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

Does any one out there still think that Goose Island is local? Any true believers in the Goose AB/INBEV still out there?

I think there are lots, and possibly even more than when this whole thing started over a year ago. Production is up of their highly sought after beers, quality has remained constant, and they are still coming up with new (and good) expressions of creativity.

They dont own the brewpubs, they werent part of the sale.

I refuse to believe that anyone's mind has ever been blown by 312 (before or after ABI takeover). A real hefeweizen? Sure. But no bland, american wheat has ever blown anyone's mind. It never happened.

My 2 cents:

The best insurance (in the most literal sense) is to learn to homebrew.

Then; no matter what any Corporation... Macro...Micro...Brewpub...Craft...etc...does or does not do, you will always be able to get a hold of fresh, decent, fairly priced beer that is brewed by the "little guy". You can then share with your friends...join a homebrewer club...gain a following for your beer...maybe even become the next John Hall...

and then you cash in the chips and sell to INBEV!

This has happened at the place I work for too. It wasn't a buyout in this case; the corporate business types moved in at the top level and during the course of about a year the managers who had been with the business years and who had come up from the shop floor, whose motives were balanced between the good of the business and the good of the employees and who gave the place a family feel were gradually replaced by money-minded suits from outside. After that it went from being one of the best places in town to work for to one of the worst. I'm sad that it's happened, but it's put a boot up my backside and I'm about to get out. I have my eyes on something new and even better.

It doesn't have to make sense because the kind of owners/operators/managers we're talking about here don't have the same values as most of us. My (albeit limited but hands-on) experience of them has shown me that goals, targets, spreadsheets and the bottom line is all they know and they're ruthless in their pursuit of it. They'll do whatever they can to minimise costs, as we've seen from the changes made at Anheuser Busch since Carlos Brito got his hands on the tiller. Every penny that goes in the debit column is a cost, and that column should be as small as possible regardless of the consequences. If that means reducing quality, that's what will happen because cost limitation is the prime directive.

I just finished watching Brew Wars. Maybe they'll leave the GI formulas alone for a while, so they can use the GI brand to crowd out the New Belgiums, Rogues' etc. Then, after crafts are no longer available; formula change. Whacked out conspiracy theory? Perhaps. Possible? After seeing their tactics and how beer distribution really works; highly possible.

What about the corporations that control the barley and hop markets, or the maltsters and (in the case of the non-all-grain brewers) the companies that make the malt syrup/DME, or the corporate manufacturers of the bottles, crowns, kegs, kettles, plastic fermenters, etc.?

I think he is referring to the crap ton of money they probably earned, by selling.

Judging by the EXTREME HYPE 2012 BCBS has gotten.....Seems this deal has worked out QUITE well for AB-In Bev. . . . . . . .

Being the visionary that I am, I have looked into spearheading the nationwide formation of a series of cooperatives. We can start growing our own grain & hops. There must be some unemployed BAérs willing to learn the maltster trade. Plastic fermenter? Those orange Home Depot buckets with some holes drilled. Bottles? We start raiding recycling facilities to get what we need...or start saving now. Those guys with the 5000 bottle collections will become very popular in my vision of the future. Hoarders? I think not! Fellow visionaries I dare say! The rest...minutia really. We can make this happen! Craft beer will survive! Yeah baby!! Brewermania!!!!

Or they can wait for the Voodoo Maple Bacon Doughnut beers of the world to do that for them!

Its an American wheat, but it isnt a bland, american wheat, so doesnt qualify.

And honestly, it didnt blow my mind either. But at least the hops make it not bland.

I do not disagree. Just tossing it out there.

Also, what it really needed was to use a hefeweizen yeast.

I have a feeling AB will be keeping their mitts off the GI barrel aging program. I have no doubt they will mess with the other shit though like 312 (which I never liked anyway), Honkers ale, IPA etc. would I miss any of these brews? sure probably but does it really matter? the answer is no

You don't know that.

And to think that they had the nerve to water down all those legendary craft beer brands!

I mean I can just grab a Sweetwater IPA, which tastes better anyway.

Why couldn't they have taken over Rogue instead? They wouldnt have had to do any watering down or cheapening of beers... plus, they have the hipster market completely covered. Would have saved a TON in labor.

