AB InBev getting into Homebrew

[Brewdoug]

Just been surprised to see a news article on our sister forum HomeBrewTalk that AB InBev have acquired homebrew supplier Northern Brewer in the States.
That's an odd one although I was almost as surprised to see that Northern Brewer have a revenue over $50,000,000.

 

[Budgie]

I saw that on Twitter the other day too. A lot of home brewers in the US are saying that they won't use them any more. It'll be interesting to see now this pans out.

 

[jceg316]

I saw this headline as well and thought it very interesting. I didn't read the article though.

If ABinBev have good intentions: They see homebrewing as a growing market and want a slice of that pie. Therefore they will invest in NB and push it to the next level. Everybody wins and boycotting it is a bit silly.

If AB inBev have bad intentions: They don't want people making their own beer, want people drinking Bud and Stella instead, so will close NB to thwart competition.

I think situation 1 (or similar) is more likely. There is the risk that as ABinBev is a corporate money making machine and could buy cheaper lower quality ingredients, but homebrewers won't put up with that and go elsewhere. I'd like to think they've done their research and with their money behind it will make a world class homebrew shop.

 

[MyQul]

Obviously 50 miillion dollars is hardly pocket change. I can see why AB Inbev might be interested.

If I was an American HBer, as to whether I would continue using northern brewer would entirely depend on a) They kept the same prices or put them up or b) they started to put other smaller online HB retailers out of business in the similar way that the large supermarkets have put lots of smaller shops out of business over here

 

[Pfeffer]

It's a market opportunity.. boycotting is a bit childish (and useless). But look at the brightside, if they throw in some marketing budget it encourages a lot of new people to start brewing. More market means more vendors, so more competition and more offer/variety.

Multinationals like those can make big market changes with their budget. And I'm aware they tend to be sharks, but it can also create huge opportunities for small stores (possibly by selling advertised AB InBev products in the first place).

Oh yes, and I get to brew my own Beck's - a great plus if world war III happens to break out.

 

[Brewdoug]

Maybe all the lucky punters in the US will get the opportunity to buy Budweiser all grain kits a bit like the Brewdog ones :lol:

 

[geetee]

It's a market opportunity.. boycotting is a bit childish (and useless). But look at the brightside, if they throw in some marketing budget it encourages a lot of new people to start brewing. More market means more vendors, so more competition and more offer/variety.

.

AB Inbev have a history of buying up their competitors and who wants to see a one off vendor for all HB supplies? I tend not to drink their stuff anyway so doubt if me boycotting would affect them.

 

[Pfeffer]

Yes, but home brew is not a competitor to their big brands, home brewing will not push away regular weekend bingedrinking which accounts for 99% of their revenue. So my best bet is that they will just keep on selling those kits and I doubt supermarkets will stock them. I bet they'll sell some around Christmas and father's day etc, but it doesn't seem like a regular item they'd stock. Way to less inventory turnover for stores like Tesco.

So they'll probably need to push those kits through the regular market and existing infrastructure. I doubt they'll make them cheaper, but I figure they can buy the raw materials cheaper to get to a better profit. I really hope they'll advertise a bit to get people interested. The more people that brew, to broader the offer will become on the long term. Not just AB InBev. Marketing works pretty broad. If something gets popular, other brands jump in the demand.. We might end up with some fun brew kits (for the ones that do extracts).

 

[geigercntr]

Maybe all the lucky punters in the US will get the opportunity to buy Budweiser all grain kits a bit like the Brewdog ones :lol:

Like this:

https://m.reddit.com/r/Homebrewing/...red_the_northern_brewer_bud_lite_extract_kit/

:)