Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout to be available year-round

I doubt AB would cut corners by forcing GI to buy low quality ingredients. I don't think there are a huge assortment of sources to begin with. AB claims they always use the highest quality ingredients in their own beer. I've heard the rice they use is some high grade stuff worth more per pound than the malt.

i hope we see some up in maine

Sweet lord I really hope this true because I really want to get the chance to try it so badly!

His point is that Goose Island sold themselves to AB, and while not necessarily selling out, they have given their entire production process away to AB. Now, AB is obviously allowing for a much larger production of BCBS which can be viewed as a good thing (for now). But something you have to take into mind is that AB and other large corpo pieces of shit are trying to push out the other small breweries that we care for the most.....if they had it their way there wouldn't be any small craft breweries - less competition means more money in their pocket. They are blind to fair trade and competition and want nothing more than to be the one and only beer producer on the planet. The way they run their business is pitiful and it is proof that they are just scum. I hate that Goose Island has talented brewers that produce such excellent beers because supporting them is providing direct support to AB.

@antlerwrestler - thanks for you explanation, but I seriously think that there is no need to be afraid. There will always be small & great breweries and people to support them. I think it is pretty much the same as with music; not everybody listens to Madonna or Michael Jackson. My opionion is that good beer should be available for the masses and not only the happy few - like what is happening on Dark Lord day - How on earth is it possible for me to attend there?

Hope this comes back to California. I miss seeing BevMo shelved stacked with BCS...

Am I the only person who is dubious of this announcement? Does doubling the size of the barrel capacity = massive increase in bcbs supply? Because it sold out in chicago instantly this year. I doubt that 2 or 3 times the supply will cause it to linger on the shelves. (I hope I'm wrong though!)

WHEN?

I just don't understand why people think that the most consistent brewery/ownership in the world is going to screw with the recipe and process they paid millions/billions for? Do you see wide variation in bottles of Bud Light? I suspect this is more about personal politics (they're sexist capitalists, and I can't get laid/make $ so I'm going to show my dismay by getting conspiratorial about the product, despite the amazing track record of consistency!) than anything else.

If they wanted to make a cheap barrel aged beer, they could just do that without spending all that cash.

Oh wait, they already did.
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29/27354

GI did not give their entire production over to AB. They outsourced their 312 and nut brown ale production, and before they let AB release any of it they made them dump multiple test batches that weren't right. They still get bottles from every batch that they check to make sure they are up to par. AB has been a very benevolent benefactor largely leaving GI alone aside from a large infusion of cash.

Also, as much as your paranoid fantasies may feel right (cuz fuk duh mayne) AB inbev doesn't give a shit about most of the small breweries we all love. The market share of those breweries combined is like the market share of piss in the ocean. Also, I am annoyed by how often I feel compelled to say this, but large companies are not evil. Yes they look out for their best interests but they are not evil and that does not make them evil.

Goose Island is everywhere in NJ now, and in alot of bars on tap already. Do you know if Bourban County will be a part of this?

"The market share of those breweries combined is like the market share of piss in the ocean"

That shit is funny! Well said Agold.

Not sure if the bs will be included.

what they fear is that A-B will believe (most likely correctly) that they can profit more by cutting corners on what we call "quality" (ie how good it is, as opposed to the actually more accepted technical term "quality" meaning how consistently successful a brewery is at making a beer to precise specifications).

remember, most BAs think (correctly) that BMC put out watered down, "not very beer-y" beers and make huge profits from them. since some of us don't think the owners of these corporations are stupid, we don't think that they're currently saying, "wow, those little craft guys are on the rise. we need to do things exactly like them if we ever want to catch up!"

you would expect the same ethics and mindset that they employ for their own beer to be employed for their craft acquisitions. this will probably, eventually, result in a decrease in satisfaction for the beer geek elite, and an increase in sales for GI.

maybe not, but don't pretend that this perspective is conspiracy theory nonsense. it's perfectly rational. the only reason to discount the possibility is ideological commitment. this is always a stupid reason to discount reasonable possibilities.

Sweeet!

If this is true, it is the best news I will hear all year.

Whenever you post something, I'm just hearing Archer's voice saying everything you write lol.

Businesses that make lots of money generally want to keep making money. Makes no sense to buy a recipe, and then not use it. That would be a waste of money. Not gonna happen despite any speculation otherwise. Its either a lack of understanding business or the ideological substitution for business acumen.