(semi)Kidding aside, Homebrewing is definitely great insurance against the BMC creep. All you have to do is some pretty intense reading for a few days/weeks, and some research into what systems work for you. You can make a little, you can make a lot, and it's all extremely cheap relative to the costs you pay in bottle stores. Theres something intensely satisfying about drinking something you made. It really doesn't take THAT much time, either.

Also, anyone worried about "being able to get the micro brews we love", or them "becoming harder to get"... get real. Many of those are very, VERY successful businesses in their own right, and it would take something akin to federal legislation to force them out of business. Do you know how much a bottle of All Day IPA costs to make, and what Founders sells it for? The margins are INSANE.

Changing of the guards might not impact BCBS at this moment or maybe even next years batch but after that I can and expect it to change for the worst. I guess in a few years my wallet will also be fatter.

As hard as it is for me to stick to my principles sometimes, here I just have to do it. When I started drinking craft beer and left the big three behind it was a commitment. If they make it, distribute it or own it I don't buy it. Sometimes it is hard but I have a passion for true american beer made by the guys who still care about what they craft. For a lot of these same reasons I don't shop at Walmart. I will miss BCBS and a few others, but I have many in my cellar to keep me happy till my next bottle of KBS or next great new brew find that will keep the fire lit.

So you dont buy craft beer if their local distributor also distributes BMC?

Or did I misread that?

If I can establish that BMC owns the distributer then you are correct. I do not however persecute just because they had a truck ride with BMC product.

....and now Laffler is quitting. Hmmmmmm.

I would think there would be some tinkering with receipes or subtle changes to flavors as their will be changes in the brewing. I have read the A-B’s Baldwinsville, New York, plant is producing all of the company’s 312 Urban Wheat now while Redhook is producing beers like Honker’s Ale and IPA.
However, Hall did mention Goose Island brewers can also now focus more on the innovation side of things.
Hall hopes to put in a purchase order very soon for four new 400-barrel “Matilda” fermenters which the company should have in place at Fulton Street by the start of next year, installing a new 750ml bottle packaging line that will be used for the Vintage Ales.
And though I have yet to compare the 2012, they are also planning to release “more than twice as much” BCBS as they have ever before in a year as they weren’t able to get out as much BCBS in 2011 as they had in 2010 due to capacity constraints.
Some definite positives in the future.

The shift of production to Redhook predated the buyout, fwiw.

I stopped caring about GI the day they sold to AB. Haven't drank any of their beers in a long time since there are so many others out there that are better, IMO.

But selling your company for A LOT of money is.

True; they began brewing in Feb but full outsourcing began in July after the purchase in March.

I'm gonna be pissed if BCBS starts to get fucked with.

I bought a mixed "Pub Pack" 12 pack in Chicago's northern suburbs last week. Each and every beer was marked as brewed and bottled in Chicago within the past 40 days. Yeah, I'd call that local -- to my area, anyway.

I am so glad all of you are going to stop buying Goose Island, this means I should be able to buy a case of BCBS next year no problem. That is unless you all realize that the world is not going to end on December 21 and maybe AB isn't going to intentionally destroy a great product. Reducing the quality of Goose Island products would be poor business practice. The reason they purchased the company is to gain a foothold in a different market, AB knows more about beer, marketing and consumer decisions than anyone here. So they dam well know if they reduce quality all you premaddona's will stop buying their product. That being said I would not be surprised if they try to reduce the cost of some of their lighter beers such as 312 or honkers, not necisarily for the worse, they may just be different.

Well now, remember that Auggie had a brewmasters degree from VLB Berlin. Didn't mean he was concerned in any with brewing great beer, just consistent beer.

I remember being at my bar when the buyout happened and the response from most of the beer geeks was "how could they?"

My response? "I'll give you 38 million reasons."

I would think so too. And yet, Inbev had done this with other breweries they bought. And they are the ones making billions, so maybe it IS a good business practice.

There are many points in the price/quality/service triangle that a business can operate profitably. Lowering quality can thus be a good business practice.

Booooooooo.

I'm all set with drinking goose island. They recently got distribution to ct and I see it everywhere on tap now. I refuse to buy the beer of these sellouts who are now helping a foreign conglomerate shit all over our beer the way they did Other successful foreign beers.
F goose and InBev, I won't buy their products

Thanks. More for me!