WHY? Dear God Why? InBev plans takeover of SABMiller

[BoberFett]

You can thank Warren Buffet for a lot of this shit.

And he could do nothing without the heavy hand of government interference fucking everything up.

Driving from San Fran to San Diego last week, we stopped at all kinds of wineries and breweries. We got a few bottles home in our checked luggage, but I'd have had to have a crate shipped back to get all of the samples home that I would have wanted. I would order hundreds of bottles of specialty brews and vintages and have it shipped to me if it was possible.

We need to let the free market work.

 

[kn51]

Alcohol laws in this country are so backwards and confusing, it's absurd. /facepalm

Yep. I live in what most would call quite a backwards state in regards to blue laws. It gives MN a run for its money.

But at least I'm able to buy all types of booze no matter the store. Just not on Sunday. Which is a pain in the butt sometimes given shopping schedules. It could be worse. SC rules are asinine. AK has it right.

As for the merger, more power to them. Only reason I use BMC beers is if I don't like the people that we have invited over...or for cooking purposes.

 

[Wreckem]

InBev's product lineup is a laundry list of the world's worst beers.

World's worst beers that also drive most of the revenue and profit in the industry.

 

[BoberFett]

World's worst beers that also drive most of the revenue and profit in the industry.

And? So what?

If small breweries make enough money to keep the kettles boiling, the employees paid, and the owner is making enough to keep himself happy, who cares how much some international conglomerate makes?

 

[TheGardener]

So beer I wouldn't drink if it was free gets more expensive. Not seeing the downside.

Ditto.

 

[lxskllr]

And? So what?

If small breweries make enough money to keep the kettles boiling, the employees paid, and the owner is making enough to keep himself happy, who cares how much some international conglomerate makes?

The owner isn't American. If I'm gonna send my money overseas, I want something better than piss water to show for it. Yuengling is pretty much the only cheap American beer I buy. American owned and operated, and not publicly traded.

 

[Markbnj]

Soon all the major brands will be made by one massive international brewer, and they will all be the same beer in different cans.

 

[BoberFett]

The owner isn't American. If I'm gonna send my money overseas, I want something better than piss water to show for it. Yuengling is pretty much the only cheap American beer I buy. American owned and operated, and not publicly traded.

OK? And?

InBev would go broke if people would stop drinking crappy beer. But people don't, so they make bank.

That's how the world works.

Edit: Oh, and Yuengling is gross.

 

[QueBert]

InBev's product lineup is a laundry list of the world's worst beers.

Except for Goose Island and Elysian.

Goose Island Sofie > * beer. Elysian Blood Orange & Space Dust are stupidly good too.

 

[squirrel dog]

exxon/mobil in Baton rouge takes oil right off the tanker in Baton rouge,runs it through the refinery , then puts in the different additive packages required by the different brands and ships out a lot of different brands, they do make the exxon oil there also . Adbev can do the same , saves $$

 

[zinfamous]

Ah, thanks for the clarification. I've been through some states that had state run stores, the ABC or whatever. NC comes to mind. I don't recall though if that was for all alcohol including beer or if beer was excluded as it is in Oregon.

Here in MN, grocery stores cannot sell alcohol, and liquor stores can sell any kind of alcohol, spirits, wine and beer. Small breweries can sell growlers, but as soon as you hit a certain size you can't sell any off-sale beer out of your taproom anymore.

Alcohol laws in this country are so backwards and confusing, it's absurd. /facepalm

In NC, the ABC stores are just for liquor. It used to be, some decade ago, that NC limited alcohol content to 5.5% for what NC considered "beer." Anything above that was now "malt liquor," and could only be purchased at the ABC store under "malt liquor."

At that time, wine could be purchased in any grocery store, as well as most shitty beers. Liquor only, and wine and "malt liquor" at the ABC stores, still closed on Sunday and no alcohol sales anywhere after midnight Saturday.

