Craft beer is the new Budweiser
Partnership leaves a bitter taste in the mouths of its ambassadors
This is a month overdue but cut me some slack. It’s January and I’m on the wagon.
If you don’t know, AB InBev bought Camden Town Brewery (CTB) late 2015, diving millions more the chance to sample more flavoursome beer, much like SAB Miller did with Meantime. Didn't it?
Before the takeover, it was a craft beer business. Now… well, it’s still a craft beer business. Just that it now has a partnership with the devil… ha-ha, sorry – typo: I mean a corporation...
Many beardy, hipstery types enjoy the beer. But since its sale, CTB’s loyalists have been staring down their empty beer necks asking what has become of their beloved pale ale. Many like being in a minority of elite beer drinkers: haughtiness is popular these days.
Scottish company BrewDog is so ****ed off, it has removed CTB beer from its line-up. Never again will you be able to buy a CTB beer from its not-in-any-way commercially minded business. Ever. Or until next spring when they’re bought by Hooch.
As the news broke on the Guardian website, the comment section grew by the second. Craft-beer-swilling Guardianistas were expressing their dismay. “I and many others won't be buying their beer”, bellowed one, “If they serve the shareholders they don't serve the tastebuds!!”, said another!! Harrowing stuff. One tweet summed up the mood perfectly: “Why Camden Town Brewery!?!? WHY!!!”. So upset that questions marks became exclamation marks. It was a sober day for these folks.
Not to worry, I thought: there's another 101 craft beer breweries in Hackney alone.
But, I still don’t really know what craft beer is. My understanding is that craft beer is just like regular beer. Yep, that’s it… regular beer. OK, except less is made and there is an emphasis on taste and quality - but let's not get bogged down in tiny details.
You can only buy the beer in specific dwellings in Hackney and Peckham… entrance permitted so long as you meet 6.438595 of the ten hipster stereotypes.
AB InBev will say that it’s spreading the market for craft beer, and I think this could be the one. The one that bursts the bubble and sees craft beer become the norm (it is already the norm in certain parts of the land). Thus, losing its appeal after a year or two and calling for someone to create a new beer cult.
Also, the major shareholders pocketed ￡80m. Can you really blame them for “selling out”?
All this talk about beer is making me thirsty. Come February, I’ll be sipping on a gassy, overpriced premium lager once again.