Lagunitas got bought out not long ago and I was rather upset. We're going to lose breweries to the conglomerates over time, that's all. I don't see that trend stopping.
Lagunitas is California beer. Now it's California beer half-owned by Heineken. Why does this make you upset? It's not like they were ever small, were ever particularly crafty or particularly independent and Heineken has been the gold standard of not-piss beer on hospitality riders for 40 years. Beer is a product that benefits greatly from industrial scale. People rag on big American beers because they taste like piss but that's design, not consequence. If Budweiser wanted to make bitter-ass cloudy IPA they could. They don't because your grandpa likes Banquet Beer. They bought (and sell) Red Hook and Stella because they know you don't.
The guys who give the tours at Boulevard like to talk about this a lot. Someone invariably asks them on the tour if the recipe for, say, the KC Pils has changed. And then they have to respond no, you've just noticed the variance between different batches. Then they bring the conversation around to Budweiser, and how it all tastes exactly the same. How you can take two cans that were made in different plants on different months, and not taste the slightest bit of difference.Beer is a product that benefits greatly from industrial scale.
Formulas, chemists, and rigorous inspections and quality control throughout the brewing procedure. It's not perfect though, cause if you drink something like Budweiser infrequently enough, you can taste variations from time to time. I think the blandness in the flavor probably does a good job of hiding the distinctions.Then they bring the conversation around to Budweiser, and how it all tastes exactly the same. How you can take two cans that were made in different plants on different months, and not taste the slightest bit of difference.
Because individual, flagship beers often get ruined when this sort of thing happens. This occurs even when a brewery isn't bought out but simply expands too quickly. The example I cited to TNG is that case. Bell's Oberon is now made with orange juice concentrate and it's a sad reminder of what used to be one of Michigan's best brews. I'm glad to see more people drinking Lagunitas, but not at the expense of my bitter-ass cloudy IPAs eventually getting watered down for price efficiency and marketability. I would say SOME kinds of beer benefit greatly from industrial scale. I would not have classified most Lagunitas brews that way. Also, of record, I'm fairly certain you and I have VERY different taste in beer.Why does this make you upset?
I understand the perspective. That said, you've got an n of 1, which is not "often." And you're right. radically different. I look up Bell's Oberon and see that it is served with mutherfucking fruit and I know that the beers you like? they're the ones that prevent me from buying the beers I like. Everybody lost their shit when InBev bought Elysian but Elysian ceased to be interesting when they started bottling the shit. Used to be you could go to Elysian Brewery and they'd have like 4 beers they brewed in the back and like 15 they'd bought somewhere else and their sandwiches were delicious. THAT is the brewery tradition - you sidle up to the counter or you buy a keg or you fuck off. The fact that Lagunitas has four breweries in three states means they might as well be Heineken anyway.
Also, I see lagunitas everywhere now. Airports etc.
Yeah, it's a thing. I was talking to the owner of a small brewery in NC and he basically said that the business model is to grow locally in the hopes of getting acquired. Please, just not Bells. I need my Two Hearted Ale to remain unscathed.