Goose Island Sale Will Damage Small Brewers

I know you are all sick of hearing about Goose Island and the Anheuser Busch acquisition.  I think every beer blogger, writer and news outlet wrote knee jerk responses.  I stand by my previous post, but I wanted to write a more thoughtful post especially now that a discussion had occurred.  I was faced with a difficult problem while writing on Monday.  No one had made an argument for or against this acquisition  This blog is not about me proselytizing, but rather about the conversation that occurs within the beer community in which I am one voice.

Beer enthusiasts have fallen into three camps.  The people who think Goose Island's sale is a great thing, those who regard it as horrible and the wait and see camp.  I think in some respects all three camps are correct.  Yes, I think everyone is right.  They are right for their own reasons.

The sale is great for Goose Island as a brand.  AB will pump up production, and may even bring back some retired styles like Oatmeal and Nut Brown.  The two Chicago brewpubs are unaffected, and I read in more than one article that they are evaluating their options.  The Hall family got a nice chunk of cash for building the business.  With AB at the helm I think people from coast to coast will see Goose Island in their stores over the next few years.  No doubt this is a win for Goose Island as a business.

The people in doom and gloom land are right for the same reasons.  These people do not like large corporations selling beer to them.  They believe in environmental sustainability, drinking local, and the diversity craft beer has to offer.  Craft trumps profit and they believe the industry is damaged.

The wait and see people are probably the most reasonable people.  AB is promising to let John Hall retain control.  They have also said the St. Louis brewery will not be used to produce Goose Island beer, but curiously did not mention the other AB facilities.  The recipes will not change and everything will be the same.  The question is whether AB holds true to their word or not.  These are huge questions and time will tell.  AB has not always followed this in the past, although they may have learned from mistakes.

Where do I sit?  I believe in all three camps.  This is great if your name is Hall or your a Goose Island production worker.  Without a doubt a larger corporation is selling the beer.  Goose is now a subsidiary.  Make no mistake this is not the "partnership" some have tried to frame this as.  AB owns Goose Island -do not be stupid.  AB will look to make their money back, and they will look to find ways to cut costs.  Will those changes come at the expense of quality?  Only time will tell.  I will put money on AB brewing 312 Urban Wheat Ale in giant brewkettles at their facilities within 3 years which may or may not affect quality.

The people who really need to be concerned are Metropolitan, Half Acre, Three Floyds and other Chicago brewers.  Without a doubt AB will flex their marketing muscle to keep their new brand out in front.  If AB is able to keep these breweries from expanding their taps and shelf space their business models went to hell.  Now imagine if AB is able to go after 5% of a small brewers accounts.  Metropolitan Chicago's only strict lager brewery is a strong up and comer.  (My review)  Metropolitan is sold in about 363 bars and restaurants in the Chicago area.  AB would only have to successfully shut Metropolitan out of 18 outlets to hit that goal.  Looking at the list it would not be that hard.  You can watch the movie Beer Wars to see how the retail side of things works.  AB may not need to shove them out, but imagine if Metropolitan's their shelf space went from two facings to one?

Many small startup breweries are running with debt right now.  Their business models are built on ever increasing growth.  Should AB flex their muscles many smaller craft brewers may be in trouble.

Event Review: Day and Night of The Living Ales

Each year the Chicago Beer Society (CBS) holds the Day & Night of The Living Ales: A Celebration of Real Ale.  This event features real ale, also known as cask beer.  Real ale has no carbon dioxide added and the beer naturally carbonates, additionally the yeast in this beer is still active almost up until the time you drink the beer.  The beer also likes to exist around 53F so festivals like this can be a bit chilly.  Normally CBS finds a deli or other caterer to put out a small selection of higher end meat and cheese to munch on.

CBS splits the day into two sessions the Day and the Night.  There is no real difference except time of day.  The organizers try very hard to make sure beer is held in casks for the second session.  Occasionally one will run out, but not usually half way into the second session.  A benefit of the second session is you can call people you know at the first session and know what is worth it and what is not.  Personally I am done for the day after drinking for hours so I typically crawl into bed after an event like this.

Night Session 2011

In 2011 there were 45 beers available and for the most part were very good.  Chicago brewers dominate at this event, but there was a fair sprinkling of brewers from elseware.  Metropolitan had an intriguing ginger infused alt and Piece had smoked chocolate porter that reminded me of cocoa puffs.  The bad side of cask events was evident in Revolution's Village Green Bitter which had some off flavors.  This can happen easily and I would note their Eugen Porter was above average.  With the ale be alive right up to the end it is hard for a brewer to ensure the perfect flavor.  I do not know if this was the situation with Village Green, but many brewers never get to crack open the cask until the event itself making it near impossible to provide the level of quality control we have become used to.

CBS also gives awards at this event and Firestone Walker's Double Jack Double IPA won the Golden Tut Award for being the beer that best exemplified the cask experience.  Attendees also vote for their top beers.  This year first place went to Goose Island's production facility for Scully an oak aged saison with strawberries, honey and Champagne yeast.

