{"id":17599,"date":"2015-10-05T16:35:46","date_gmt":"2015-10-05T03:35:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/?p=17599"},"modified":"2016-04-29T12:10:11","modified_gmt":"2016-04-29T00:10:11","slug":"reactions-to-buyouts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2015\/10\/05\/reactions-to-buyouts\/","title":{"rendered":"Buyouts and reactions-to-buyouts"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"'Crash<\/a>
Now that’s a merger<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So last week, Asahi bought Mountain Goat. And earlier this month Heineken bought half of Lagunitas, then the company which makes Budweiser acquired something called\u00a0Golden Road, and just under three years prior to that Emerson’s was subsumed within Lion.<\/span>1<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Meanwhile: Russia re-annexed Crimea, Pixar has so far spent a decade in the belly of Disney, India smack-merged with\u00a0the Eurasian Plate fifty-million-or-so years back and (geologically speaking) threw up the Himalayas, and in\u00a0four billion years our galaxy will non-violently combine with Andromeda and send countless millions of worlds\u00a0swirling into new orbits until something else supermassive comes along \u2015\u00a0plus\u00a0\u00e7a change plus c’est la\u00a0m\u00eame chose<\/em>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The details, ultimately, don’t hugely concern\u00a0me.<\/span>2<\/sup><\/a><\/span> It’s all very much business as usual<\/em> and the same old ebb and flow that’s been going on for yonks. It’d be PhD-level economics to figure out if it’s ‘ultimately’ been good or bad for consumer choice, and I suspect the answer is somewhere in the vicinity of “a little of both, from place to place and time to time, and basically a wash in the end”. As for the latest pair of newsworthy sellers and buyers,\u00a0I have fond memories of Mountain Goat (but no real ongoing adoration) and Asahi are just another conglom (but aren’t on my boycott list\u00a0since their\u00a0machinations don’t seem anything beyond par for the course)<\/span>3<\/sup><\/a><\/span> \u2015 so my reaction was a combination of a quiet huh<\/em>, an eyebrow-raise, and a lazy shrug.<\/span>4<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

For now, I just want to note that you don’t have to “wait and see” with these things. It is\u00a0perfectly okay<\/em> to decide that you’ll never again buy a Mountain Goat beer, just as it was totally legitimate for Hashigo Zake to stop buying Emerson’s as soon as the sale contract was signed<\/a>. They were wrongly criticised for a “knee-jerk reaction” and encountered a strange kind of meta-snobbery that accused them of being pretentious when they were just pretty-obviously following a long-stated principle of only stocking “independent” beer, which Emerson’s suddenly wasn’t. If you care about ownership, you can make your decision on the day you learn about a change in ownership \u2015 indeed, it’d be weird if you\u00a0didn’t<\/em>. People blindly predicting that the beer will be ruined are exactly as wrong\u00a0as people dogmatically insisting that it’s (only) the flavour in the glass that counts. Ownership and scale don’t logically or historically correlate with quality and any number of buyouts have seen it improve<\/span>5<\/sup><\/a><\/span> \u2015 but other things are relevant, if you want them to be.<\/span>6<\/sup><\/a><\/span> I’m not personally an absolutist on this<\/em>, but you can have your own priorities. The pile of possible factors-to-consider is vast and includes regional origin, aesthetics, price, the people involved, the tenor of their marketing, and of course ownership and taste. Do with them (all!) what you will.<\/p>\n

And yes, making buying decisions based on corporate ownership will always be fraught with tensions if not outright contradictions \u2015 as Rob Ruminski succinctly pointed out<\/a> \u2015 but that’s just the way of it. Moral purity is probably impossible in the messy world of modern capitalism, but you set your own threshold and tolerance and you do your best.<\/span>7<\/sup><\/a><\/span> The hard part, most of the time, is actually learning the facts about these matters given how hard many companies work to obfuscate their origins. Here, there’s an announcement and everything. So it’s\u00a0fine<\/em> to react to that, as-is.<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So last week, Asahi bought Mountain Goat. And earlier this month Heineken bought half of Lagunitas, then the company which makes Budweiser acquired something called\u00a0Golden Road, and just under three years prior to that Emerson’s was subsumed within Lion. Meanwhile: Russia re-annexed Crimea, Pixar has so far spent a decade in the belly of Disney, … Continue reading Buyouts and reactions-to-buyouts<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blahblah"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":18326,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2016\/08\/08\/hope-and-dread\/","url_meta":{"origin":17599,"position":0},"title":"Equal parts hope and dread","author":"Phil","date":"August 8, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The days are just packed. This is always a weird time of year to be a beer geek who works in the beer business; the combination of so much going on and so much to do warrants one of those legendary compound German words. I\u00a0am\u00a0exhaustixhilarated. This\u00a0is\u00a0terrificifying. So, naturally, Emma and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Metablogging"","block_context":{"text":"Metablogging","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/meta\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mount Taranaki at Sunset, on the way home (7 August 2016)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Ten-hours-to-Taranaki-and-back.