My birthday Grisette. Need I say more? Such an awesome brew, style, everything.

I’m pretty excited to get into these in the near future. A fan sent these my direction this week.

I’m stoked for the 2013 Alesmith.

A lighthearted read on the proper course of action when your best non grey Goose sells out, your favorite Point is bought out, or a majority stake in your favorite lake (or Laguna) is given to a foreign entity.

http://www.pastemagazine.com/…/the-5-stages-of-grief-when-y…

Whoa, http://www.reuters.com/…/us-ballastpoint-m-a-constellation-…

I cannot say that I am too surprised. Ballast Point has been growing at a rapid pace and possibly overextended their own capital availability. I’ll be interested to see what Constellation is able to do and if they become a viable competitor in the craft beer segment. Having Ballast Point in your corner sure helps though!

Brewers Association official statement on the AbInBev / SABMiller merger / divestiture.

https://www.brewersassociation.org/…/brewers-association-s…/

Things could get pretty interesting. I am still interested to see who buys out SABMillers stake in MillerCoors domestically. Also, what happens in China. Does anyone have a good source of information for the brewing industry in China? If so please share!

Prosit!

It’s been relatively quiet lately. Here is another cease and desist from the big guys to the little. The response is perhaps one of the best that I have seen since Bellows.

http://texasbeerspot.com/new-braunfels-brewing-receives-ce…/

I would like to thank my wallet for making this moment possible.

I would like to thank my wallet for making this moment possible.

Just a little side trip to Bayou Teche. In my humble opinion these folks make the best craft beer in Louisiana. A fantastic stop when you’re on I-10.

A local brewery that embraces the local arts: http://blog.chron.com/…/technology-lets-southern-stars-ar…/…

http://fortune.com/…/sabmiller-yields-ab-inbev-merger-take…/

I want to know more about Altrias involvement in all of this. As the largest (one of the largest?) shareholders of SABMiller they are naturally for the sale as they increase their value significantly without any actual work.

There are a lot of anti-trust concerns in this. Who buys the SAB portion of MillerCoors? When I was in grad school I theorized that this merger was coming and that Heineken would pick up Miller in the contiguous, but they just spent a LOT of cash on the Lagunitas deal. Duvel was another plausibility, but they just purchased Firestone.

I’m interested to see who steps up to pick up the Miller brand (amongst others). The value in this deal is truly the distribution. The products are synonymous.

Brito is a genius for waiting on Heineken and Duvel to expend their cash reserves before making his move on SABMiller. I am intrigued to see what happens here. I have a lot of respect for his business acumen of acquisition. But I don’t like the end result of his actions.

He also seems incapable of growing a brand outside the use of acquisitions which will be the downfall of InBev, they will become too large to sustain and then splinter apart. The costs of entry are too small in this industry for him to hold the stranglehold for too long.

What is your favorite Old Ale? What do you like about it? And how easy is it to obtain?

This is why it matters who owns your favorite brewery.

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/…/Exclusive-US-probes-allegat…

“One of the greatest cautionary tales that brewers should consider before selling their business is the case study of what happened to Austin-based Celis Brewery. Founded in 1992 by Pierre Celis, within a few years the company was growing almost too quickly to meet demand, so it sold a majority stake to Miller Brewing Co. in 1995. Roughly six years later—after Miller tinkered with the company’s recipes, drastically pulled distribution, and the Celis family had departed the business—the brewery was shut down in early 2001.”

http://fortune.com/2015/10/10/craft-beer-sell-out/

A good read for your Columbus day morning!

For those that are unfamiliar with the family drama between Mikkeller and Jeppe. http://mobile.nytimes.com/…/magazi…/a-fight-is-brewing.html… It’s a lengthy piece, but one well worth reading.

Besides, it’s Saturday and the football hasn’t started yet.

Do any of y’all have any experience with Mississippi breweries and/or beer laws?

I am heading to Bayou Teche (Yes, in Louisiana not Mississippi) in a couple of weeks and would like to find a keg to tailgate with for some #SECfootball in Oxford. Mississippi seems to have some antiquated beer laws that make Texas’ look progressive. I’ve already visited Lazy Magnolia, any other recommendations for MS?

This will get your thoughts churning on this Thursday morning.

https://www.thrillist.com/…/craft-beer-business-competition…

Agree? Disagree? Other points or brands that you see engaging in predatory behavior? Are they acting out of business sense or are they being underhanded?

Well, I didn’t see this one coming. It sounds promising, but it still makes me uneasy.