Tom Long, MillerCoors CEO, asks consumers to judge brewers by the quality of their beers

Discussion in 'Beer News' started by Todd, Dec 22, 2012.

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

    Stevedore Grand Pooh-Bah (5,072) Nov 16, 2012 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    By this you mean not the largest fish in the sea but rather, the only fish.
     
  2. yamar68

    yamar68 Initiate (0) Apr 1, 2011 Minnesota

    Tom Long is making a bullshit assertion but, I think it should be noted that even though Coors puts out a big line of average but consistent beers that they are most known for, the brewers there are doing some seriously amazing things both behind the scenes at the brewery and around the region... beers that are too expensive and risky for them to produce on a larger basis.

    I would challenge any BA to have a blind taste of one of their fruited sours and tell me that it's just some MillerCoors swill.
     
    Schwantz and ChrisPro like this.
  3. Jules11788

    Jules11788 Initiate (0) Feb 15, 2011 California

    There's a stark difference between "quality" and "consistency". They may be consistent with the quality of their products, but that doesn't mean that the products are of high quality
     
    Jimjohson and Kyrojack like this.
  4. cavedave

    cavedave Grand Pooh-Bah (4,145) Mar 12, 2009 New York
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Tom's point is that consumers should judge their beers fairly. Well, I would venture there isn't a single person on this site who hasn't judged their beers fairly.

    Many people obviously resent the way they do business, but at the end of the day if Mother Teresa was their CEO and Jesus was their head brewer we still wouldn't drink their beers because they suck ass.

    If Tom wants to get serious about brewing fine beer he should put his effort into brewing fine beer, and pay less attention to responding to fact filled press releases with garbage filled press releases.
     
  5. cavedave

    cavedave Grand Pooh-Bah (4,145) Mar 12, 2009 New York
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    So let's see, we should cut them some slack because they know how to make fine beer, they just refuse to make fine beer? Just wanna make sure I understand your point.:wink:
     
    Jimjohson, benart, Chico_PT and 7 others like this.
  6. Beerontwowheels

    Beerontwowheels Initiate (0) Nov 22, 2009 Maryland

    I'd have more respect if they took that risk (large batch). Even if they failed, they could afford it. A multi-billion dollar corporation can't afford to make a large batch of fruited sour? Not 'buying' it.
     
    BoneyardBrewer likes this.
  7. codysjb

    codysjb Pundit (994) Jun 16, 2010 Florida
    Trader

    I for one am happy to judge based on quality.

    Millercoors beers are perhaps the absolute worst beer I've had the displeasure to taste. Judgement on your quality is that is sucks... But I think they know that and are attempting to grab a market share by saying they have good quality.
     
    cavedave likes this.
  8. mountsnow1010

    mountsnow1010 Initiate (0) Jan 23, 2009 Vermont

    Source or more info?
     
  9. Kayakjim16

    Kayakjim16 Crusader (471) Aug 21, 2005 Colorado

    Well, when you talk about quality, it is a relative term. Toyota makes a high quality ptoduct, that is largely utilitarian. Mercedes produces a high quality vehicle that stands out from most other vehicles because of it's luxury appointments. The two brands are both autos, but are easily discernible. Toyota can also be discerned from the other brands in it's segment, because of it's quality. Can the same be said of a Miller/Coors product? You can tell a Coors from a Victory Prima Pils in a blind taste test, but can you tell a Coors from a Bud or Miller or any of the light beers from one another?

    Also, the model that is currently used to distribute wine, beer and other spirits is anachronistic and limits consumer choice. Craft brewers need to form an alliance with the specialty Specialty Wine Retailers Association and push for legislation that would allow them to distribute directly to outside states. Ground zero for such a movement, could be in Colorado, where there is a 168 craft brewers and brew pubs. In Bev and Miller Coors, are getting to be like Standard Oil, and need to be prevented from unfairly manipulating the market place.
     
  10. hopfenunmaltz

    hopfenunmaltz Pooh-Bah (2,611) Jun 8, 2005 Michigan
    Pooh-Bah Society

    This is more like the definition of quality that someone who has worked in a manufacturing industry would use. Quality products are those that are free from defects, and meet the customers expectations. Consistency happens when you hit the target (accuracy) with small variations (precision). In this definition AB and MC have great quality.

