[bboy9000]

I know the folks at MW and NB quite well...I have spoken with them about this and all are very excited for new things to come. That's all I got.

Also excited for the profit and loss of risk.  I would be too.

[narvin]

I don't have much to add and normally I would avoid a post like this like the plague. But I saw some posts about bitburger. I love bitburger!

Thumbs up to this!  I'm certainly not saying that large brewers have to make bad beer.  We've just seen too many examples where they do after buyouts

[bboy9000]

I like my fresh brewed local and regional craft pilsners. From the sound of it I need to try Becks.  I haven't had it since 1998 when it was a horrible skunky import

[Phil_M]

I just have one more thing to add...if InBev changes it's attitude towards craft beer, I'll go back to buying their products. I don't hold them buying out companies I like against them, I just take their treatment of us as a reason to not like them. Maybe them buying NB is a sign that they're realizing that alienating the beer geeks isn't good for business.

And the last time I had Beck's, it was bland. Maybe it was old. Definitely other InBev beers that I'd buy first. (Shock top, anyone?)

[hopfenundmalz]

I just have one more thing to add...if InBev changes it's attitude towards craft beer, I'll go back to buying their products. I don't hold them buying out companies I like against them, I just take their treatment of us as a reason to not like them. Maybe them buying NB is a sign that they're realizing that alienating the beer geeks isn't good for business.

And the last time I had Beck's, it was bland. Maybe it was old. Definitely other InBev beers that I'd buy first. (Shock top, anyone?)

I still like Spaten if I have to chose an ABInbev beer.

[troybinso]

Do those that are anti AB also avoid Walmart, Target, Amazon, Home Depot, Lowes, Best Buy, Total Wine, Specs, BevMo? All of those can be considered anti competition.

I do my best to avoid those stores, but sometimes there aren't very many choices. If you live in a smaller town it can hard to shop local for things like clothes or hardware. Hardware stores and department stores have just closed in the past decade or so. I also avoid AB-inbev products, although it can be hard to keep up with which breweries have been bought out.

On the other hand, Northern Brewer is an online store - not unlike Amazon. There are a bunch of online homebrew stores that are comparable to NB in selection and price that are independently owned. I'd prefer to use them.

Finally I'll say that I'm not an absolutist. Sometimes I will use a big box store or an online store even though a local store might carry a similar product at a similar price. My plan is just to try to do a little bit better about helping out the people who have an interest in keeping the money that I spend within community that I live.

[bboy9000]

To answer the question- yes they sold out.  Is that a bad thing?  The owners of Northern Brewer likely worked many years putting a lot of time and effort into building the company and probably made many personal sacrifices along the way. At the same time they were involved in the hombrewing scene and supported The Brewing Network.  Is it a bad thing they reap the benefits of this and get a nice retirement or put their children or grandchildren into college?  BTW this coming from a huge liberal Bernie supporter.  Not everything big business is automatically bad.  Some people have a passion and a dream that ends up being profitable.  I still hate the main line of AB-INBEV beer.  Bland. 

[narvin]

I don't know why it always comes down to the "family" argument. I'm sure they could have paid for college easily before the buyout. What does an extra few mil buy, other than spoiled kids.

If you're a Bernie supporter I think you might want to listen to him some more.  Love it or loathe it, this is big business in America right here.

[Stevie]

The original owners had sold out 4+ years ago, at least partially (maybe fully I don't know), to a private equity firm. Private equity firms don't care to hold on to stuff. They have one of two goals, sell or go public. Looks like they sold. So the "they put hard work in and god bless them for getting paid" argument doesn't apply here unless NB OGs held a significant share.

[narvin]

The original owners had sold out 4+ years ago, at least partially (maybe fully I don't know), to a private equity firm. Private equity firms don't care to hold on to stuff. They have one of two goals, sell or go public. Looks like they sold. So the "they put hard work in and god bless them for getting paid" argument doesn't apply here unless NB OGs held a significant share.

Well, the argument applied 4 years ago.  Although, you could argue that they sold too soon.

[hopfenundmalz]

After my credit card was hacked at Midwest after the merger with NB, I have used them only for certain products that they offer - grudgingly. Most of my purchases are from AiH, my LHBS. I have done some orders from More Beer and Williams.

This was on Brülosophy, it difines Disruptive Growth. I may have to look at Love2brew for some purchases in the future.

http://brulosophy.com/2016/10/20/the-industry-speaks-a-homebrew-shop-owners-thoughts-on-the-acquisition-of-northern-brewer-by-ab-inbev/

[guido]

Do those that are anti AB also avoid Walmart, Target, Amazon, Home Depot, Lowes, Best Buy, Total Wine, Specs, BevMo? All of those can be considered anti competition.

I don't avoid any of those businesses. The NB acquisition was personal.

[denny]

I'm surprised no one has stated the obvious yet: Who cares?

This obsession people have to rail against macro brewing is monotonous and boring.

I think you're missing the pint many people have.  It's not a "purist" thing.  Personally I couldn't care less what what people drink or who makes it.  The real issue is control of the distribution chain, which is the problem that has started surfacing with AB buying up breweries.

[HoosierBrew]

I think you're missing the pint many people have.  It's not a "purist" thing.  Personally I couldn't care less what what people drink or who makes it.  The real issue is control of the distribution chain, which is the problem that has started surfacing with AB buying up breweries.

Yeah, that's exactly my concern.

[theDarkSide]

I think you're missing the pint many people have.  It's not a "purist" thing.  Personally I couldn't care less what what people drink or who makes it.  The real issue is control of the distribution chain, which is the problem that has started surfacing with AB buying up breweries.

HA...should we coin the phrase "Papazian-Slip" for this one