Acquired Taste

Today, while making the rounds of compulsively consuming beer content, I sifted through the usual kind-of-boring news on beerpulse.com & saw the headline “Anheuser-Busch InBev to Acquire Blue Point Brewing Company”.  Whu-HUH?!!  I even said that on Facebook.  What did you, the people, have to say?  There was the kind of vitriolic outcry one would expect from the beer-impassioned, many of whom hate ABInBev for making a mass-marketed product (that’s also just not to the taste of many beer geeks); for acquiring smaller, independent companies; for being the big, bad Goliath.  Believe me, the list of transgressions goes on & on.  At the time, I tried to temper what I saw as knee-jerk rage: look at what they’ve done for Goose Island, is always the golden exception.  I was prepared to come on & blog about how this was no big deal, about how “business is business”, about how ABInBev isn’t gobbling up anyone who doesn’t want it – generally defending both parties involved, & trying to ease some of the vox populi’s indignation.

But then I actually went back & read the press release.  I’d figured I’d be better prepared to sound informed & do some grounded opinionating, say “Let’s all calm down” now, if I saw what everyone else saw.  But reading the release made me feel…icky.  Like, big business PR icky.  Some highlights, & accompanying thoughts:

Blue Point, known for its creativity, was founded by Mark Burford and Peter Cotter 15 years ago in Patchogue, N.Y., where the brewery will continue to operate.

Is Blue Point known for its creativity?  Nothing against their beer, but what comes to mind for me are a toasted lager, a blueberry ale, a very recognizable logo…nothing terribly creative.  Solid?  Sure, BP makes some well-crafted beers, but I can’t think of anything that slaps me in the face as “creative”.  Nice, though, that they’re keeping the original brewery up & running in its hometown.

Anheuser-Busch also plans to invest in the brewery to grow its operational capabilities and enhance the consumer experience over the next few years.

“Enhance the consumer experience”?  Are they including 3-D glasses with each bottle?  This sounds like straight-up corporate marketing oleo to me.  My guess is that the consumer’s experience will pretty much remain the same.

“We are deeply grateful to our family of loyal employees and customers. Our success was made possible by the hard work of good people and good beer in Patchogue,” said Peter Cotter, who will continue to be instrumental in the success of the brands along with co-founder Mark Burford.

Doesn’t say how the co-founders will continue to be instrumental in the success of the brands.  Ceremonial figureheads?  Will this give them more of an opportunity to develop recipes & tweak the process in a “creative” way?  Seems to me that ABInBev doesn’t really need any help with branding.  Maybe they’ll make a Blue Point commercial with a puppy & Billy Joel or something. 

“Together, our talented brewing team and Anheuser-Busch will have the resources to create new and exciting beers and share our portfolio with even more beer lovers,” said Mark Burford.

Okay, so it’s “our” talented brewing team, which I read as “the same guys who’ve been brewing the beer you’ve enjoyed all along”.  That’s cool – this is one of the big plusses in the Goose Island transition.  So what is AB’s role in this, looking to the future?  Publicist?  Plus: AB creating something new & exciting?  Don’t get your hopes up, guys.  Now, AB bankrolling something new & exciting?  That I can see.

A few examples of what left a slightly bad taste in my mouth.  This doesn’t go into the companies’ bios at the end of the press release, the entirety of which you can read here.  I guess there are some questions to be answered, is al:  Are ABInBev just Blue Point’s new sugar daddy?  How much production control will BP be able to maintain?  What will “expansion” entail?  Rightly so, some of the concerned voices on Facebook wondered about the priorities of quality vs. profit?  I think that quality & profit can be symbiotic, but that requires a faith in the product – AND the beer-drinking public themselves.  ABInBev aren’t dummies; they can feel the tides shifting, & they’ve (in my belief) wisely overcoming dismissing craft beer & the maturation of the beer drinking public’s palate.  Sure, it might not be for everyone, but maybe they can sense that this shift is real, which is why they seem prepared to do something about it.  This impression, however, left me feeling a bit tainted.