[maxieboy]

Aw geez...  http://beeradvocate.com/forum/read/3645461

[gordonstrong]

Say hello to your new Brazillian and Belgian overlords.  Good luck with your brands and products; too bad it's not about beer.  Look for them to focus on a small number of products, market the hell out of them, and drop the rest.  It's the InBev/Interbrew formula.

The silver lining appears to be that their brewpubs are not part of the deal.  Hopefully you can still go there and get a wide range of great beers and a good meal.  The original Goose Island pub in Chicago is up there with Great Lakes as one of my favorites in the midwest.

[tom]

I think they've been partly owned by them for a while.

[BrewingRover]

I think they've been partly owned by them for a while.

They have, through ABInbev's stake in the Craft Brewer's Alliance. That was really about distribution, though. The big guys have Illinois tied up pretty tight and you only see a few craft brands in grocery and convenience stores, which is where your casual beer drinker is buying beer. It's quite a contrast to go to the PNW and see all those local beers at Albertson's or Safeway.

I'm taking a wait and see attitude on this. John Hall is still there but his son Greg, the head brewer, is leaving. OTOH, they'd already dropped my two favorite beers, their Nut Brown and Oatmeal Stout.

[beersk]

Just like I posted on BeerAdvocate, as long as their beer doesn't change, I'm okay with this.  I'm not happy with it, no, but just don't change the beer!  Maybe they'll start bottling and distributing the oatmeal stout again (fingers crossed).

[euge]

For me at least there's a silver lining; I might start seeing some more new products down here, as it is a Anheuser-Busch-centric city.

[hopfenundmalz]

The Wife just said that the HopCat a heck of a good beer bar in Grand Rapids MI, has announced they will no longer serve Goose Island products.

She saw this on Facebook.

[hamiltont]

The Wife just said that the HopCat a heck of a good beer bar in Grand Rapids MI, has announced they will no longer serve Goose Island products.

She saw this on Facebook.

Did they say why?  Cheers!!!

[maxieboy]

The Wife just said that the HopCat a heck of a good beer bar in Grand Rapids MI, has announced they will no longer serve Goose Island products.

She saw this on Facebook.

Did they say why?  Cheers!!!

I'll go out on a limb and say it's due to the A-B news... 

[hopfenundmalz]

The Wife just said that the HopCat a heck of a good beer bar in Grand Rapids MI, has announced they will no longer serve Goose Island products.
She saw this on Facebook.

Did they say why?  Cheers!!!

I'll go out on a limb and say it's due to the A-B news... 

Bingo!  I looked at the Facebook page for HopCat, and they called Goose Island "sell-outs".

[denny]

they called Goose Island "sell-outs".

Then they fail to understand it's a business, not a public service.  Sure, GI wants to make and sell the best beer possible, but the objective for them (or any other brewery) is to make money for the owners and stay in business.

[hopfenundmalz]

they called Goose Island "sell-outs".

Then they fail to understand it's a business, not a public service.  Sure, GI wants to make and sell the best beer possible, but the objective for them (or any other brewery) is to make money for the owners and stay in business.

Their quote.  One of the most true statements I had ever heard on brewing was made by Larry Bell during a beer weekend in Frankenmuth around 96-97.  During his talk he quoted a guy (from Strohs I think) saying there is only one reason to open a brewery "to make money". 

It is just a business.

[kramerog]

Maybe they'll start bottling and distributing the oatmeal stout again (fingers crossed).

Due to the success of 312, GI decided to drop the brown ale and the oatmeal stout.  Maybe they'll add it back after expanding production capacity.

[narvin]

they called Goose Island "sell-outs".

Then they fail to understand it's a business, not a public service.  Sure, GI wants to make and sell the best beer possible, but the objective for them (or any other brewery) is to make money for the owners and stay in business.

So does this mean that every company, no matter how small or large, has the ultimate goal of becoming (or being bought out by) Walmart, AB, or Microsoft?

[hopfenundmalz]

they called Goose Island "sell-outs".

Then they fail to understand it's a business, not a public service.  Sure, GI wants to make and sell the best beer possible, but the objective for them (or any other brewery) is to make money for the owners and stay in business.

So does this mean that every company, no matter how small or large, has the ultimate goal of becoming (or being bought out by) Walmart, AB, or Microsoft?

Time will tell for many of the breweries in the first wave.  Sierra Nevada and Bells have the founders kids working in the brewery, and I think those will stay under family control.

Then there are the ones like GI (how old is John Hall?), Boston Beer (Jim Koch is 60), and Widmer (part of CBA, but Kurt Widmer is 58 and the CEO).  Those guys are closer to the end of their career than the begining.  We see the path that GI went down, and the son was the Brewmaster there, now gone.  Who knows about the others?