This is my first Op-Ed on this site. (And probably my last.) A lot of people are probably going to hate me for saying this.
By now I’m sure you know the “news that rocked the beer world” aka Goose Island gets sold to AB Inbev. It’s big news for sure and it’s definitely something to talk about.
I’ve sat here most of the day reading Twitter, articles, and blog posts about the GI situation, and for the most part everyone is shocked.
Yes, dropping the name Inbev or AB or anything macro in the craft beer world is like ripping a wet fart during a pastor’s sermon in church. Shocking. Appalling, perhaps even disgusting. All are reactions the beer community is emoting as the story unfolds.
I’m going to skip straight to this. Idealism. Especially craft beer idealism. The beer scene in the United States is booming of course. And with it is a growing sense of elitism. More and more now I’m hearing “I am a craft beer drinker” or “I drink craft beer” said in a “I drive a hybrid, because I want to be part of the solution, not the problem” smug sort of way. I get it, you drink craft beer, but don’t start acting like the wine people do. That’s why we are beer people.
And listen, I actually AM a craft beer drinker… a constant craft beer drinker. Read: much more than I should. I love most everything about the beer scene in the US, except for this smug idealistic attitude that is growing rampant. I tell people I love beer. I drink beer. No need for “craft” or “micro.” You’ve seen me drink. You get it.
Macro money got to Goose Island. People are shocked. Dismayed. Upset. But for you, what has changed? The financial side? If that’s actually it — what are you upset about? Do the banking transactions actually affect what you taste in your beer? Are you so idealistic that you can’t lay lips to a Bourbon County Vanilla Stout because AB makes a light lager? Oooooookay.
Beer is a business as much as it is an artform. Plain and simple. I’ll happily say – true, IF there was money to be had from a non InBev source – perhaps it might have been a better option. But really, InBev makes an investment in a craft brewer, (especially when macro sales are declining) and you get up at arms like someone just sold children into sweatshop slavery. I’ve even seen people say they will never drink another Goose Island beer.
Fine. Keep your idealism. Hold your head high, for you are the champion of what is right for what’s in your pint glass. If the beer Goose Island will be producing after the check is written remains the same, I’ll keep drinking it. Take your idealistic stand. More for me.
