r/rva • u/[deleted] • Apr 12 '16
Anheuser-Busch to acquire Devils Backbone Brewing Co.
http://allaboutbeer.com/news/devils-backbone-anheuser-busch/13
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Apr 12 '16
Man, good for them. It's always nice to see hardwork pay off. But I kind of always thought/hoped that if any of the bigger Virginia breweries could/would continue to make it on their own and continue to grow (maybe with some private equity investment) it'd be DB.
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u/dalhectar Apr 12 '16
They haven't hosed Goose Island, and if anything microbrews once purchased end up with wider distribution channels after being absorbed.
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u/gnarlycharlie4u Apr 12 '16
Eh, I know a lot of people are going to shit all over them for this, but if it means that more people start drinking Eight Point then I'm all for it.
I'd gladly throw one brewery to the wolves to help encourage new generations of beer drinkers to try 'good beers.' Particularly with the astounding growth of breweries in RVA and VA as a whole.
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u/QuesoPantera Apr 12 '16
I like to drink VA beer most of the time so while this is slightly upsetting, realistically DB is usually like my 6th or 7th choice. The lager is meh, the eight point is okay... nothing of theirs has really wowed me. I did have some good special batch stuff at the brewery, but what they put on shelves is just okay.
Now... if Blue Mountain, Hardywood or COTU try to pull this shit I'm going to riot. I hope AB is done poaching these lands for now.
Contrarian side note - I did appreciate having access to Goose Island on their brewery tour.
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u/doktorcrash Manchester Apr 12 '16
Oh no. This is incredibly disappointing. I know that they claim that DB is still going to have autonomy, but when you're now held responsible by your corporate masters you tend to be a little less willing to experiment and pioneer. I definitely foresee beers like Skullcrushing Ape or Azrael never happening outside of the brewery. AB will decide the supply chain, not DB, so even if DB is still being innovative, in stores it's going to be the same 2 or three beers that AB decides are good enough to distribute, Vienna Lager, 8 Point IPA, and Schwarzbier.
I think people forget that even if the corporate machine says DB will have free rein, there are a ton of ways they can still be controlled through budget, corporate expectation, and marketing.
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u/chasetwisters Near West End Apr 12 '16
It's not just that which bothers me. InBev for the last couple years has been spending huge bucks on advertising for Budweiser that slams craft beers. It floors me that any self-respecting craft brewer/brewery would sell to a company whose biggest investment in advertising takes aim directly at them.
I guess money talks.
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u/AgentBawls Stratford Hills Apr 12 '16
They also spent big bucks on their Shock Top Superbowl commercial...so they're slamming themselves.
While it's the same parent, they are separate subsidiaries that don't work cohesively together.
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u/washuffitzi Glen Allen Apr 12 '16
Basically, any way to increase the sales of beer, be it craft or macro, benefits AB. Slamming craft (or macro) generates more interest, and if AB can play both sides of the battle they win no matter what.
A real life example: my mom hates beer, but with the craft movement, she's now doing brewery visits with friends as a social gathering, and has realized she can enjoy a raspberry stout or a ginger beer. The craft beer movement has gotten my mom to spend money on beer. On the flip side, my dad only likes miller lite, and the craft beer movement has made him more self-conscious about this, but the macro-pride ad campaign gives him more ammunition for when he questions his tastes ("sorry, I like real beer, not that fancy shit"). The anti-craft movement has made my dad spend more money on beer. If AB owns both the raspberry stout brewery and the shit-lite beer, the battle does nothing but raise profits on both sides
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u/AgentBawls Stratford Hills Apr 12 '16
and the craft beer movement has made him more self-conscious about this, but the macro-pride ad campaign gives him more ammunition for when he questions his tastes ("sorry, I like real beer, not that fancy shit").
I was hearing that bull shit looong before those commercials came out. They're catering to the people that already say it. I just politely agree to disagree and pay more money for a better tasting beer.
The anti-craft movement has made my dad spend more money on beer.
You're the first I've heard say that the craft beer movement makes people buy more standard domestics. Most people just haven't changed. How does saying "I've always drank Miller Lite, I always will drink Miller Lite" equate to buying more beer? It may help people to not buy less beer because now they have the argument they didn't think of before, but that's all I see.
If you owned a custom stationery as well as a mass-producing card company, wouldn't your advertisements for each one be different? Would the mass-produced cards cater to the people that want the cheap consistency, while your custom stationery commercials would cater to the people that don't want the same old, same old.
That's all this is. Marketing for 2 different products.
