Thread: Oh Noes! Not muh brew!

Originally Posted by iLLusioN

I'm all for the micro brews. Dogfish Head, Rogue, Yuengling(not really micro but still great beer), Flying Dog, Landshark, Shiner Bock, Shock Top, Reaper, Sam Adams(again, not quite micro but good). Those are all just so much better than your Coors and Budweisers of the world.

Land Shark and Shock Top are AB InBev products.

On their own, no one small brewery can challenge the market share of AB InBev. But any commercial giant knows a trend when they see one. There are any number of mass-produced "premiums" that are labelled and marketed to compete in the micro-brew space. When they are marketed, the association with the producing company is either not mentioned or is actively dissociated.

Blue Moon is a good example. This is made by Coors (now MillerCoors), but all marketing materials reference "The Blue Moon Brewing Company."

Rolling Rock is now AB InBev, and last I knew was produced in Newark, NJ. It doesn't taste the same as it used to.

Like I said before, I don't think there's any reason to think that a huge conglomerate can't produce a good beer. It's just my experience that they don't. They have also ruined brews which I used to like.

Blue Moon isn't bad, but I think it's very blah for the style. There are much better Belgian and Belgian-style brews out there. Some are pricey, but some of them are price-competitive with the mass produced fakes. Same goes for Shock Top (which, personally, I don't like at all).

I was sorry when I heard that Ommegang was bought out by Duvel. Duvel is relatively small, and I haven't yet noticed any change in the beers (though they have some newer, uglier, labels), so I'm hopeful.

BTW; if you're ever in or near Cooperstown NY, Ommegang is very close and the tour is worth it.

Cheers,


AetheLove

Originally Posted by AetheLove

For Fuck's Sake, you two.

I've homebrewed before, Festus. Got really good results.

I don't have anything against large companies per-se, but the part that bothers me is the degree to which they're willing to screw with the ingredients and recipe and still slap the same label on it. I've had the same experience as the Beck's guy in the article had - both with beer and with other products.

So in practice, I'm anti-big-company. I try to find beer from small to medium brewers that I like and stick with it. I'm even happy for there to be seasonal variations as long as I know they're not skimping. I've had a few things from large producers that weren't bad, but I just don't order them.

The part of the article that talked about people who used to supply brewers with top-shelf ingredients, particularly with the beechwood guy, makes me wonder if there isn't a really good opportunity. The people who grow the stuff that makes what used to be the most popular beers in the world can't sell their stuff; and the high-volume brews that used to be great are now meh.

A small start-up brewer couldn't get the capital and experience to do a large volume Budvar-style. But I'll bet someone like Dogfish Head, or Brooklyn, or Great Lakes could.

Cheers,


AetheLove

Speaking of small beers, have you tried Fireman's Four? Also if you like Belgian style beer, Alaskan White is amazing.

AC Golden Brewing Company, is another.

Also If you See any Sixpoint Brewery Beers on the Shelf Buy em up, they were especially hit Hard in Red Hook, NYC. Also its fucking sick ass beer, in the good way.

Originally Posted by -Lazarus-

Speaking of small beers, have you tried Fireman's Four? Also if you like Belgian style beer, Alaskan White is amazing.

Real Ales had some good wins at Gabf this year. Some mighty fine beer in Texas.