This week, the Goose Island Beer Company, a craft brewery in Chicago, was purchased by Anheuser-Busch for 39 million dollars, give or take a few bucks. Within minutes the craft beer world was tweeting, facebooking and honking about how a mega brewer would once again ruin a great thing. I am no huge fan of mega brewers, but at this point I’m not panicking. Of course I have never had a Bourbon County Stout (one of the award winners of the brewery) which could explain why I’m not panicking.
Prior to the acquisition, Goose Island was partially owned (about 42%) by Craft Brewers Alliance. Craft Brewers Alliance owns several other craft brewers (Red Hook, Widmer Brothers, and Kona Brewing). And guess who owns part of Craft Brewers Alliance ? You guessed it, Anheuser-Busch. In fact they own 32.25% of Craft Brewers Alliance. So the bottom line is that Anheuser Busch already had a financial position in Goose Island. Now they own it all.
So what happens next to Goose Island? Who knows. I would think for the very short term, not much. Mega brewers realize that while the growth of beer sales are down, craft beer sales are increasing. I don’t think they spent 39 million dollars to slow the growth of craft beers. In theory Goose Island should now be able to expand their production (they were previously maxed out) to satisfy craft beer drinkers across the country. But having lived through multiple acquisitions in the software industry, I’m sure there will be changes. I can imagine the meetings at Goose Island. Employees will be told its business as usual. Nothing is going to change. And then small changes will occur. Perhaps the marketing department at Goose Island will be phased out since Anheuser Busch has tons of marketing people. Then probably the accounting department will be moved out. Anheuser Busch has lots of barley counters as well. Brewery workers surviving these cuts will begin to suffer lower morale as they see their co-workers forced out. Then perhaps there will be a push to use less expensive ingredients in the beer itself. Or rush it through production so the beer doesn’t sit in tanks as long. You know, faster beer equals more money. But who really knows. My two hopes for the future of Goose Island are entirely self centered. First I hope they keep the quality of the beer the same. The second is that they expand their distribution to Florida.