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Ten-hours-to-Taranaki-and-back.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Ten-hours-to-Taranaki-and-back.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Ten-hours-to-Taranaki-and-back.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17521,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2015\/09\/28\/anniversary-accidental-cellar\/","url_meta":{"origin":17599,"position":1},"title":"An anniversary \u2014 and an accidental cellar","author":"Phil","date":"September 28, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The weekend was the fifth anniversary of, well,\u00a0this thing. It was Sunday\u00a0the 26th of September, 2010, when I first hit the 'Publish' button on anything here. I've since done so three hundred and forty times, for\u00a0an overall rate of one post every five or six days \u2014 which just shows\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Metablogging"","block_context":{"text":"Metablogging","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/meta\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Accidental cellar census (My house, 23 September 2015)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Accidental-cellar-Notes.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Accidental-cellar-Notes.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Accidental-cellar-Notes.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Accidental-cellar-Notes.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":26817,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2025\/04\/13\/that-word-independence\/","url_meta":{"origin":17599,"position":2},"title":"Independence \u2014 “…I do not think it means what you think it means”","author":"Phil","date":"April 13, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"'Independent' remains the adjective of choice in promoting and organising the many Australian breweries that might otherwise be grouped under 'craft' or (in earlier times) 'micro'. But companies who persist in waving it around as they take part in the recent string of mergers, consolidations, and various other entanglements are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mediawatch"","block_context":{"text":"Mediawatch","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/interesting-finds\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/You-keep-using-that-word.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/You-keep-using-that-word.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/You-keep-using-that-word.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/You-keep-using-that-word.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/You-keep-using-that-word.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":20173,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2020\/07\/25\/independence\/","url_meta":{"origin":17599,"position":3},"title":"Independence isn’t…","author":"Phil","date":"July 25, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"It's Indie Beer Day here in Australia, which seems like a weirdly appropriate time to reflect on why I can't really bring myself to care about \"independence\" itself. Living in a country where that word is (now) the go-to organising principle for a lot of lobbying, events, and branding \u2014\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Rambles and rants"","block_context":{"text":"Rambles and rants","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/blahblah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"'Indie' Beer (My house, 24 July 2020)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/A-beer-called-Indie.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/A-beer-called-Indie.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/A-beer-called-Indie.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/A-beer-called-Indie.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/A-beer-called-Indie.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2735,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2011\/04\/16\/ballast-point-big-eye-ipa\/","url_meta":{"origin":17599,"position":4},"title":"Ballast Point ‘Big Eye’ IPA","author":"Phil","date":"April 16, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"My memory of this one gets a little hazy. I mean, the Creatures Stout was delightfully light, but it was followed by heavier things -- as we continued to ramble, sit around and generally enjoy my unexpected Saturday night off. So far as memory (imperfectly) serves, I had a couple\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ballast Point 'Big Eye' IPA","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Ballast-Point-Big-Eye-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":396,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2008\/08\/18\/fullers-%e2%80%981845%e2%80%99\/","url_meta":{"origin":17599,"position":5},"title":"Fuller’s \u20181845\u2019","author":"Phil","date":"August 18, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Verbatim: Fuller's 1845. Bought for me by a customer at the Malthouse, where I'm now working -- not just drinking. And bloody hell is it fantastic. Deliriously smooth, only to explode into an utterly massive malty middle bit (very refreshing when everyone seems to be busting their arse to overhop\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fuller's '1845'","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fullers-1845-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17599"}],"version-history":[{"count":34,"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17599\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18200,"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17599\/revisions\/18200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}