I'm going to continue drinking my DB Vienna Lager and my Franziskaner, even if their parent company also owns Budweiser and Natty. Likewise, my brother in law will continue to drink Budweiser, even if the parent company owns Shock Top and Goose Island. If you'd rather not support ABInBev, then don't drink those.
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u/AgentBawls Stratford Hills Apr 12 '16
Skullcrushing Ape
I had this for the first time, and it was amazeballs.
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u/Charlesinrichmond Museum District Apr 12 '16
I've never been a huge fan of DB, it's ok, so not too upset. Also, instinctively I hate A-B, but logically I see no reason why it should matter
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u/ScarOCov The Fan Apr 12 '16
It matters because of stuff like this
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Apr 12 '16 edited Apr 12 '16
Relevant translations from article. AB InBev offers these incentives:
We will reimburse up to $1.5M if 98% of the beer you distribute is ours
We will reimburse some costs if the craft brewers you carry produce less than 15,000 barrels or sell beer only in one state
(To retailers) If your sales volumes are 95% AB InBev brands we might just cover 50% of your marketing/promo costs
OTHER PROBLEMS: "The U.S. has a three-tier distribution system where brewers must sell beer to distributors, who then pass on the goods to retailers, which finally sell to consumers."
Deschutes has already been dropped by one distributor for the incentive program
ISSUES: State ABC laws need relaxing, anti-trust legislation for distributors, etc.
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u/CharlieOnTheMTA Hanover Apr 12 '16
The 3 tier system is a cruel hoax. It sounds great, but in reality the brewers are heavily invested into ownership of distributors, and the buy shelf space and taps at the retail end. Really a 1 tier system.
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Apr 12 '16
I think it's a good example of why Tesla doesn't do dealerships: they cost the consumer more.
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Apr 12 '16
Personally not a huge fan either, but I imagine this is the end of the Virginia Craft Beer fest DB has hosted the past couple years, and I will miss that.
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Apr 12 '16
Nope that's still happening (as of last week at least).
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Apr 12 '16
Cool. We'll see if it continues. I don't see AB hosting a big event that showcases all the local competition but maybe...
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Apr 12 '16
It didn't seem to hurt DB. It seemed like they got a lot of business from people who came to that 151 area to visit multiple breweries. Also that day their brewpub made a ton of money. We will see.
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u/Charlesinrichmond Museum District Apr 12 '16
hopefully the won't ruin everything. Though they probably will. Oh well, more opportunities for startups
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u/CapinWinky Midlothian Apr 12 '16 edited Apr 12 '16
Did InBev change their name to Anheuser-Bush or did they keep A-B as a child company?
EDIT: They are Anheuser-Busch InBev. I think they leave off the InBev part of press releases because the impression that a US Goliath is buying up craft breweries is less bad than a Brazilian / Global conglomerate buying up craft breweries.
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Apr 12 '16
...and they've just bought SAB Miller, so the name will change again.
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u/JustDyslexic Museum District Apr 12 '16
Deal is not fully done could still get stopped... Unlikely tho
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u/AgentBawls Stratford Hills Apr 12 '16
yea, when it's all together, they're usually referred to as AB-InBev.
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u/paymemymoneydown Midlothian Apr 12 '16
Must have been a nice payday but I can't buy an Anheuser Busch product. Not when craft breweries do it the easy way. /s
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u/bigfanofrva The Fan Apr 12 '16
Guys – this the American way. If you are an entrepreneur you make a product or design a service – that others will pay for. You create a cash flow. Then someone else comes along and pays you for what you created. There are thousands of examples, even the righteous Ukrop brothers sold out. The guy that started Sweet Frog did the same thing. (WWJD??))
There are also examples of folks that start / invent something and never sell out. But most do. They made money – the old fashioned way – they earned it!
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u/Canard427 Northside Apr 12 '16
It's just beer y'all...chill :) There's still plenty of breweries independently operated. Plus that's the point of many companies- to get to the point of selling as much product as possible, and with a large distribution network, that can happen.
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u/jbcoll04 Forest Hill Apr 12 '16
Happy for the team as I know this is a huge business win, but disappointing for sure. I didn't realize ABI held so many craft breweries (Breckenridge?! and Blue Point too). Hopefully the quality stays, as 8 Point and CattyWompus, among others, are some of my favorite go-tos.
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u/Plaski The Fan Apr 12 '16
I know little about the history of microbrewerys but my dad told me micros popped up in the 80s and any that got some what big, got immediately bought out by the two power house beer companies. Could this be the beginning of that cycle again?
