| Another Buy Out Anheuser-Busch announced it will acquire Colorado-based Breckenridge Brewery. With this agreement, Breckenridge is the seventh craft brewery to join The High End, Anheuser- Busch’s business unit of craft brands. Available in 35 states, Breckenridge Brewery sold approximately 70,000 barrels of beer in 2015. The brewery will continue to make its portfolio of beers – ranging from their Vanilla Porter, to Agave Wheat, to their core brands, seasonal specialties and barrel-aged beers. Breckenridge Brewery will join Goose Island Beer Company, Blue Point Beer, 10 Barrel Brewing, Elysian Brewing , Golden Road Brewing and Four Peaks Brewing Company as part of The High End’s craft beer portfolio. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed however all the usual promises that AB will not change any recipes or engage in cost cutting were made.. |
Beer Guys Sue Two Giants As AB InBev and SABMiller, the world's two largest beer companies, negotiate terms of their planned $106 billion merger, a group of beer enthusiasts have filed a federal lawsuit against what they perceive as a monopoly in the making. Based primarily in southern Oregon and with no clear connections to the beer industry, 23 plaintiffs argue in a suit just filed that the proposed deal violates antitrust laws and that an "effect of the proposed acquisition may be substantially to lessen competition," increasing prices and hurting consumers. Oregon is a particular bastion of local beer, with hundreds of craft breweries who have an estimated $2.83 billion impact on the local economy. If AB InBev's takeover of SABMiller is successful, the resulting conglomerate would control over 30 % of the global beer market, nearly 75 % of the American market, and have an unprecedented hold on distribution, which separates beer's production from its wholesale and retail sales. The U.S. Justice Department is already investigating allegations that AB InBev is using unfair distribution practices to squeeze out the competition. The lawsuit isn't currently seeking any money beyond legal fees, insisting that the merger would cause "irreparable harm for which damages will be unable to compensate plaintiffs, in that competition once lost cannot easily be restored." AB InBev said in a statement that it's not trying to limit competition, suggesting "nothing in this transaction will change" the fact that the "U.S. beer market has never been more competitive." But lead plaintiff James DeHoog — president of an automotive repair company — asked in the complaint, "Why do we want to allow one entity to control that market?" AB InBev claims in this lawsuit are "without merit." They released a statement saying "The U.S. beer market has never been more competitive, with strong growth from craft brewers, and nothing in this transaction will change that fact." ---------------------------- |
| Feature News from beernexus.com |
Edited by Jim Attacap
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| BEERNEXUS the crossroads of the beer world |
| More Hard Root Beer Hoping to cash in on the hard soda craze, Abita Brewing has released an alcoholic version of their regularly made non-alcoholic root beer. It will be the first product Abita's new line of ‘Bayou Bootlegger’ hard sodas. The Bayou Bootlegger Hard Root Beer is based on the same root beer formula Abita has been making with pure Louisiana cane sugar for more than 20 years. The new version will have 5.9 % alcohol (ABV). . Bayou Bootlegger’s namesake is inspired by New Orleans’ original bayou bootlegger, Jean Lafitte, the early-19th century French pirate and smuggler who took up arms in defense of New Orleans during the War of 1812. Abita currently produces more than 14,000 barrels of root beer annually. When it comes to beer they are the 21st largest in terms of production, craft brewer in the country. Its products are sold in 41 states, and in a limited number of foreign countries. |
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