinely hope that they don’t.

    “And margins be damned you can't mess with the taste, because as soon as it tastes bad I'll stop recommending it.” Well, reducing margins is unfortunately a genuine concern. There is recent history that AB-InBev did this with Beck’s (which is now brewed in St. Louis). They have also taken other steps to reduce costs in their beer making. I posted this previously:

    It all jibes with Anheuser-Busch's intense and aggressive focus on profit at all costs. Here are some of the moves made by CEO Carlos Brito to shore up profits, according to Bloomberg Businesweek:
    Shifted the brewing of Beck's from Germany to St. Louis, alienating fans who said the taste was weakened.
    •Laid off 1,400 people, or 6% of its American workers.
    •Sold the SeaWorld and Busch Gardens theme parks.
    •Made its labels smaller, the glass in its bottles thinner and cardboard packaging weaker.
    •Used broken rice instead of whole grains in its beer, something previous management would not do.
    •Cut the number of employee BlackBerry phones and told execs to start flying commercial.
    Cut purchases of high-quality hops, like those from Germany's Hallertau region, in favor of cheaper hops.

    Above is from: http://money.msn.com/top-stocks/post.aspx?post=05e1af69-653a-40f1-9c7a-7b72498f6afe

    Let’s all hope that AB-InBev does not make the same ‘mistakes’ like they did with Beck’s recently but it would be imprudent to just think that Goose Island is different and the quality of Goose Island beers is of upmost importance to AB-InBev vs. maximizing profits.


    Cheers!
     
  11. thegoon55

    thegoon55 Initiate (0) Oct 27, 2012 Massachusetts

    First off let me say lets hope the don't ruin bcbs...speaking of maximizing profits do you think they will re-brew Rare or vanilla due too there popularity?
     
  12. aaronanderson

    aaronanderson Initiate (0) Nov 2, 2012 Michigan

    Has anybody seen the movie Beer Wars(I think that's what its called). This is exactly what the documentary speaks of.
     
  13. epk

    epk Pundit (813) Jun 10, 2008 New Jersey

  14. Bitter_Echo

    Bitter_Echo Initiate (0) Apr 13, 2012 Michigan

    Demand quality, keep buying it, promote it, and magically, this will create and sustain a market for quality craft beers. Compromise, settle, or drink whatever, and be prepare to drink more junk (me, not at all). They might try to buy them all but they can't, and others will be sure to fill the vacuum of quality. Remember, in some very powerful ways, as consumers, we play an important part in the quality of the things we consume. Demand better and no worries.
     
  15. creepinjeeper

    creepinjeeper Initiate (0) Nov 8, 2012 Missouri

    Thanks for posting the article. It seems to me that they have messed with almost every beer they get their hands on, including flagship beers. So, while I am hoping that it will be different, what is there to keep them from messing with Goose Island? I don't think it's a conspiracy theory, I think it's their track record and business model. Sadly, it's getting harder and harder to keep track of AB/InBev beers. I had no idea Hoegaarden was their line.
     
  16. JediMatt

    JediMatt Zealot (549) Jun 18, 2010 Iowa

    That's how I feel too. Not only do I not agree with their business tactics, we've watched them water down several other brands as well. Here's a list of brands that AB/Inbev either owns totally or in part:

    Bass
    Beck's
    Boddingtons
    Budweiser
    Busch
    Franziskaner
    Goose Island
    Hoegaarden
    Labatt
    Lakeport
    Leffe
    Lowenbrau
    Michelob
    Natural Light
    Rolling Rock
    Spaten
    St Pauli Girl
    Stella Artois
    Tsingtao
    Corona
    Pacifico
    Negra Modelo
    Modelo
    Redhook
    Widmer
    Kona
     
    creepinjeeper likes this.
  17. epk

    epk Pundit (813) Jun 10, 2008 New Jersey

    It's kind of funny that all these years we thought AB was the worst when it came to quantity over quality, but at least they were apparently staying true to using consistent/quality ingredients (insisting on hole grain rice, sourcing their beechwood from multiple companies, and importing German hops), while this new Brazilian-managed AB-InBev cuts on even those to save a buck.
     
  18. JimsArcade

    JimsArcade Initiate (0) Jan 20, 2004 Pennsylvania

    I'm more concerned about the lesser-hyped stars in Goose Island's portfolio like Sofie and the "three sisters". I see a much greater chance of getting inferior versions of those beers, or losing some of them altogether, compared to BCBS which I believe is relatively safe.

    The majority of the beers in the AB-InBev portfolio are commodities. From a business perspective, it makes sense to reduce expenses on commodity products that are traditionally price elastic (i.e., small changes in price result in relatively large changes in demand). BCBS is a product that is almost definitely price inelastic. They would be better off maintaining the high quality of BCBS and simply charge more: it will sell out regardless of price.

    BCBS also drives the sales of GI's "flagship" beers at distributors. "Want to offer a case of BCBS? Well, you have to order X cases of our IPA first." Alienating BCBS drinkers will reduce demand for it and, in turn, reduce the incentive for distributors to stock more of GI's flagship beers.

    It's for these reasons that I believe the fear about BCBS' quality is pretty much unjustified. A beer with such a passionate consumer base is unprecedented in AB-InBev's portfolio. They should know better than to mess with that. However, the rest of GI's beers have a much greater chance of getting hit by AB-InBev's margin-cutting strategy they employ everywhere else.
     
  19. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,181) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    It is only fair to give Anheuser-Busch kudos for resisting the move to use cheaper broken rice in the past. As a homebrewer I am very uncertain what the flavor/beer difference would be between brewing with broken rice vs. whole grains but there must have indeed been a reason for using whole grains.

    While it may not be totally appropriate to use the description of “cheapening’ for the aspect of diminishing use of hops in making Anheuser-Busch beers over the past 20-40 years I think we should recognize that this indeed happened. The rationale by Anheuser-Busch for this phenomenon is:

    “Mr. Muhleman, who is officially Anheuser's group vice president for brewing and technology, says the company didn't set out to make the beers less bitter. He calls the change "creep," the result of endlessly modifying the beer to allow for changes in ingredients, weather and consumer taste. "Through continuous feedback, listening to consumers, this is a change over 20, 30, 40 years," says Mr. Muhleman, gesturing toward the row of Budweiser cans. "Over time, there is a drift."

    The five Budweiser cans in front of Mr. Busch, dating from 1982, 1988, 1993, 1998 and 2003, were pulled off the production line shortly after they were brewed. They were cooled to minus-321 degrees Fahrenheit over 16 hours and stored at that temperature in a secret laboratory in the company's headquarters.

    The sample cans demonstrate how "creep" works. The difference in taste between two beers brewed five years apart is indistinguishable. Yet, the difference between the 1982 beer and the 2003 beer is distinct. "The bones are the same. It is the same structure," says Mr. Muhleman. Overall, however, "the beers have gotten a little less bitter."

    The above quotes are from an article previously published in the Wall Street Journal in 2006: http://www.drinksforum.com/beer-all/Budweiser-Tinkers-with-the-Recipe-2771-.htm

    Cheers!
     
  20. Providence

    Providence Pooh-Bah (2,628) Feb 24, 2010 Rhode Island
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Even if it means the craft beers from small breweries that you love so much will become more difficult to get?
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.