OT: Whatcha Drinkin' II: Another Round!

[Surrounded By Ahos]

I tried Grapefruit Sculpin over last weekend. It was damn good. I feel like it'd be perfect on a hot day at the beach.

 

[the halleJOKEL]

grapefruit sculpin is very good. one of the better grapefruit ipas i have tried. sculpin is just delicious in general ,thoguh

 

[Penaltykiller17]

Anybody ever had Delirium Tremens? It is a fantastic Belgian beer.

 

[AD Skinner]

Thought that new belgium's chocolate chip cookie dough ale couldn't possibly be more that great but I picked some up the other day and really enjoyed it

 

[cptjeff]

Reviving this, I am currently drinking a Martini made with ToPo gin in celebration of UNC's wondrous victory last night. 2 shots gin, 1/2 shot vermouth, as God intended, a drop of orange bitters, and garnished with pickled garlic and an olive.

 

[DaveG]

**** you Wicked Weed you ****ing sellouts. As if they weren't rich enough already.

 

[RodTheBawd]

Haha. Is that a "****ing sellouts... when is our day to be sellouts?" rant?

 

[DaveG]

Haha. Is that a "****ing sellouts... when is our day to be sellouts?" rant?

Nope. I'd resign the day we sold our soul to the devil.

How any craft brewery can even consider working with them with all they've done to try to destroy craft is baffling.

 

[RodTheBawd]

Fair enough. AB specific, or any of the majors?

 

[DaveG]

Fair enough. AB specific, or any of the majors?

AB Specific, though not a huge fan of the other majors either but they haven't done a fraction of what AB has IMHO.

The one addendum to that I would say is Duvel. The brands they control (Omegang, Boulevard, Firestone Walker) they don't mess with at all.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

Nope. I'd resign the day we sold our soul to the devil.

How any craft brewery can even consider working with them with all they've done to try to destroy craft is baffling.

I didn't realize your $DAYJOB was actually producing beer. That's awesome.

 

[RodTheBawd]

So what, Hank, you assumed it was just a hobby?

 

[Navin R Slavin]

So what, Hank, you assumed it was just a hobby?

I feel like I'm missing a reference here.

 

[DaveG]

I didn't realize your $DAYJOB was actually producing beer. That's awesome.

Yep, used to work part-time in brewing and full-time in medicine but have since made the switch to just full-time brewing.


(promo time) By the way, my brewery's (Gizmo) 4th Anniversary Party is this Saturday if anyone wants to come out.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

We don't know what's going on in their lives though. I know many people who have owned and then sold businesses. Sometimes it was due to personal reasons (health), sometimes it was due to having to be there all the time and wanting some free/family time, sometimes it was about wanting a new challenge or do something different, and sometimes, it was just about the money (which frankly, I see no problem with).

I do get the sentiment about AB though, but depending on their reasons for selling, maybe that was the only choice.

 

[RodTheBawd]

I feel like I'm missing a reference here.

One of AB's campaign's has been to call micro brewers hobbyists, in a very condescending way.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

One of AB's campaign's has been to call micro brewers hobbyists, in a very condescending way.

There you go. I get it now!

 

[DaveG]

We don't know what's going on in their lives though. I know many people who have owned and then sold businesses. Sometimes it was due to personal reasons (health), sometimes it was due to having to be there all the time and wanting some free/family time, sometimes it was about wanting a new challenge or do something different, and sometimes, it was just about the money (which frankly, I see no problem with).

I do get the sentiment about AB though, but depending on their reasons for selling, maybe that was the only choice.

Don't get me wrong, I can get onboard with that line of thought. That said, in this case I just don't see it. Not with the way they've handled their expansion and everything. Basically they had the chance to be the first really national brand from the Southeast if they had kept growing organically, but the rate they were buying expansion properties, etc. It felt like the intention all along may have been to just sell to the highest bidder.

 

[the halleJOKEL]

Don't get me wrong, I can get onboard with that line of thought. That said, in this case I just don't see it. Not with the way they've handled their expansion and everything. Basically they had the chance to be the first really national brand from the Southeast if they had kept growing organically, but the rate they were buying expansion properties, etc. It felt like the intention all along may have been to just sell to the highest bidder.

ehhh

wicked weed was kind of "destined" to rapidly grow and be sold off. they were created from a massive initial investment. it's almost certainly the reason they were able to expand so rapidly.

they also coincidentally make good beer, which helped. hopefully being bought out by AB doesn't affect that

 

[garnetpalmetto]

One of AB's campaign's has been to call micro brewers hobbyists, in a very condescending way.

Despite having already purchased several microbreweries and continuing to produce beers under their name (offhand, Goose Island, Blue Point, 10 Barrel, Elysian, Golden Roads, Four Peaks, Devils Backbone, Breckenridge and one or two others). They also own about a third of the Craft Brew Alliance which owns Red Hook, Widmer Bros., Kona, Omission, and Square Mile Cider.



The irony in that commercial is that one of the craft breweries they partner with own produced a pumpkin peach ale right around the time that commercial came out.

And then they doubled down on it



**** you, Anheuser-Busch. **** you, very much.

 

[DaveG]

ehhh

wicked weed was kind of "destined" to rapidly grow and be sold off. they were created from a massive initial investment. it's almost certainly the reason they were able to expand so rapidly.

they also coincidentally make good beer, which helped. hopefully being bought out by AB doesn't affect that

Exactly.

And I'm not getting my hopes up. Freak will probably still be Freak, but after having some of the Goose Island stuff like Sofie pre, 2-years post, and 4 years post-buyout, there's just night and day difference. You could notice a drift in quality starting 2 years post-buyout already and by the time it hit 4 years it just simply wasn't the same quality beer anymore.

 

[vorbis]

Exactly.

And I'm not getting my hopes up. Freak will probably still be Freak, but after having some of the Goose Island stuff like Sofie pre, 2-years post, and 4 years post-buyout, there's just night and day difference. You could notice a drift in quality starting 2 years post-buyout already and by the time it hit 4 years it just simply wasn't the same quality beer anymore.

totally agree, and Goose Island is a perfect example to explain many beerphiles' trepidation at today's news.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Don't get me wrong, I can get onboard with that line of thought. That said, in this case I just don't see it. Not with the way they've handled their expansion and everything. Basically they had the chance to be the first really national brand from the Southeast if they had kept growing organically, but the rate they were buying expansion properties, etc. It felt like the intention all along may have been to just sell to the highest bidder.

Fair enough, but I personally don't fault someone for that. My father in-law was a guy that started a number of different businesses, only to grow them, sell them off, and start another. He loved the challenge of getting a business off ground and growing it, but didn't relish running them day to day. He also made his money, not by the profits from the operations of the business, but from the value he created in the business when it sold. I've also been part owner of a business where that was the full intent as well (and the reason I invested in it). That said, I do understand the concern about quality of the product declining after the purchase. Hopefully that doesn't happen here.

 

[the halleJOKEL]

luckily asheville is the exact kind of place that is all about "all local everything" so if wicked weed does start going south, they may see some kind of effect

granted, wicked weed has basically become THE craft beer tourist destination in asheville at this point, so who knows if the locals even register beyond a small blip on their balance sheet these days

 

[Carolinas Identity*]

i drink pbr and jim beam because i am a real american