Can’t wait to see the comments. This is already backfiring BIGLY on social media. 
http://draftmag.com/the-high-end-responds-to-independent-craft-seal/
Last time I checked there was no market share grab against wine and spirits. Makes it sounds like a finite market.
Why don’t they just put “Owned by Anheuser Busch-Inbev” on their labels and let the consumer decide? :
I can see why it’s backfiring. The video was freaking laughable. IMO once you sell your brewery (free country, can’t say I wouldn’t for a giant pile of money), you lose the right to bitch that others want to differentiate themselves. Shelf and tap space are at stake for the small guys, so the ship has probably sailed on the “we need to all come together against wine and spirits” BS. ;D
They left Mead and cider out of it? Haven’t watched it.
Well you should
I’m sure all the European breweries who were disguising themselves as “Trappist” wined and bitched like little sissy boys (and girls) when a label designation was made to delineate one from the other as well.
This may be the best and most worthwhile thing (the logo designation) the BA has ever done. Very proud to be a member. Definitely going to put that logo on my labels.
Totally agree, Keith. And good for you.
They are all repeating what they told themselves when they sold out!
If i am on the fence between 2 beers and one has the bottle and the other doesn’t, i am going with the beer that shows the bottle.
And if the one with the bottle tastes like crap? What then?
There is a lot of bad craft beer out there. That doesn’t mean I want to see good ones go down the tubes but a label isn’t going to solve this issue.
The label isn’t meant to solve that problem. It has nothing to do with indicating the quality of the beer. It’s just a piece of information. What you do with that information is up to you.
What’s the point then? To identify independently made beer that is good and bad?
Derek, I personally don’t think all the macro rice lagers are especially magical either. Just me. It’s not a symbol of quality, it’s info for the buyer to use or ignore. I see it as analagous to the Fair Trade coffee designation. Fair Trade coffee isn’t necessarily better, it’s just sold by companies that don’t engage in unfair, predatory practices.
I hear you Jon. I’m not sticking up for macro beer here. I’m just saying that they should call it what it is. If you need to engage in psychological warfare to combat the dirty tactics of the big boys then so be it. Call it that though.
All this symbol says is that an independent brewer had the money to buy the rights to the symbol, and that’s fine, but it’s also a detriment to the truly unique and high quality craft beers out there.
I’m not on a side here. I drink all kinds of beer and homebrew. I’m just playing devils advocate for each point.
Exactly, Jon. I was going to say it’s like seeing on the restaurant sign “made with locally grown ingredients.”
And I like the idea about putting a label on beers that are owned by AB-InBev.
There’s good and bad beer of all stripes. Inbev could brew any craft beer they wanted, so why are they buying breweries? For the branding, which was based on some level of “authenticity”. I don’t care if people buy it or not but this is at least forcing some level of truth in advertising for those who buy solely based on marketing (and let’s face it, this is the majority of consumers).
It’s not going to stop any of their distribution practices, but it can at least expose some of the deceptive marketing that is so blatantly using small brewery cachet.
You don’t have to buy the rights to the logo and you don’t have to be a Brewers Association Member to use it. All you have to do is meet the criteria set by the BA.
I misinterpreted the article then. That’s my fault for not reading closely enough.
I guess I’m in the camp that says independence isn’t a big deal for me. I love that some of my favorites breweries are either family owned or smaller breweries that have National distribution, but if the macros produced excellent beers I would go where the quality was. For it doesn’t matter whether a macro or a craft brewer makes my beer. As long as it’s good. A lot of macro beer is straight swill and so is a lot of craft beer but whether they are independent or not doesn’t “resonate” with me like it does “millennials”.
On the other hand, they’re are guys here in this forum who own or run breweries and I can appreciate that this stuff hits closer to home than it does for me.
FWIW I’m 50 years old, and a little out of Millenial range. Wouldn’t mind being that age again, though.
I’m 32 so technically I am a millennial (although they whine too much and expect participation trophies for everything so I can’t identify as one [emoji38]) but I was mostly just quoting the BA press:
“Independence is a hallmark of the craft brewing industry, and it matters to the brewers who make the beer and the beer lovers who drink it. A recent study commissioned by Brewbound and conducted Nielsen found that “independent” and “independently owned” strongly resonated with the majority (81 percent) of craft beer drinkers. Increasingly, they are looking for differentiation between what’s being produced by small and independent craft brewers versus Big Beer and acquired brands. Beer drinkers, especially Millennials, expect transparency when it comes to their food and beverages. That transparency and underlying ownership can drive their purchase intent.”