    The beers may not be premium or aspirational products. When was the last thread about an infected Bud or Coors Banquet?

    I would also argue on the car examples above, that a Toyota has better quality than the Mercedes. Had a top of the line MB where I worked that cost 4 or 5 times most of the Toyotas in the fleet, that spent more time in the dealer's shop than on property. The fleet coordinator was on a first name basis with the repair shop manager.
     
  11. bennetj17

    bennetj17 Initiate (0) Oct 30, 2005 Arizona

    When you say your product stacks up well against any craft beer, and then you cite beers like Summer Shandy and Blue Moon, then you are full of shit. Like most other CEO's in America this guy is just talking the talk. If he really wanted to let beers speak for themselves then why does he have to write a memo to convince us?
     
  12. creepinjeeper

    creepinjeeper Initiate (0) Nov 8, 2012 Missouri

    Why make it when they've proven over the years can just buy into it?
     
  13. cavedave

    cavedave Grand Pooh-Bah (4,145) Mar 12, 2009 New York
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    The fact that even bacteria can't stand their products is hardly a ringing endorsement :wink:
     
  14. marquis

    marquis Pooh-Bah (2,301) Nov 20, 2005 England
    Pooh-Bah Society

    "Quality" is often a user defined term and it's in this instance it's quite meaningless. I wouldn't touch the basic stuff-I would even go out and buy a long bargepole to not touch it with- but that doesn't make it a poor quality item.Just one which doesn't meet my requirements for enjoyable beer.I don't like ballet but don't go round telling people it's crap. I regard Country and Western music as mindless babble but that's me-I've got friends who greatly enjoy it so maybe they can see (or rather hear) something I can't.There's a thing called the Jack Spratt principle.To each his own and if countless millions enjoy drinking Coors products that's their choice and they at least feel that Coors get it right.
     
    MrMcGibblets likes this.
  15. Kayakjim16

    Kayakjim16 Crusader (471) Aug 21, 2005 Colorado

    Well, beer is a manufactured product and it is not easy to differentiate one large adjunct lager from another, with the exception of Yuengling. So, if the consumer is unable to differentiate between various products, then how do you establish quality? If it is free of defects and meets consumer expectations (in that market niche), can it be said yo be a quality product?(it is a product) For 80% of beer consumers, it does meet the definition of quality. Now, we tend to define quality differently than the average beer drinking public. We tend to view adjunct lagers as swill that cannot be compared to what we prefer, so we are talking about our definition of quality versus a manufacturing executives definition of quality.

    Perhaps I used a poor comparison in Autos. I own an '03 Tacoma and so far, it has been bullet proof compared to the 94 Jimmy that I owned.
     
  16. hopfenunmaltz

    hopfenunmaltz Pooh-Bah (2,611) Jun 8, 2005 Michigan
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Charlie Bamforth uses the industrial definition. If it is good enough to him it is good enough for me.
    http://www.google.com/shopping/prod...a=X&ei=8iXXUJKsBsnsrAHH8YGwDw&ved=0CHwQ8wIwCA
     
    Chico_PT likes this.
  17. Snowrs

    Snowrs Initiate (0) Oct 10, 2009 Indiana

    You may want to look up quality

    a measure of excellence or a state of being free from defects, deficiencies and significant variations. It is brought about by strict and consistent commitment to certain standards that achieve uniformity of a product in order to satisfy specific customer or user requirements





     
  18. Jules11788

    Jules11788 Initiate (0) Feb 15, 2011 California


    Yeah, Merriam-Webster defines it as this:
    "A: degree of excellence<the quality of competing air service — Current Biography>

    B: superiority in kind <merchandise of quality>"
     
    nickfl and quetzal013 like this.
  19. Snowrs

    Snowrs Initiate (0) Oct 10, 2009 Indiana

    Show me a better Adjunct Lager. Superiority in kind

    And are you saying that someone else makes a clearly superior adjunct lager (degree of excellence)
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.