[tonyp]

Tour Guide: "no we are still 10 barrel brewery, but we make 15 barrels"

/facepalm

Its like opening up a business named "1 oven bakery" or "3 table restaurant" or "2 truck delivery service"

Ah...  Tony you're too in the know.  Most people would read this as a quaint, literal 10 barrels.  Like a tailor shop named Four Buttons.  It's figurative, poetic language.  You are supposed to picture 10 wooden stave barrels on a loading dock full of beer destined for the local pub down the lane a league or so.

I say this because this is the conversation in my head whenever I see 10 Barrel Brewing.  (yes, I have my own private OCD purgatory)

yeah, I know, but it still drives me crazy!

[majorvices]

Wow, that article is indeed a rant, and while there is a small part of me that agrees with him, the reality is that in their place I would probably do the same thing. Of course, that quick infusion of cash would go right into another brewery.

Unfortunately it doesn't work like that, they would make you sign a non-compete barring you from opening another commercial brewery. You could build a kick ass homebrewery though.

[klickitat jim]

Wow, that article is indeed a rant, and while there is a small part of me that agrees with him, the reality is that in their place I would probably do the same thing. Of course, that quick infusion of cash would go right into another brewery.

Unfortunately it doesn't work like that, they would make you sign a non-compete barring you from opening another commercial brewery. You could build a kick ass homebrewery though.

Is there a time limit?

[hopfenundmalz]

The non-compete would keep one from brewing. When Goose Island was sold, the son Greg Hall could no longer be a brewer. He started Virtue Cider in Fennville MI. So if one has been making cider and mead as part of the hobby, one could go into those beverages.

[majorvices]

Yeah, I be willing to bet the non-compete would be a lifetime with InBev - assuming the buy out was substantial (which I assume it was). We sold 20% of the company to a new partner last spring and he insisted that I sign a non-compete. I negotiated a 2 year non-compete within a 200 mile radius of our current location.  But this was only because he didn't want to invest a lot of money into a brewery and then lose the brewer. In the  instance of InBev I'm sure they would want a life time non compete.

As an aside: I would not be happy making cider and mead. Distillery on the other hand.

[Jimmy K]

10 Barrel Brewery? Seriously? To me, that's a total marketing and branding disaster. What happens when you upgrade to a 15 or 30 Barrel system?

I see what you mean, but I had assumed that 10 barrels referred to barrel aging and not capacity. I guess the problem still applies.

Its like opening up a business named "1 oven bakery" or "3 table restaurant" or "2 truck delivery service"

Funny, there's a moving company around here called '2 Guys and a Truck'. Of course they have multiple trucks in their lot, so...

[Stevie]

Funny, there's a moving company around here called '2 Guys and a Truck'. Of course they have multiple trucks in their lot, so...

National chain of dirty dirty liars.


Edit - completely tongue and cheek. Liars is a reference to the name alone, not the business.

[Jimmy K]

Funny, there's a moving company around here called '2 Guys and a Truck'. Of course they have multiple trucks in their lot, so...

National chain of dirty dirty liars.

Then I guess their quote isn't going to include pizza and beer.

[reverseapachemaster]

Yeah, I be willing to bet the non-compete would be a lifetime with InBev - assuming the buy out was substantial (which I assume it was). We sold 20% of the company to a new partner last spring and he insisted that I sign a non-compete. I negotiated a 2 year non-compete within a 200 mile radius of our current location.  But this was only because he didn't want to invest a lot of money into a brewery and then lose the brewer. In the  instance of InBev I'm sure they would want a life time non compete.

As an aside: I would not be happy making cider and mead. Distillery on the other hand.

I don't know Illinois law on the subject but I would be highly surprised if the non-compete could last more than a few years.

[dbeechum]

Reading really quickly on California law - it looks like even here a non-compete for a goodwill sale of a business can be extensive and long term. Namely - it can be geographically specified (like Major's) and the time frame generally accepted under the law is as long as the purchasing interesting is running a business of like interest. (e.g. a brewery)

And that's from a state that generally dismisses employee non-compete agreements with prejudice.

[majorvices]

Yeah, I be willing to bet the non-compete would be a lifetime with InBev - assuming the buy out was substantial (which I assume it was). We sold 20% of the company to a new partner last spring and he insisted that I sign a non-compete. I negotiated a 2 year non-compete within a 200 mile radius of our current location.  But this was only because he didn't want to invest a lot of money into a brewery and then lose the brewer. In the  instance of InBev I'm sure they would want a life time non compete.

As an aside: I would not be happy making cider and mead. Distillery on the other hand.

I don't know Illinois law on the subject but I would be highly surprised if the non-compete could last more than a few years.

I'm not a lawyer but I bet you wouldn't be surprised at what people will sign away for a lot of money.

[erockrph]

Yeah, I be willing to bet the non-compete would be a lifetime with InBev - assuming the buy out was substantial (which I assume it was). We sold 20% of the company to a new partner last spring and he insisted that I sign a non-compete. I negotiated a 2 year non-compete within a 200 mile radius of our current location.  But this was only because he didn't want to invest a lot of money into a brewery and then lose the brewer. In the  instance of InBev I'm sure they would want a life time non compete.

As an aside: I would not be happy making cider and mead. Distillery on the other hand.

I don't know Illinois law on the subject but I would be highly surprised if the non-compete could last more than a few years.

And there's a way around everything if you want it bad enough. A local pharmacy sold out to a national chain pharmacy a while back. Their non-compete clause was that they couldn't open a pharmacy within 3 miles within a 5 year time span. Within 6 months they were open exactly 3.1 miles from their original location and sent mailers to all their original customers. At just over 5 years they had reopened their original location.

Obviously, the rules will be different for a nationally distributed brewery, but there's always fine print if you want it bad enough.

[Joe Sr.]

Yeah, I be willing to bet the non-compete would be a lifetime with InBev - assuming the buy out was substantial (which I assume it was). We sold 20% of the company to a new partner last spring and he insisted that I sign a non-compete. I negotiated a 2 year non-compete within a 200 mile radius of our current location.  But this was only because he didn't want to invest a lot of money into a brewery and then lose the brewer. In the  instance of InBev I'm sure they would want a life time non compete.

As an aside: I would not be happy making cider and mead. Distillery on the other hand.

I don't know Illinois law on the subject but I would be highly surprised if the non-compete could last more than a few years.

The only limitation I'm aware of  is the prohibition on perpetuities.  But that's typically dealt with by having an agreement that expires upon the death of the last currently living descendent of the current president, or some other prominent individual.  Which is effectively forever.

[Jimmy K]

And there's a way around everything if you want it bad enough. A local pharmacy sold out to a national chain pharmacy a while back. Their non-compete clause was that they couldn't open a pharmacy within 3 miles within a 5 year time span. Within 6 months they were open exactly 3.1 miles from their original location and sent mailers to all their original customers. At just over 5 years they had reopened their original location.

Obviously, the rules will be different for a nationally distributed brewery, but there's always fine print if you want it bad enough.

That's not really finding a way around. That's abiding by the exact terms of the contract.

[denny]

I grow weary of the beer snobbery from people who will never, NEVER, drink a beer brewed by _________.

If it's good beer, it's good beer.  I don't see beer purchases as part of a mission driven life.  What you drink doesn't say anything about who you are as a person.

I also grow weary of those who presume to have the right to make other peoples choices for them.

It's fine to be sad and disappointed, but the moral outrage is a bit over the top.

And, as far as what the author would do when faced with the $3MM or $5MM question, I doubt he'd take the lower amount.  He says that now, but he's not been faced with the actual choice.