helersceltic

There are many problems with this piece.

1. Yes, Distribution will boom but the beer will definitely change. Once the beer is being brewed at another location by anonymous brewers with different equipment and different ingredients, bought in bulk with a minimum bid- it will be impossible for the former owners of 10 Barrel to control the quality. (Not that they care, they knew this would happen)

2. Apocalypse will not be brewed in Bend. True, and its quality will undoubtedly suffer. Goose Island's 312 was named after the area code for downtown Chicago and now not one drop of it is made in the same time zone as Chicago. That is tragic. Ask pre-sellout fans if the beer is better or worse.

3. Brewers will leave- actually, pretty much everyone will leave. A bottom-line company like AB/InBev will definitely "control labor costs"- translation: your job is still here... at minimum wage. In fact, the former owners, with huge checks in their pockets, though contractually obligated to stay on for a period to smooth the transition, will want nothing to do with the long, sweaty hours involved with brewing and running a restaurant.

4. AB/InBev does not own restaurants. The "flagship" will be gone in a matter of months. Sadly, those who work there ARE locals and will be out of jobs. Construction on the Portland location abruptly stopped right around the time the negotiations with AB/InBev started. It was slated to open this month.

5. They cannot be "more experimental and more consistant," that is a contradiction. Besides, if 97% of their beer is being produced elsewhere (ala Goose Island), exactly who is being consistent or experimental?