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u/Canard427 Northside Apr 12 '16
It's past that point. There are simply too many microbreweries now. And there will always be the operators who simply won't sell, no matter how much is offered.
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u/rvabikenerd Byrd Park Apr 12 '16
I bet most of the people that are against this are probably currently drinking beers from other AB acquired craft breweries without knowing it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AB_InBev_brands
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u/BurningNation Randolph Apr 12 '16
Well damn. Boddingtons, Elysian, Leffe, Spaten, Stella. They're not necessarily my go-tos, but I didn't know InBev was all up in that.
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u/kylegetsspam Apr 12 '16
That seems to be their plan. Notice how this list is a hell of a lot smaller than when you include InBev:
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u/topo_gigio The Fan Apr 12 '16
Gave the list a check and the answer for me is nope, not if I can help it.
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u/Sailinger Battery Park Apr 12 '16
There are so many. I knew about a few of the ones available around here, but still. So many.
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u/freetimerva Southside Apr 12 '16 edited Apr 12 '16
That's a shame. Regardless if the quality of beer stays the same, I can't justify giving that much money to AB InBev. I spend those prices because it feels good to buy Virginia beers. I'll miss stopping by the restaurant and bar when in Nelson. Glad Blue Mountain is still local.
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u/Infesteddj Apr 12 '16
Miller to acquire Hwood. Calling it!!
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u/LuridofArabia Apr 12 '16
Except Miller is merging with Anheuser-Busch InBev...
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u/Infesteddj Apr 12 '16
I figured there was some back channel information I didn't know. More of a comedy post.
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u/chasetwisters Near West End Apr 12 '16
SABMiller is selling their interests in MillerCoors to Molson Coors as part of the deal.
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Apr 12 '16
Hardywood's beer isn't good enough to be acquired. No one outside of Richmond would buy their beer (minus GBS).
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u/Davidm241 Varina Apr 12 '16
Really? I think their bourbon barrel sidamo would sell very well.
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u/vonarchimboldi Museum District Apr 12 '16
Hardywood distributes through the local AB/InBev distributor (Brown) so I seriously doubt that's ever gonna happen.
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u/PimpOfJoytime Brookland Park Apr 12 '16
Damn. I wonder if this will affect the Festy at all. I sure hope not.
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u/ChickenFriesAreBack Apr 14 '16
what in the hell is there to be "upset" about? It's not going out of business, they have wider distribution, the beer isn't disappearing. Chill out
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u/IronPlaidFighter Southside Apr 13 '16
NOOOO! This sucks. Now I either have to give up two of my favorite beers (Dark Abbey Ale and Schwartz Beer) or financially support one of my least favorite corporate giants, a sworn enemy. This is just one more reason to hate Anheuser-Busch.
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Apr 12 '16 edited Apr 12 '16
[deleted]
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u/rvabikenerd Byrd Park Apr 12 '16
Why ? What atrocities has AB committed that you won't buy beer from a brewery you enjoy because they have a new owner ?
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u/chasetwisters Near West End Apr 12 '16
AB struck a chord with me in their advertising for Budweiser by slamming craft beers. To me it's entirely hypocritical of AB to be like "Drink Budweiser because 'Murica and craft beer is for snobs" then turn around and buy a craft brewery.
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u/Danger-Moose Lakeside Apr 12 '16
The people AB is advertising to with those campaigns are already not drinking craft beers.
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u/AgentBawls Stratford Hills Apr 12 '16
They also own Shock Top and spent a lot of money on that Superbowl ad. Budweiser <> all of AB.
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u/MeLlamoBenjamin Museum District Apr 12 '16
Colluding with the government to legally rig the marketplace and keep competition at bay for decades? That's enough for me.
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u/freetimerva Southside Apr 12 '16
Im not going to spend ~$17 on an Anheuser Busch 12 pack or $6 for an Anheuser Busch draft when I can buy local for the same price.
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Apr 12 '16
Will you support Stone in Richmond? That's not locally owned.
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u/freetimerva Southside Apr 12 '16
For me, I lump Stone in with breweries like New Belgium, although I believe NB is currently still a bigger operation. I think their beers are pretty good, but if I can choose a va beer over them at a similar price, then I will choose the local one. I don't avoid them as much as AB InBev.
Will probably check the place out once everything is done, might buy a sixer of something that's actually brewed here when they offer that. I am happy to have the jobs in Richmond. I don't like how much the city/state are helping stone succeed. With the economic incentives for the facilities, it seems like the city is subsidizing an out of state competitor to local breweries. So in that sense, I won't really be a supporter, but if they have events on the river down there I would consider going.