Ever see Who Killed the Electric Car? What happened to the advanced battery Ovonics was working on? Chevron bought the rights so it couldn't be used in non-hybrid electric cars.

Ever see Blood Diamond? What happened to the pink diamond at the end? It was put into a vault to keep the value of lesser diamonds higher.

I'm not saying this is the same case because GI has been putting out the same great quality products as ever so far, but what if AB InBev decided to take over some other smaller craft breweries to eliminate them as competition to continue the progress of their main craft cash cow, GI? It's entirely possible and probably the biggest concern we should have regarding big business elbowing its way into the craft movement.

What no mention of Keannu Reeves and how Big Oil framed him for blowing up the lab that could use hydrogen as an energy source and only leave water as a by product? What about Avatar for how our government is mean and hoarding resources? What about the Deadites relying on evil to defeat Bruce Campbell? What about the mideival dickweeds that Bill & Ted defeated? What about Snooki overcoming those cockblockers at the club?

But what "if? "If" my grandmother had balls, she'd be my grandfather.

Probably should deal with what is, not what "if" or Hollywood movies 'based' on a true story. . .

What "if" In-bev dumped a shitton of money into GI/BCS, they kept their recipe the same and it saw increased production and availability? Oh wait, that IS whats happening.

Did you read my entire post? Let me help you. Ahem...

"I'm not saying this is the same case because GI has been putting out the same great quality products as ever so far..."

And Who Killed the Electric Car? was a documentary.

Yes I did read your post, especially the part where you lead with Hollywood movies in your post, hence why I followed the same format as yourself to show the absurdity of comparing entertainment to the situation.

Documentary, mockumentary, reality TV, regular Hollywood movie. . . people really put stock in the alleged differences of these things (much less 'truthfulness' or 'value')?

Jersey Shore is a documentary.

You're not even talking about beer anymore. My point was I like Goose Island and their products. I think you just like to argue.

And what did Snooki ever do to you?

That wasn't your only point. It was actually the last thing you mentioned. Don't cry because you chose to lead your argument with "movies!" and I rebutted it in turn with the same Golden Rule absurdity right back at you.

I'm a big Snooki fan. Hell, my fantasy hockey team was named "I did it all for the Snooki"

But I think she's about as relevant to this discussion as the movies you brought up, hence the juxtaposition of her usage by myself in this context.

Simon Cowell voice: "That's right, because using someone's own brand of non sequiturs against them is funny. You see how that works?"

you two weren't talking about beer to begin with. beerandraiderfan is critical of anyone who thinks GI will change for the worse (relative to anyone; mainstream drinker or craft beer geek) after being bought by A-B. this is because when someone appears to be criticizing corporations / "the right" it makes beerandraiderfan feel bad. in virtue of these feelings, he's compelled to argue. forget that believing that "A-B has different priorities and business ethics than GI may have" is neither a criticism of A-B nor GI, nor is it an ideological stance.

obviously, there's a decent chance recipes will change and lower profit beers will disappear. there's also a decent chance that everything beer geeks clamor for will be so profitable that it only expands. to dismiss either due to ideological commitment is emotionally driven stupidity.

it's possible that beerandraiderfan is just very narrow minded and hammering away at this basic tenet "if X sells out when marketed in tiny batches, of course the best way to profit from it is to make it exactly the same only on a much larger scale." he appears to be more skilled with logic than to believe something so clearly false, so my guess is "i smell A LEFTIST, i must TAKE THE OPPOSITE POSITION!" conversations with people motivated by things like that are always very riveting.

Actually, unlike some, ahem, I criticize viewpoints, not people. I don't know where you get this projection (internally?) about me feeling 'bad'? I simply like to defend things under attack, be it the indigent or massive corporations. Some call it me liking to argue. Whatever, semantics.

I don't know what evidence or history you base it on that there's a decent chance that InBev would pay money for a successful recipe and business. . . and then change it. I think that's a faulty given you're operating under.

This political spectrum stuff is hilarious. Those on the left call me neocon or whatnot, those who claim to be on the right (you know, the faux conservatives who want gov't in your bedroom, private affairs etc. . . ) think I'm a leftist.

