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’10 Barrel is Not Craft Beer’ banner to fly over San Diego this weekend

In November of 2014, Anheuser Busch purchased Oregon based 10 Barrel Brewing. Since then, the production facility has undergone an expansion, as well as adding brewpub concepts in Denver, Colorado, and this weekend – San Diego, California.

Craft beer fans in San Diego, one of America’s prominent beer cities, have been vocal about opposing 10 Barrel’s build. Breweries, fans as well as the San Diego Brewer’s Guild’s opposition is a fairly simple one. There are more than 100 homegrown craft breweries located in the city. The line between craft and big beer is becoming blurred day by day, especially when massive breweries like Anheuser Busch buy 10 Barrel Brewing. One of the direct issues, is their practice of opening up a new location and operate like a craft brewery, not mentioning their Anheuser ownership.

It is important to note that the “craft brewer” definition is not a legal term, but one outlined by the not-for-profit Brewer’s Association. (As well as a massive source of pride for those considered craft.)

Despite oppostion, the 10 Barrel Brewpub has been built in San Diego. This weekend a block party is planned to celebrate its grand opening. That won’t stop some folks from getting the last word.

A ’10 Barrel is Not Craft Beer’ banner attached to a plane will circle overhead for at least three hours this weekend during the party.

It all started with a GoFundMe page started by ‘San Diego Beer Fan’ now known as Richard Esparza, asking for $900 dollars in donations to rent the plane and fly the banner for three hours.

Not going to explain why I’m doing this. You either get it, or you don’t.

Update May 30th: The campaign has raised $4,840 dollars with one anonymous individual contributing $2,500 dollars alone. The next highest supporters  gave as much as $200 a piece. Once the goal was exceeded, Esparza has posted another update:

I do have another ace up my sleeve and if the funds continue to come in, we will have another show of power.

The GoFundMe creator now planning a committee in order to direct the extra funds.

Image: By FlugKerl2 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

9 thoughts on “’10 Barrel is Not Craft Beer’ banner to fly over San Diego this weekend

  1. Meanwhile all the people who claim to be such purists will cheer while wearing their gap jeans and nike sneakers. Hypocrisy at its finest.

  2. any of you pull up that link & watch the news clip? AB/10 Barrel’s response to the banner & it’s cost? Paraphrasing… “its a shame these people are not concentrating on helping those who truly need it” – wow, what a bunch of fvcks… I just want to know the average age of those in charge of putting that statement out for AB/10Barrel…

  3. 10 Barrel is exactly correct. Why in the Hell do people feel the need to create and even donate money to a total worthless “cause”. We have millions starving in just the US. But yet idiots donate money for this kind of crap.?!?! Wow! Get a life people. WHO CARES IF AB bought this brewery. It is still a craft beer, because of the way it is made. Get a clue people. DONATE TO SOMETHING THAT HAS MEANING. THE TRUE GIFT OF GIVING IS GIVING FOR A PURPOSE. A PUUPOSE THAT COULD REALLY HELP SOMEONE IN NEED. Think about it, I pray you “get it” sooner…..rather than later!

    • Gretchen – first of all, lose the capital letters. All they do is make you sound like a nutcase. Secondly, just because you consider it worthless doesn’t make contributors idiots. You are clearly not one of the increasing crowd of people who are fed up with big business dictating the nature of the products they buy. We care that AB has bought this brewery because we know that while they will do everything necessary to keep up the illusion that the product is still a craft beer, in the background they will be implementing all the cost cutting and other procedures that have helped them to manufacture characterless beer in massive quantities. How long do you think it will be before they start making the beer out of rice like Budweiser ? We are beset by big business every day of our lives – the telephone company overcharging us, banks opening accounts in our names so they can charge us fees, health insurance companies that don’t fully re-imburse, electronics manufacturers whose products stop working just out of warranty, olive oil scams, airline seats, you name it – we are the targets of every large company trying to screw an extra dollar out of us to finance their bonuses. One of the attractions of the craft brewery is that it appears to be most concerned with selling us a quality product. If we make a quality beer, they are saying, people will buy more of it. Instead of “how can we screw another dollar out of the punter”, it’s “how can we make a better beer so people will like it.” This is a breath of fresh air in this fetid atmosphere of big business exploitation, and now we see it threatened by those self same big businesses. You bet we will take any action we can to make life as uncomfortable for them as possible, especially when in the worst traditions of big business they try pass themselves off as something they are not.

  4. oh we get it; A-B can’t compete with craft so they buy the small breweries instead.

    folks donate to “worthless” causes all the time—but they gain “worth” because of donations, so technically it would be more correct to call this a “frivolous” cause. I know i’m a terrible person for typing this, but I’d rather give $10 to an organized protest of InBev/A-B than give that money to United Way et. al.

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