Originally Posted by
NotDuncan
All this doesn't even touch on the so called crafts that actually never were truly small breweries, just marketing gimmicks by the majors. I'm looking at you, Blue Moon.
It's amazing that, even today, the average beer drinker doesn't thinks Blue Moon is a microbrew. I remember way way back when people saw my Blue Moon pint glasses and they would tell me how cool they were and asked how I got them. I can still see the confused looks when I replied "$2 each at the Coors gift shop in Golden".
Originally Posted by
PsiFighter37
It has absolutely been a negative for the industry. I don't bother touching Goose Island outside of their annual release of their Bourbon County stouts - the beer now is watered down and made for the masses. Goose Island IPA used to be a really solid, fully-bodied coppery IPA - now it's very generic. Elysian - also a negative; Space Dust IPA is the most widely-distributed, and it's basically what Goose Island IPA used to be - a negative in my view, since Elysian was much better.
Maybe it's just because I've lived in Chicago for 30 years and can remember when Goose was a different brewery, but it's the one I've noticed the biggest change in since being acquired. The old tap room and restaurant on Clybourn (not to be confused with the one that reopened in the same space) was a unique experience at the time, at least for me. The beer is just not the same any more. Less innovative, less flavorful, less interesting. It's just like every other beer. IMO, a much bigger drop in overall quality than other acquired micros, but maybe part of that is mental for me. I don't order it any more unless the only alternative is Miller/Bud/Coors.