Then, the state Dems took advantage of some Republicans vacationing one weekend (off to diddle their little cabana boys, no doubt), walked into legislature and passed the lottery for the first time, as well as repealed the asinine alcohol laws. Since then, craft breweries have established a serious industry throughout NC, as well as the state now being able to distribute many of the long-exiled brands from breweries with limited shipments, or would refuse to ship anything at all, as those laws excluded a majority of their products.


anyhoo...I have now moved to Maryland, and have discovered something horrific and vile is afoot in this state: It seems that each county in the state limits beer/alcohol sales to one major supplier per county (say, grocery store). So, within each county, there is a single grocery store where one can go to purchase their booze. Everything else is limited to private liquor or beverage stores....and I'm talking very limited. selection and cost is effing insane, and I'm comparing this to costs in the previous 7 years living in CA, and also where the selection was ~98% godawful IPAs. For the first time in my life, I walked into a dry Costco. The horror! D:

Something must be done about this horseshit. Luckily, VA and the District are nearby, so there may be some avenues here, but I haven't yet had much time to explore.

 

[ControlD]

OK? And?

InBev would go broke if people would stop drinking crappy beer. But people don't, so they make bank.

That's how the world works.

Edit: Oh, and Yuengling is gross.

I call for an immediate ban.

 

[zinfamous]

I call for an immediate ban.

seriously.

If one is in need of cheep domestic ~swill, nothing beats yeungling.

 

[BoberFett]

For cheap beer, my go to is Grain Belt (regular or Nordeast), but that's kind of a Minnesota thing.

I've also been known to drink a Hamm's from time to time.

 

[zinfamous]

For cheap beer, my go to is Grain Belt (regular or Nordeast), but that's kind of a Minnesota thing.

I've also been known to drink a Hamm's from time to time.

What about Old Style? that was my go-to in Chicago. Yes, it's terrible, but so is Hamm's.

 

[BoberFett]

My grandpa was a dedicated Hamm's drinker, so there's some nostalgia there for me, and it's another MN brew. Never had Old Style.

 

[Fingolfin269]

As long as Natural Light remains as tasty as it is today I don't care.

 

[darkewaffle]

It's fucking insane that the market for beer is so massive.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

seriously.

If one is in need of cheep domestic ~swill, nothing beats yeungling.

How does being "gross" preclude Yuengling from being "cheap swill"? I like Taco Bell on occasion, but I can recognize that is objectively "gross." Shit, any beer than you can get for less than $0.75 a can is going to be gross. It just is. Doesn't mean it shouldn't exist or you should feel guilty for drinking it.

 

[ControlD]

How does being "gross" preclude Yuengling from being "cheap swill"? I like Taco Bell on occasion, but I can recognize that is objectively "gross." Shit, any beer than you can get for less than $0.75 a can is going to be gross. It just is. Doesn't mean it shouldn't exist or you should feel guilty for drinking it.

You can get Yuengling for less than $0.75 a can? Let me know where so I can stock up next time!

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

I vote for a tax on any beer that doesn't follow reinheitsgebot. We can use the money to subsidize good beer.

 

[ControlD]

I vote for a tax on any beer that doesn't follow reinheitsgebot. We can use the money to subsidize good beer.

Eh, I can't quite go that far. I mean, I love some good German beer but I also like to have an oatmeal stout from time to time as well. There are plenty of those styles that qualify as "good beer" yet still violate the German purity laws.

 

[zinfamous]

I vote for a tax on any beer that doesn't follow reinheitsgebot. We can use the money to subsidize good beer.

that eliminates a world's worth of amazing beer.

what a stupid proposal.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

You can get Yuengling for less than $0.75 a can? Let me know where so I can stock up next time!

Can't you? It's not even available in my state, so I was just assuming. I've had it before, and it's basically like Lone Star or Dixie Lager; generic macro lager from something other than the Big 3. If it demands a price premium over the basic InBev offerings, that would be incomprehensible to me.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

I vote for a tax on any beer that doesn't follow reinheitsgebot. We can use the money to subsidize good beer.

Should, however, an innkeeper in the country, city or markets buy two or three pails of beer (containing 60 Mass) and sell it again to the common peasantry, he alone shall be permitted to charge one Heller more for the Mass of the Kopf, than mentioned above.

Yep, we need beer laws like that.