Just listened to The Brewing Network's Sunday Session from this past Sunday, 4/3/11. The first 30 minutes is an interview with John Hall, founder and CEO of Goose Island. The main point he made was that the $38.8 million that AB InBev invested to purchase them is for expansion which GI was unable to do without some new capital. John Hall remains the CEO and all brewery decisions and beer decisions are his. They are hoping to expand from 127,000 barrels brewed this year to 500,000 by 2015 and AB InBev's investment will help them do this. So have no fear, Goose Island's quality and distribution should remain high and may even increase in the near future, especially their special reserve beers that are hardest to get around here.
P.S. The same Sunday Session has an interview with the creator of The Electric Brewery. I haven't gotten to that part yet but am excited to hear wat he has to say then talk with Lee about this for my home setup. Listen to the show on Brewing Network or download on itunes.
goose Island Acquisition
Not sure that is entirely correct, that is a purchase price and will not be re-invested into the company. At least not anywhere in the segment that I heard. He did specify that they were unable to expand without leveraging the company severly, and the sale to InBev would assure that they could expand into the markets that they wanted without leveraging the company. However, the 38.8 Million was the valuation of the company assets and branding and will be used to pay off any debitors, then the remaining cash will be distributed to the share holders according to there representative stake in the company.
Again, InBev did not invest in the company they purchased it. Don't want to burst your bubble prior to listening to the Electric Brewery segment, as I was really looking forward to it myself, but there is much less there then you can find on the electric brewery website. However, I guess you can not expect too much as it is radio, and there is not to much of that kind of stuff that they can get into without being able to visually que to the audience for understanding. I prefer the brewer segments as you can understand conversations about styles if you have a perceived understanding of the characteristics of a style. This is not as much true with the techical stuff. However, as will all the BN shows, it is entertaining as always and a fun listen, just don't get your hopes up for anything techincal on the show.
Again, InBev did not invest in the company they purchased it. Don't want to burst your bubble prior to listening to the Electric Brewery segment, as I was really looking forward to it myself, but there is much less there then you can find on the electric brewery website. However, I guess you can not expect too much as it is radio, and there is not to much of that kind of stuff that they can get into without being able to visually que to the audience for understanding. I prefer the brewer segments as you can understand conversations about styles if you have a perceived understanding of the characteristics of a style. This is not as much true with the techical stuff. However, as will all the BN shows, it is entertaining as always and a fun listen, just don't get your hopes up for anything techincal on the show.
There's no reason AB/Inbev _can't_ brew a product just as good as Goose Island. AB/Inbev probably has better control over their process than anyone else. You have to really know what you're doing to consistently turn out tasteless swill. Now whether they will keep a decent product or dumb it down is another matter.