Beer merger will not bring Budweiser, Miller under same roof

[riversedge]

good news in my book


http://chippewa.com/ap/business/beer-merger-will-not-bring-budweiser-miller-under-same-roof/article_0d1df331-53fe-5b4c-9b11-b68a04955400.html

Beer merger will not bring Budweiser, Miller under same roof


LONDON (AP) — The world’s two biggest beer makers will join forces to create a company that produces almost a third of the world’s beer. But in the U.S., the deal will not bring arch rivals Budweiser and Miller under the same roof.

Budweiser maker AB InBev announced Wednesday a final agreement to buy SABMiller for $107 billion.

To ease concerns the brewing behemoth might get a stranglehold of the U.S. market, SABMiller will sell its 58 percent stake in a venture with fellow brewer Molson Coors for $12 billion. The deal includes rights to the Miller brand name and gives Molson Coors full control of operations.

For beer drinkers in the Chippewa Valley this means that the Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company is effectively left out of the merger.

The combined company — which as yet does not have a name — will also need to address regulatory issues in China, where SABMiller has a leading position with a 49 percent stake in the Chinese beer Snow. China is the focus of intense interest, as it already drinks a quarter of the world’s beer.

“This combination would create the first truly global brewer,” AB InBev CEO Carlos Brito told reporters in a conference call after the deal, which is set to be completed next year.

AB InBev is seeking to bolster growth by acquiring SABMiller’s businesses in Africa and Asia as changing tastes and the growth of craft beers cut sales in developed markets.....................

[Xipe Totec]

1. I'm a bit of a beer snob, so Budweiser and Miller don't make the list of brews I call beer. nt

[bullwinkle428]

3. Exactly - there are far too many excellent American microbreweries out there

whose products I consume on a regular basis. I'll drink one of Miller or Budweiser's "specialized" products like Blue Moon or something similar if an establishment has a very limited selection, but that's about it.

[Xipe Totec]

9. I liked Blue Moon before it got acquired.

Though when it comes to Hefeweizen, I prefer Harpoon's UFO.

[DavidDvorkin]

13. Blue Moon wasn't acquired

It started as a fake craft brewer created by Coors.

[Xipe Totec]

14. Well, you can understand my confusion

Blue Moon Belgian White is a Belgian-style witbier brewed by Blue Moon Brewing Co. originally in Golden, Colorado, and launched in 1995.

Blue Moon Brewing Co. is an entity of Tenth and Blake Beer Company, the craft and import division of MillerCoors. Originally called Bellyslide Belgian White, it was created by Keith Villa, a brewer at Coors Field's Sandlot Brewery (the onsite brewery owned by the Molson Coors Brewing Company). Blue Moon from the Montreal site is also sold in the USA, as well as exported to Europe.


Blue Moon has come under fire from the Brewers Association for not stating on the bottle that the beer is made by MillerCoors. The Brewers Association says that this omission allows the Blue Moon Brewing Company to masquerade as an independent craft brewer. Independent craft brewers, such as CEO Greg Koch of Stone Brewing Co., agree that the multinational conglomerate brewers' use of bottle imagery similar to independent craft beers misleads consumers. In May 2015, a California man filed suit against MillerCoors for the "Craft Beer" labeling.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Moon_(beer)

[DavidDvorkin]

15. Your confusion

and the confusion of other customers was a feature, not a bug.

[riversedge]

11. I like the mini brews myself-but on a limited budget

I will get miller draft light. No bud-uga uga

[City Lights]

12. Same here.

[MohRokTah]

2. I have no problem with one global brewer having a monopoly on shit beer.

Makes it easier to identify the shit beers on the shelf.

You just have to watch when the shit beer brewer buys up local artisan brewers, because those beers always turn to shit after the big shit brewers buy them.

[Maeve]

5. Hubby and I refer to them as canoe beers

Because they are like making love in a canoe--f**ing close to water!

[HassleCat]

6. Yep. Red Hook springs to mind

I liked Red Hook a lot. Then it was merged with someone and a part interest went to ABInbev. Almost overnight, the beer became swill. They switched to a less expensive method, and it shows. Happens all the time. Rolling Rock is another example.

[Sherman A1]

8. Perhaps

however, as I understand it, one of the reasons to merge was to control supplies of the ingredients which if true could leave many craft beers in a bit of a pickle.

[HassleCat]

4. Now I'm curious

Leinenkugel is owned by SABMiller. How are they not part of the deal? Is Leinie's part of the 58 percent that SABMiller is selling before the merger? I guess that means Leinenkugel will be run by Molson Coors?

[kwolf68]

7. I like this idea

We could eventually end up with a Verizon/Comcast style beer market and what could be better than that?

/sarcasm

[alcibiades_mystery]

10. They can have their global beer, as long as they don't interfere with me drinking local

craft beers made within five miles of my house (there are at least four great local breweries so located).

If a dude wants to waste his time in a church, I'm not going to get upset about it, so long as he doesn't try to force my kids to believe his bullshit.

Similarly, if somebody wants to drink Bud or Miller, whatever. It's a bad choice, but it's their choice. Just don't interfere with my choice.

[cwydro]

16. I drink Newcastle.

Bud and Miller can cohabitate all they would like lol!

[hifiguy]

17. Couldn't care less

I drink Minnesota-brewed, Minnesota-owned brews when at home





:

and locally brewed beers when I travel elsewhere.

[smirkymonkey]

18. Whatever happened to the Sherman Act?

It's like it doesn't even exist anymore. Corporations have gotten too big and have too much power. Time to resurrect some good old-fashioned trust busting.