Reuben Gray has announced the topic for The Session #56. He’s calling it “Thanks to the big boys” and explains . . .
What I ‘m looking for is this. Most of us that write about beer do so with the small independent brewery in mind. Often it is along the lines of Micro brew = Good and Macro brew, anything brewed by the large multinationals is evil and should be destroyed. Well I don’t agree with that, though there may be some that are a little evil….
Anyway I want people to pick a large brewery or corporation that owns a lot of breweries. There are many to chose from. Give thanks to them for something they have done. Maybe they produce a beer you do actually like. Maybe they do great things for the cause of beer in general even if their beer is bland and tasteless but enjoyed by millions every day.
There is an alternative: “If you honestly have nothing good to say about a large brewer, then make something up. Some satire might be nice, It will be a Friday after all.”
October 7, as a matter of fact.
Ooh, a challenge. I’m thinking this will result in a lot of posts about drunken college days or something of that ilk.
“For at least 30 years, Anheuser-Busch shared its science with the little brewer. Anything you wanted, Anheuser-Busch opened the doors for you.”
— Henry King
Plus before tonight’s Cardinals game A-B presented a check for $2 million to United Way.
Stan — $2 million? Their revenue is close to $2 BILLION. They ought to be giving $2 million to each and every charity in the country (I know, maybe they do) — perhaps each and every person!
Compare the conglomo to the one man powerhouse that is Albert Pujols and his Family Foundation for Downs Syndrome kids — A-B sort of pales.
http://pujolsfamilyfoundation.org/
It’s gonna be said, maybe I can be the first to say it (in this venue), I thank the big American Boys for boring my palate so that I had to seek out better beer.
Beyond that, it’s obvious that if it weren’t for the pioneering efforts of Busch, Schlitz, Blatz and the other brewers of yore, that there would be no brewing industry in the US, perhaps no beer at all after Prohibition. I can tip my hat to that contribution.
“Their revenue is close to $2 BILLION”
Sorry — missed the zero — $20 BILLION.
$2 million for the St. Louis United Way alone is a pretty significant amount. Of course I only added it because I was at the game. Discussing giant brewing conglomerates as corporate citizens seems beyond the scope of The Session. But it’s clear to me, in our short stay here, that A-B InBev is considered a different community member than A-B was three or so years ago.
A generation ago, Coors’s policy of not distributing its product east of the Mississippi encouraged me to travel more.
Imagine a pub that has only Natural Light and 100+ varieties of hop cones to flavor with,,,,,5-6 cones per beer………and all the discussions of what hop is your favorite……..and what hop from where is your favorite,,,and what year produced the best hops,,,,,and if one farmer is better than another,,,,and if slow dried hops are better than kiln dried hops,,,and ,,,,and,,,,and,,,,,
For reals,,, the last swig of a Natty Light that has hop cones in the bottom of the can, bottle,,or glass,,,is pretty dang tasty when you like that certain hop…. And that’s a new one for Natty Light.
😉
Perhaps the topic should be, “Thanks to the Big Boy (singular)” on the heels of this news:
(Reuters) – In a global brewing industry marked by huge consolidation over the last decade, bankers are hopeful of an $80 billion plus deal to end all deals between the industry’s two giants, Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI.BR) and SABMiller (SAB.L).
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/26/us-brewing-idUSTRE78P2TK20110926