|
|
This one's been rumoured to be around the corner for about 6 months, so I don't think anybody's surprised by it. So, so what?
No great concerns about 4 Pines. They have a payday, which is fine. And I doubt their beer will get worse due to the ownership change. Some of Mountain Goat's beers (notably packaged Hightail) are worse but generally they've gone fine and so will 4 Pines.
And - to be blunt - who really cares if they fall by the wayside? I am still sad at the zombified Matilda Bay, but they were pioneers. To me, Mountain Goat meant something too. 4 Pines were always merely competent and brand focused.Their In Season IPA is going really well and I have a soft spot for their Dry Stout, but they are not important.
Perhaps they will have access to those South African hops.
What about the broader market? As an old fashioned economist, I still believe in countervailing power (I can pretend to be modern and call it non-opportunistic repeated sub-game Nash rent-sharing in upstream-downstream symmetric small economy retail and production domains, but it comes to the same thing) - ABI is big, but Coles and Woolies are at least as powerful in the market. And the supermarkets have their own pseudo craft (John Boston, James Squire, 3 Pub Circus etc) and these days plenty of "real" stuff - Pirate Life, Moo Brew, Bridge Rd as well as strong US imports like Firestone Walker, Ballast Point, Sierra Nevada (all on the shelves at Dan's). So I don't see how an AB 4 Pines is going to be able to be used to squeeze out local "real" craft due to insistence on shelf space or by undercutting the others on price. |
It's an interesting development now it's happened. It's two years since Mountain Goat and they will lose membership of the Independent Brewers Association, the irony being that 4 Pines was never a member when it was the Craft Beer Industry Association because multinational-owned breweries (such as Mountain Goat and Little Creatures) were allowed as members. The original 4 Pines brewpub is just in a very handy location, as Manly is always on the list to visit via the Ferry when back in Sydney. Anyways, Go the Storm and Mackelmore for the NRL grandfinal tomorrow! |
Note really going to hurt 4 Pines one bit. Hawthorn is pretty much correct. 4 Pines is so well anchored in Sydney and Northern Beaches that it is not a big deal. It does open up a tap as 4 Pines will just move over to a CUB craft tap and that is good.
As far as overall quality?? It will not hurt core range as they make very pedestrian core beers. Fresh in Season are quite good and Keller door are a total mixed bag. |
|
|
And now, Feral is bought by Coca-Cola Amatil. (Interestingly this appeared unsourced on BA a couple of days ago.)
A surprise in some ways because WA is so far away from where the people are that there wouldn't be any cost advantage... until you read about "maybe" brewing at Yenda. |
And another: Vale, Vale. I suppose the notable thing about this one is
Vale Brewing was put on the market by its owners, the Collin brothers, earlier in the year. [...]
Vale CEO and head brewer Jeff Wright told The Crafty Pint all current staff have been made redundant and are free to start renegotiating their positions with the new owners.
So (a) the Collin brothers sold without looking after their staff; and (b) Bickford's actions in getting people to reapply for their own positions says clearly that the experience and culture of the brewery and its staff are irrelevant to the quality of the beer -- meaning either that the beer is entirely generic and/or that all they are interested in is the brand itself.
So, best of fucken luck with your endeavours champs. |
|
|
Originally posted by hawthorne00
And another: Vale, Vale. I suppose the notable thing about this one is
Vale Brewing was put on the market by its owners, the Collin brothers, earlier in the year. [...]
Vale CEO and head brewer Jeff Wright told The Crafty Pint all current staff have been made redundant and are free to start renegotiating their positions with the new owners.
So (a) the Collin brothers sold without looking after their staff; and (b) Bickford's actions in getting people to reapply for their own positions says clearly that the experience and culture of the brewery and its staff are irrelevant to the quality of the beer -- meaning either that the beer is entirely generic and/or that all they are interested in is the brand itself.
So, best of fucken luck with your endeavours champs.
The worst part of the Vale buyout and staff sacking is having to avoid Fox Hat. |
