It seems consolidation and ownership changes are once again roiling the craft beer world. Anchor and Anderson Valley change hands and we all hope the quality stays high. But with the merger of Rock Bottom and Gordon Biersch, more complicated concerns arise.
Both Rock Bottom and Gordon Biersch have a place in the craft community. On the outside looking in due to a general disdain for chains from a consumer base that really values individuality. Their beers are absolutely fine (I would take GB’s over RB but that is because I have not been to Rock Bottom in a long, long time) but they are obviously aiming for the mid-range food eater first. Not a bad thing in a world of much crappier beer and TGI Friday’s. But they have chosen to stay in a comfortable place of above average while other breweries have focused on expanding palates and beer culture.
What I will be watching for in the coming year is how they stay separately branded. Do they combine their recipes? Do they make all the beer in San Jose? Because they dilute the beer world when they make GB the same as RB. We aren’t choosing one over the other because of the garlic fries. My hope is that the brewing operations stay separate and maybe expand to allow brewers the chance to experiment and come up with great new beers. Maybe even a new flagship brew will come out of the mind of someone given the opportunity to test and fail.
That is my first worry. That the beers will be the same in both chains. That would not be good. Not good for the brewers working there and not good for the new to beer crowd. Places like GB, RB and BJ’s are great incubators for brewers and customers. This is the front door to the land of beer with flavor and hops and if that door becomes homogenized it is bad for both parties.
I won’t feel much in the short term but I would like more blog readers and more craft beer consumers which would open up beer job opportunities. Both are not helped by gateways that become corporate.
My message to Gordon Biersch and Rock Bottom is to use the strength of the combined companies to create MORE not go into a safe shell.
UPDATE: I finished writing this and after checking a Blazer score read that Van Havig of Portland’s Rock Bottom got sacked for making comments about the merger and consolidation of beer menus. His came with more knowledge of the situation though. It pains me to see a company toss aside a great brewer. Poor form corporate!
UPDATE 2
It appears that the GB / RB owner CraftWorks has begun a defense of both the Gordon and Van Havig situations. First claiming that Oskar Blues was in the wrong for breaching an agreement. Which I can’t comment on since I have not seen the document and am not a lawyer and probably couldn’t read it anyway.
Three issues on their defense of the new, larger company scare me though. They have employed the Merger Defense. You know the drill. Two companies merge and someone in PR says that it is hard to combine two separate companies and that problems can arise. Standard boilerplate stuff to assuage fears. Seems very Dilbert to me
Second they have gone on the attack of some bloggers for reporting what they knew. Very snarkily to me, “Like beer, information is best when it is obtained fresh at its source. So let them chatter all they want…” That is poor form. Comment on the post. Blog your side but don’t passive-aggressive bloggers.
Third, they say don’t take it out on our talented brewers as if it was “our duty” to keep their business afloat. “I implore you to keep on open mind about what “Craft Beer” is and who defines it. We have 68 hard working brewers whose livelihoods and families depend on the wisdom of beer connoisseurs…”. Sounds like someone wrote this while still stewing about previous posts.
All in all, seems a little too defensive to me.