American Craft Beer Looks Back At 2015

As we cruise into 2016, ACB looks back at the most significant events of “the year that was” – and reflects upon where our industry might be heading.

, American Craft Beer Looks Back At 2015

The “King of Beers” Went On A Craft Beer Buying Spree – No doubt, the biggest story of 2015 was Big Beer’s ongoing craft beer acquisitions – and particularly those by Anheuser-Busch InBev who scooped up Arizona’s Four Peaks Brewing Company, the UK’s Camden Town Brewery and Colorado’s Breckenridge Brewery going into the holidays. Once these deals are finalized, AB InBev will own eight craft beer properties including, Goose Island that they bought back in 2011 – and Blue Point, 10 Barrel, Elysian and Golden Road Brewing which they acquired earlier in the year.

And Add To That the almost 32% stake that AB InBev already holds in the Portland Oregon-based Craft Brew Alliance (CBA) – home to Widmer Brothers (which will soon be minus one brother), Redhook and Kona Brewing.

Big Beer’s Confuse And Control Strategy – As we alluded to in “If You Can’t Beat Them, Buy Them”, Big Beer’s plan to co-opt craft beer’s success is not just by owning the properties themselves. More importantly, they will be using their incredible economic power and influence to dominate distribution channels, command shelf space and flood tap lines with their newly crafted portfolio. And in doing so, they’ll also be able to limit independent craft brewers access to the marketplace at the same time…We predict that you’ll see this scenario play out more aggressively in 2016 -and it won’t be pretty.

Craft Brewery Valuations Soar – We can’t help but wonder if Firestone Walker, who entered into a “partnership” with Duvel Moortgat last July, and Lagunitas who sold 50% percent of their company to Heineken in September, aren’t questioning whether they undervalued themselves once they learned that Ballast Point had been acquired by Constellation for $1 Billion dollars. And will those heady valuations influence even the purest of craft beer brands (New Belgium we’re looking at you) to forge new Big Beer alliances once considered “unthinkable?” Get ready to have you faith in what craft beer “stands for” shaken in 2016 – because this kind of thing, sadly, is only going to escalate in the coming year.

, American Craft Beer Looks Back At 2015The World’s Biggest Beer Companies Enter Into Merger Agreement – The biggest global beer story of 2015 news, was that the world’s largest beer company AB InBev, had finalized a $107 Billion dollar deal with AB’s top competitor SABMiller. The consequences of this merger, if it goes through (and we predict that it will) – could be staggering – and its aftermath will affect the future of craft beer biz profoundly.

So fasten your seat belts people, because things are only going to get crazier in 2016.

 

 

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