Overall, this is one of the better events on the annual beer calender, and does sell out.  I try to attend each year as I never know what I may find.  I have done both the day and night sessions, and I lean towards liking the night better.  CBS holds Living Ale each March and I hope to see you there next year.

Tough Topic: Breweries & Social Media

I have been intrigued by how different breweries have reacted to my blog posts.  By far I would say most breweries have no clue I am here.  That is fine with me.  I understand I am not on everyone's radar.  I often wonder what makes the cut.  Great Divide retweets or shoots off a "thanks" for the review to many bloggers on their Twitter feed, yet I have never received an acknowledgement.  What does Great Divide use as a metric to decide how they warrant a response?  Others such as Hook & Ladder often post a comment and promote a blog post of mine.  On my birthday Sierra Nevada started following me.  I think this is smart.  For one it shows an appreciation of someone promoting your product and an acknowledgement goes along way.

Recently I received backlash from a brewery.  I counted Metropolitan Brewing among my Twitter followers and assumed they read this blog on a frequent basis.  The day I published my review of Metropolitan I no longer could count them as a Twitter follower.  They de-linked me within hours of posting.  I know they saw the review, and I did not feel it was a bad review.  I gave an honest review of a two-year old brewery with a lot of potential.  Did I call them out on their issues?  Yes!  I am not their cheerleader.  I am a reviewer, and my commentary was not harsh.  Most of the problems I listed were either solved or easily solved, and I finished my post by telling readers to go buy their beer.  You can see my harsher posts here, here and here and Metropolitan's review was nowhere close to harsh.

By flat out disavowing my blog instead of just ignoring it Metropolitan annoyed me.  Actually, they pissed me off.  I stocked up on their beer to start doing beer reviews to further promote their products.  Social media counts as free marketing and by taking a passive aggressive stance Metropolitan lost out on marketing.  I am one of the few people I know who think Metropolitan will be successful.    With marketing skills like this maybe I am wrong and they will fail.

Breweries market mostly to a crowd that skews to the young and technologically savvy.  They need to embrace the social media world and not make snap decisions.  If a brewery feels a comment is not fair they should respond to it.  Engage the market and address what issue a consumer has, or at least ignore it.

Brewery Review: Metropolitan Brewing Co.

Metropolitan Brewing in Chicago is the brainchild of Doug and Tracy Hurst.  While most craft beer operations focus on ales, Metropolitan focuses on lagers and I have heard of no plan to offer ales.  Their website even states that there are zero plans to ever make an IPA.   Last time I took a tour there Tracy recounted how they came to the conclusion to make lager. Doug, while studying at Siebel Institute of Technology, was in Germany completing his classwork and called Tracy telling her about the amazing lagers there.  He was so blown away he found his life purpose.  To be honest when I first heard about their brewery I laughed.  I did not think anyone could make a living selling lagers.  I was wrong and have no problem admitting it.  Metropolitan makes excellent beers and they have become my go to brewery for lagers.

The craft beer market has very few lagers on shelves and I personally have not come across any other lager only operations.  In the past I would get people started on craft beer by using Goose Island's 312, but I would struggle to explain what a Urban Wheat Ale is.  I find it much easier to hand them a Krankshaft or Flywheel and tell friends that it is a lager just like Bud Light.  My friends and family have been much more accepting of this because they think they are getting the same taste.  They quickly learn that not all lagers are the same and craft lager packs a flavor punch.

I know some of you had issues with Metropolitan staying consistent with their beer and scattered reports of off flavors when they first opened.  I am happy to report those issues have disappeared.  Metropolitan has been churning out three lagers on a consistent basis: Krankshaft, Flywheel Bright Lager, and Dynamo with a seasonal named I-Beam Alt.  A fourth beer Iron Works recently received bottle label approval from the feds and it appears to be a tweaked version of the I-Beam Alt.

Metropolitan offers public tours of their brewery.  Check out their website for details.  The tours cost a nominal $5 and include tasting.  This is pretty typical for Chicago area breweries and is a fair price.  Be warned it is hot in the summer and cold in winter as they lack a solid HVAC system.  Retail operations are somewhat constrained at their location.  My understanding is the city has some complicated zoning rules that makes their space industrial, but not retail.  (If it was retail I would of walked over and bought a glass by now.)

Doug and Tracy lack the inflated ego you see in some operations.  They seem to be letting distribution be dictated by where there is desire for lagers which is good.  Additionally, they have a stated desire to remain a Midwest phenomenon.  Metropolitan's beers are not intended to age so finding markets that allow quick turnover is key.  

At times they struggled with supply issues.  As of my last tour (Summer 2010) they were exploring the purchase of additional fermenters which should help solve the problem.  However, most breweries would consider not being able to keep up with demand a good thing.  I would also like to see Tracy out of brewing and on the road.  I want to be clear I do not doubt in her ability to work as a brewer, but Tracy would make an excellent brand manager.  If the hop tattoos do not give it away, her personality clearly conveys that she is passionate about beer.  If she could focus on Metropolitan's brand and get craft beer drinkers enthused about lagers who knows what this little place could do.

Metropolitan will likely be around for a long time, and if you have not already tried their beer go grab a six pack.