RIP Goose Island

[preslove]

They're getting bought by the devil: http://www.theatlantic.com/life/arc...d-the-rise-of-a-new-era-in-craft-beer/237257/

Late last month Anheuser-Busch announced that it had reached a deal to buy Goose Island Beer Co., Chicago's largest and most respected craft brewery, for $38.8 million. Goose Island has grown into a regional powerhouse in recent years, thanks both to its high-volume lines like 312 (a wheat beer) and its well-regarded Belgian ales and limited-edition Bourbon County Stouts.

The news set off waves of worry among commenters on BeerAdvocate.com and other beer enthusiast sites. "This means we FINALLY get a Bourbon County Light Lime," joked one.

But the deal wasn't a total surprise: Goose Island was already tied to Anheuser-Busch through the Craft Brewers Alliance, which had a minority stake in Goose Island and which, in turn, is partly owned by A-B.

Whether the takeover is ultimately good or bad for Goose Island, it likely heralds the beginning of a new, unwelcome but perhaps inevitable phase in the relationship between macro and micro brewers: consolidation, with the likes of Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors gobbling up the better-known craft outfits. And while some folks will see this as the beginning of the end for the craft-beer renaissance, it's a good bet that it's a welcome development for many microbreweries as well.

The Goose Island/Anheuser-Busch deal is only the latest and most prominent incursion by corporate beer into the craft sector. Recently MillerCoors provided financing to the founders of Athens, Georgia-based Terrapin Beer Co. through its own "craft" subsidiary, Tenth and Blake. And last year North American Brewing, the private-equity-backed maker of Genesee, took control of Magic Hat and Pyramid, two of the country's oldest craft brewers.

There's no secret to why Big Beer is interested in acquiring microbreweries. The craft sector is the lone bright spot in brewing right now, and one of the fastest-growing segments of the alcohol industry. After years of flat or declining sales among the big brewers and mixed success in their efforts to copy the micro approach with "macro-craft" beers like Shock Top and Blue Moon, it only makes sense that the big guys would finally decide it's easier to buy out the likes of Goose Island than beat them at their own game.

But consolidation won't simply be a story of forced takeovers—the larger craft breweries will welcome it as well. As the sector has matured and regional outfits have begun going national, they've run into capacity and distribution problems. Today's tight credit makes it hard to get the money to expand production quickly, while the arcane network of distribution companies means that even breweries with enough beer to meet demand can't always get it into the hands of consumers.

Last month, citing precisely these problems, esteemed craft brewery Dogfish Head announced it was pulling out of four states—Indiana, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Wisconsin—plus Britain and Canada. True, Sam Calagione could probably get the money to maintain his distribution network if he wanted to. But even Sam would need to spend a good deal of time and effort to get it—resources that he, like most craft brewers, would rather put into making beer.

Goose Island is no different, which, said founder and CEO John Hall, is why the Anheuser-Busch relationship made sense:

Over the past five years our partnerships with Craft Brewers Alliance and Anheuser-Busch have enabled Goose Island to reach a growing number of beer drinkers. This has fueled our growth to the point that demand for our beers has outgrown the capacity of our brewery. Recently, we've even had to limit production of some classic and medal-winning styles. To keep up with growing demand from drinkers we've explored a variety of paths to secure new capital to support our growth.

As part of the takeover, Anheuser-Busch has promised to keep Goose Island's headquarters in Chicago and to give it substantial leeway in production decisions. It will also make a significant investment in upgrading Goose Island's facilities, and its distribution network means that the craft brewer's beers will be available in more places, a plus for would-be fans in Goose Island-deprived states like, say, Oklahoma.

Of course, Faust thought he was getting a good deal, too. Along with control over Goose Island's distribution, Anheuser-Busch will also have a say in which beers it makes with all that fancy equipment, and who knows if those include the likes of Bourbon County Stout. Only time will tell if Anheuser-Busch is Goose Island's guardian angel or a devil in disguise. One thing's for sure, though: Goose Island won't be the last craft brewer to face such a choice.

How long before A/B breaks all its promises and closes down the Chicago operation?

 

[Farmer]

Congrats to Goose Island. The ultimate goal of most small start-ups is to be offered millions/billions by a huge horizontal integrator like A-B.

 

[zebano]

meh

1. old news
2. Goose Island isn't that good anyway.

 

[Platypus]

old news.

Joke I made up, their new beer will be called MaCHILLda

 

[moshquerade]

The Goose Island owner seems happy with the deal... or maybe not... He does seem to freely give away his own pale ale though.

Goose Island brewer Greg Hall apologizes after drunkenly urinating in glasses at local Chicago bar

BY Philip Caulfield
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, April 12th 2011, 9:38 AM

Goose Island Brewery brewmaster Greg Hall, whose family recently
sold the brewery to Budweiser for $38 million,
urinated in a pair of beer pints at a Chicago bar, according to a report.

Goose Island Hall apologized for the incident
and sent a case of free beer to the bar.


A Chicago brewmaster whose family recently sold their small brewery to Budweiser celebrated over the weekend by offering a local bartender a special batch of his own personal pale ale.

Greg Hall, chief brewer at Goose Island, a Windy City craft brewery, urinated in two beer glasses at the nearby Bangers & Lace bar during a Friday night drinking binge, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Hall sheepishly apologized to bar employees and told The Tribune that he didn't remember much from the incident, but that he felt awful about it.
"I did what I did and I take responsibility for it," he said. "I wouldn't stand it if someone did it at my place or if one of my people did something like that."

A Bangers bartender told the paper that Hall and some of his brewery pals had spent several hours getting trashed on Goose Island's strongest Belgian-style ales when he spotted Hall "leaning against the front of the bar, looking down."

