Macrobrewers buying Microbrewers
 

My original opinion of this trend was negative. I formed that based on Anheuser-Busch’s purchase of Rolling Rock in 2005. They changed the brewing process and moved production from Latrobe to Newark. The character of the beer became indistinguishable from any other AB product.

The trend continues and several respected brands that I have favored in the past; Wicked Weed, Goose Island, Funky Buddha, Elysian have gone that route. In most cases, I don’t see a difference in quality. I do sense a little less innovation but bigger marketing budgets and wider distribution. In fact, when I mentioned my misgivings to my oldest son, his response was that I would have never seen Elysian Space Dust in Florida without the buyout and he was hoping to see Funky Buddha Last Snow in Oregon someday as a result.

Different folks will have different experiences and opinions. What do you think?

The water in Latrobe had something to do with the flavor and character of Rolling Rock. :D

Stating the obvious but it is a combination of micro owners wanting to cash out and majors wanting micro brands to sell as the major labels become less popular. Even more obvious is that most people identify strongly with and are loyal to brands.

And if one wanted to grow bigger to sell more when does a microbrewery stop becoming micro and starts becoming macro or meso?

In the case of a brewery like Samuel Adams, it was about 25 years ago, even as Jim Koch was spouting his nonsense about how the big brewers spill more beer than he makes in a year.

I started in the bar business 23 years ago, when there were no craft breweries in the area. Shiner was about as exotic as it got. My places have been classic neighborhood pubs, and I was never interested in selling schooners of Miller Lite, so we mostly had imports on tap, Bass, Newcastle, Harp, Amstel Light, etc. I usually always kept one macro on like a Bud Light or Coors Light. When New Belgium first came to Texas, that's when interest in local craft really started to take off here. I remember when a New Belgium rep first called on me, and convinced me to put Fat Tire on tap, he made a comment about how they were pushing quality beer, "not selling dogs and frogs". Obviously the local craft market has exploded all over the US, and at last count, I think we have 45 breweries in the D/FW area We now only have taps from those local breweries., with the exception of the Irish Prozac, which I think is just such a pub standard, you need to have it.

As I mentioned to BamaVol in another thread, I've seen instances of micros selling to macros, and the quality almost immediately going down. I've never seen the reverse. Some brewers are truly committed to their brand, one local Called Peticolas is an example of that. Michael Peticolas is a lawyer turned brewer who was instrumental in having a lot of the beer laws changed in Texas the last few years; such that they can now sell to the public in tap rooms, sell to go, etc. Until last year, he didn't even can or bottle anything, because, as he told me, he was afraid of not being able to maintain quality. Even now, he only cans three of his beers, out of a rotation of eight or nine. If you ever come across a Velvet Hammer tap, order one. Revolver was an example of a place that made fantastic beer. They sold out to Miller after about three years in business, and now the beer sucks. Some brewers want to do their thing and make good beer, others make good beer but want to sell to a macro as soon as possible and cash in.

Overall, it's been a really interesting time to be in the adult beverage industry, in just about any capacity. I have to say tho, I've never seen a micro get better by selling to a macro. 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.

You are absolutely correct, btw. The water anywhere is gonna affect the taste of beer, just as it does bread and other edibles. I like Anchor Steam, but I know it would taste very different it if was brewed in say, Alabama.

I enjoyed my time at Peticolas last year.
One of our local breweries uses local tap water but basically removes everything in the water, but then, depending on the style of beer, they will add various things back into the water and alter the hardness of the water.

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. Paradoxically, Elysian now has much worse distribution of its other brands to the East Coast than it used to. Immortal IPA was the first 'real' IPA that got me hooked on IPAs - I haven't seen it in years.

My hunch is that macros buy micros, choose one 'flagship' brand (e.g. Goose IPA, Space Dust) to sell to the masses, and everything else becomes really hard to find or simply doesn't exist. I would say that my criticism is more aimed towards American macros; for example, Ommegang is owned by Duvel, but there is always a good variety of their beers to find, and Three Philosophers will get you plenty ripped as it always has (in a good way). I would also add that micros who became big and outsourced brewing have also worsened - I will never drink any of Stone Brewing's beers that they make in Virginia; they all taste terrible.

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".

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.

All this talk of microbreweries is making me sad because all the ones I’ve visited have been tap rooms as well. I miss sitting at a bar. I have one in my home, but it’s not the same. Somebody please destroy this virus so I can go out for a good beer again.

I'm hoping by your FT handle, you're at least somewhere warm. I would be so much more tolerant of all this if I could sit on my patio and enjoy a nice beer or cocktail. But here in Chicago, we've rarely had days above 50 degrees. We're hoping spring comes soon, or at least comes some time after 6 months of winter (it snowed yesterday), so we can start grilling and enjoying some outdoor drinking.

To your point, one of our favorite winter activities when out of towners visit is to take them to a couple of the local taprooms. Not trying to be controversial, but I really hope we're in a position (via more testing, etc.) soon to return to the normal, accepted practice of quarantining the sick instead of the healthy.

Central Florida since last December, after 7 years in the FL panhandle. High temps have been mostly 80’s and 90’s for the last month. I am dying to sit outside under a big pin oak with a cold draft and live acoustic music. A little breeze would help too. Instead it’s out on the covered patio with mostly bottled beer and music courtesy of Alexa. Could be worse. But it’s an adjustment for someone who went out 3-4 nights a week for a couple drinks and some live music.

Have your tried any Franconia beers from McKinney? I maybe an odd one but I always preferred the Revolver Bock over their Blood and Honey beer. The bock was discontinued because of low volume.

It's been a while, but I've had a couple different Franconias. For some reason, they just never got a foothold in Fort Worth, where I am. Maybe they decided Dallas alone was a big enough market for them.

I liked Revolver Bock, also. A really good fairly new one is Billy Jenkins, from Wild Acre Brewing. Unfortunately, Shiner if still the king, even if it's just a lager with some food coloring added, IMO. :D

Franconia is hard to find in Dallas county except for Dunston's and Saltgrass with each chain having a different Franconia on tap. More places in Collin county have multiple Franconia beers on tap. Costco has the beer in a local rotation. My wife's favorite beer is the Franconia Kolsch.

I remember Shiner as the $1.75 pitcher beer at Double Dave's wild and woolly Wednesday during my college day. All you could eat pepperoni rolls washed down with an upgraded beer besides Milwaukee's Beast.

Paradoxically, everything being closed has made it easier for me to get good beer. With an infant, I can't really hang out in a tap room anyways; now, I can get Other Half delivered to me, which is amazing.