Dude, we're clearly over that 'moment' we had the other day huh? Insert wussy smily face. . .

the moment has passed, yes.

i criticize the speaker not the view because the view doesn't make sense. so either you're trying to get something done for your own gain (unlikely), stupid (i always think this is less likely than most people of my ilk, but who knows), or you have some motivation to argue so forcefully for such a tenuous premise.

it is not obviously the case that A-B will fiddle with what GI does beyond adding production facilities and capital, but it is obviously a decent probability. i'm not going to repeat why, but "it worked before, why would they do anything different on a large scale!?" is not a refutation of it.

I dont like Goose Island but love thier product.
My last time at Clybourn was the worst experience at a bar/restaurant ever. horrible. I walked out.
But i'll take a Bourbon County Stout any day of the week.
All the special releases blow most others out of the water
Rare and King Henry are nothing short of world class!

incidentally, as i've said before (in this thread?), even if they started cutting corners, i think the accumulated knowledge they have as trade secrets or whatever would mean their barrel aged stouts will taste better than most other breweries'. however, i still think it remains to be seen what will be deemed most profitable to do with GI.

just because you're crazy and would pay GI $200 to put out "barrel aged rarity vol.11" doesn't mean they make more money doing that than selling 6pks of wheat beer.

Just because you don't understand something doesn't make the proposition any less valid.

Argue forcefully? Or logically? I certainly haven't used any force on anyone (pursuant to this discussion at least).

Seriously, why do you think it is a decent probability? That's what I haven't seen you reveal, other than that because Bud Light is a cheap ingredient product for the masses. . . InBev already had that, they didn't need to buy GI for that, but they did to get in on the craft and barrel scene apparently (seeing as how their own attempted forays have been less than successful, other than the Fairfield brewery outright ripping the SNPA recipe and passing it as Pacific Ridge Pale Ale). . .

The only examples I can think of is when a macro bought a smaller macro and changed recipes. Although I'm sure there's at least an example of two where a company screwed up by doing what you think InBev will do, I'm sure its not unprecedented, I just don't think the most financially successful brewing corporation in the world got where it is by making stupid financial decisions, which I think we can at least agree, swapping the current BCS recipe for cheaper ingredients/dumbed down would qualify as a stupid financial decision x2 (buying GI, then abandoning the recipes they bought).

There are no refutations here, only predictions. You can't refute a negative, much less in the future. We're just providing rationales for our predictions. You know mine. Is yours anything other than "they make some other shitty products under the Budweiser label?"

it's more, "they know what they're doing with budweiser; they know the larger audience. why would they suddenly believe that the larger audience is the same as the craft beer niche?"

i don't care though. we'll see what happens with GI. it doesn't really make a difference to me anyway (too much good beer around, wouldn't be any skin off my back if BCBS disappeared entirely).

So it seems like the massive expansion of Bourbon County was true, are they going to expanding KH and the BC variants production as well?

(Old post, I know).

But there, the big bad corporation was shutting down all of the innovation. It's not like GI was the only company making good craft beer. They're not even the consensus top brewery (if such a thing should ever exist).

A-B did not buy GI to shut it down; I would bet my life on that. Now, whether they want to somehow change the direction of craft beer at some point in the future is yet to be seen. But the most likely scenario is that they see that craft beer is a growing market with profit potential and that they are well-situated to jump into this market because of their scaling, technology, infrastructure, knowledge base, and manufacturing and distribution prowess.

It's not like they only win by peddling bad beer. They win by earning profits, and they are trying to maximize those by diving into the craft industry. And if the shifts in consumer preferences toward good craft beer will continue to increase and/or at least remain in place, then I don' see why they wouldn't maximize profits by making good beer....which would then, by that logic, be what they indeed do.

so far, seems like the AB GI buy out was good. the beer is still excellent, 2011 BCBS was incredible and 2012 BCBS is essentially EVERYWHERE with either no limit or a case limit. can't wait to see what this new BA barleywine is that is in the works.

You've never had a BCBS? It's available in VA no?

Not available in my area of Virginia, I have since had the pleasure of trying it but that was at a tasting.

Send you a bottle if you want one.

I appreciate the offer, we just got Sofie, Matilda, Pepe and Pere in our area so all signs are pointing to BCS coming as well.

The way the beer world is now I would say, they would have to up it by 10 times to be able to find it on shelves without luck.

I asked them about this and as well a laffer and they said no. I'll take their word for it but people can keep hopeing.