After Hall finished up, the bartender, Matty Eggleston, heard him tell his friends, "Don't drink that," according to The Tribune.
Eggleston said he confronted Hall, who told him the glasses were filled with beer.
The bartender sarcastically suggested a toast, but the 45-year-old brewer took off, leaving the glasses on a ledge near the door.

Eggleston said even though Hall apologized on Saturday with a Facebook message and a free case of Goose Island Big John Stout, he wasn't exactly ready to crack open a few cold ones to smooth things over.

"It was disgusting, vile and revolting," he told the paper. "We all do dumb things; that went to a level that was pure insult."

Hall's been catching heat from beer geeks since it was announced last month that his family was selling Goose Island to Budweiser for $38 million.
Hall's father John started the brewery in 1988.

He announced after the sale that he would step down as brewmaster.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nat...drunkenly_urinating_in_glasses_at.html?r=news

 

[SaDiZTiKStyLeZ]

Damn, bullshit.
Goose Island already seemed to have sold out long ago. All I saw was 312 eveywhere. While it's an alright beer, I wouldn't have minded seeing bars switch up the variety amongst the other GI beers.
Only one that really stuck as a favorite was the Oatmeal.

 

[SaDiZTiKStyLeZ]

Am going to a show right down the street from GI Wrigleyville tonight. I suppose I could stop for a beer or 3 before attending the show. Before all the old stuff is flushed out in favor of the new junk.

 

[CPA]

Is A-B even an American company any longer? I thought it was recently bought out as well.

 

[preslove]

Is A-B even an American company any longer? I thought it was recently bought out as well.

They got bought/merged by In-Bev, which is the A/B of Europe.

 

[child of wonder]

Don't drink Goose Island so doesn't matter much to me.

Now if Stone Brewing Co. was bought out, that would worry me.

 

[manimal]

what happens to the brew pub?



This does make me sad. In the early nineties my neighbor Jason would bring a dry hopped keg of goose home with him and we would drink all weekend on our roof in wrigleyville. Sometimes moments in history are just too perfect..he was a chemist for them at the time.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

i like 312. hope they don't fuck it up.

 

[TwiceOver]

Rolling Rock doesn't taste the same anymore since AB purchased them.

 

[techs]

Congrats to Goose Island. The ultimate goal of most small start-ups is to be offered millions/billions by a huge horizontal integrator like A-B.

This is what is wrong with America. Large corporations have presented an almost insurmountable bar to new competitors. Instead of becoming a national competitor to Anheuser companies sell out.

 

[RagingBITCH]

This is what is wrong with America. Large corporations have presented an almost insurmountable bar to new competitors. Instead of becoming a national competitor to Anheuser companies sell out.

Yea, it really FUCKING SUCKS to pocket a shitload of cash and having a wealthy, huge financial backer, versus scraping by.

 

[Zargon]

This is what is wrong with America. Large corporations have presented an almost insurmountable bar to new competitors. Instead of becoming a national competitor to Anheuser companies sell out.

yeah it was sell out or build a new brewery, they have been operting at mazx capacity for a few years AFAIK.

hence all their beers have gone up 20-30% in price in the last 2-3 years.

 

[destrekor]

The Goose Island owner seems happy with the deal... or maybe not... He does seem to freely give away his own pale ale though.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nat...drunkenly_urinating_in_glasses_at.html?r=news

He should have just told them he was making his first attempts to brew Natty Light now that he is employed by A-B.

 

[TallBill]

This is what is wrong with America. Large corporations have presented an almost insurmountable bar to new competitors. Instead of becoming a national competitor to Anheuser companies sell out.

Some people don't wanna be as big as AB. I'd rather sell my company for $38 million and retire then keep trying to get bigger.

 

[Saint Nick]

This is what is wrong with America. Large corporations have presented an almost insurmountable bar to new competitors. Instead of becoming a national competitor to Anheuser companies sell out.

techs...we let it get this way. All those big corporations started out as small potatoes at one time or another, they were just the first ones to do it, and subsequently, they buy out other people who make similar, quality products.

While I do see where you're coming from -- that it is hard to open a business and compete against these corporations, but, really the corporations were just in the right place at the right time (it really does make all the difference in the world).

 

[EvilYoda]

Seriously, you're more than a week late with this. I happened to be in Chicago when the news broke and every party/event I went to had this come up. We'll see how it goes but we know their claims.

In other Chicago beer news, Revolution Brewing bought an old Stroh's bottling plant so they'll begin retail presence in 2012!

Also...I love Bangers and Lace! Nice place, good beer.

 

[nick1985]

Some people don't wanna be as big as AB. I'd rather sell my company for $38 million and retire then keep trying to get bigger.

this

 

[sourceninja]

I'm the most sad by the loss of dogfishhead in Indiana.

 

[Squisher]

This is too sad, Goose Island Honker's Ale was one of the first craft brews that I liked. I've always liked their stuff. Their Bourbon County was one of best beers I ever tasted (although they did go over the top with their pricing this year). I still have one from 2009 in the fridge.


This message sent from Tallbill's closet.

 

[FallenHero]

This is what is wrong with America. Large corporations have presented an almost insurmountable bar to new competitors. Instead of becoming a national competitor to Anheuser companies sell out.

Sam Adams begs to differ! PATRIOT BEER MY FRIEND! DECLARE YOUR INDEPENDENCE FROM THE KING!

 

[Patterner]

Bah...I love Bourbon county stout, I've got 2 bottles of 2009 in my wine cooler.

Hope they don't screw it up.