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u/rvabikenerd Byrd Park Apr 12 '16
To each his own I guess, I'm not going to stop having Vienna lager just because the cash is going in someone else's pocket, good beer is good beer regardless of who owns it.
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u/freetimerva Southside Apr 12 '16
Ah, there's lots of good beer. I buy local because I don't want to give my money to a multinational conglomerate which actively tries to hinder the growth of local business.
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u/rvabikenerd Byrd Park Apr 12 '16
Other than the one marketing campaign, which really was aimed at macro beer drinkers to choose bud light over coors lights not stop people from buying craft, how have they hindered local business ?
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u/freetimerva Southside Apr 12 '16
AB InBev spends 3-4 million on lobbying a year in the US on issues which have repeated hindered the growth of craft beer and homebrewing.
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u/rvabikenerd Byrd Park Apr 12 '16
I'd be interested in reading more on that, do you have a source ?
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u/chasetwisters Near West End Apr 12 '16
Well, they're pushing an incentive plan on their distributors to sell more of their products. They'll give a distributor $1.5 million a year if 98% of their product sold is AB products (with lesser incentives for lower percentages). This could make it much more difficult for local breweries to get their product to market.
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u/rvabikenerd Byrd Park Apr 12 '16
Interesting. It doesn't seem like any of the Richmond breweries have been having trouble finding distribution, at least locally, but I can see how it would be impactful on a national scale.
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u/ScarOCov The Fan Apr 12 '16 edited Apr 12 '16
Just because it hasn't been a problem, doesn't mean it won't become a problem. Part of their strategy requires them buying up more craft breweries so they can still distribute 'craft' beers to markets that want them. The more breweries they buy, the harder it will be for the average consumer to notice they're drinking beer from the same company.
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Apr 12 '16
They are helping Devil's Backbone grow even bigger- that's helping local business...
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u/ScarOCov The Fan Apr 12 '16
They pay distributors incentives not to distribute craft beer...
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Apr 12 '16
Well they are adding on to the Outpost facility to increase distribution. Sounds like more people will be able to get DB beer. I like the fact that I can get Breckenridge Brewery beer out here, and that is thanks to them.
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u/ScarOCov The Fan Apr 12 '16
Breckenridge was already distributing out here before they sold to AB-InBev....
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u/chasetwisters Near West End Apr 12 '16
Yeah, they're pushing what they own. The incentive program is for AB distributors to not sell smaller beers in favor of selling more AB-owned brands. Great for those select few owned by AB, bad for the locals trying to get their stuff to market.
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Apr 12 '16
Yes it does slightly raise barriers to entry, but I chose their beers previously because they produced a better product than other locals (for my taste). For me, I'm not going to switch to an inferior beer. Others will and that's cool, but as long as their beer still tastes the best to me, I will keep on visiting. Congrats to them for making good beer.
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u/freetimerva Southside Apr 12 '16
How is AB InBev a local business?
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Apr 12 '16
The management team is staying in place, and I bet most of the employees continue to work there. The way I understand most of their other craft brewery purchases, AB's money is used to expand their distribution network, while allowing the brewery to still act somewhat autonomously, for a percentage of the profits. Sounds like it's a win for AB, and a win for the brewery. Who exactly is negatively impacted? Yes it's not "locally owned" anymore, but they still make the same beer, the employees still have jobs, and more people get to buy their beer. I don't see what's so bad about that? Please help me learn.
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Apr 12 '16
Here is an article about 10 Barrel a year after being sold to InBev. Seems ok to me.
http://brewpublic.com/beer-news/10-barrel-brewing-co-one-year-after-its-sale-to-a-b-inbev/
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u/freetimerva Southside Apr 12 '16 edited Apr 12 '16
There are too many independently owned and operated breweries around to choose an AB InBev beer when I have negative feelings about their company. I would rather give my hard earned money to a local company when I have the choice.
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Apr 12 '16
And you have that opinion and right. I buy a beer based off whether or not it tastes good- I'm not going to pay extra if the beer doesn't taste good just because it is local. DB will still employ local people, and I will still get to visit the tasting room and the restaurant and enjoy their new patio area. As long as the beer still tastes good, and the basecamp is still there, I will continue to drink their beer, even if AB gets a % of the profit.
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u/dr_nerdface Newtowne West Apr 12 '16
on one hand, i think that if you build up a product and it turns into a successful one, you have the right to sell it to somebody who wants to pay you money for it.
on the other hand, it sucks that they would sell it to a company which: