So yesterday Goose Island announced that Anheuser-Busch InBev is buying out the brewery for just shy of $40 million dollars.  As Chicago’s biggest and most highly acclaimed brewery, Goose Island being taken over by a corporate giant is less than exciting for several reasons. 

In a time when buying local is an ongoing (and awesome) trend, it’s disappointing to see a huge Belgian company operated by Brazilians take over our local microbrewery – the one that pioneered Chicago’s craft beer market and has brought us countless bottles of unique, delicious beers.  But regardless of who bought it and where they’re based, it’s no longer “ours” – which is hard to swallow for a city that likes to support its own.

There’s also the concern that Anheuser-Busch InBev will dilute the quality of Goose Island’s beers, especially since its brewmaster has stepped down with the acquisition.  His dad, founder John Hall, is staying on as CEO at least, so ideally he’ll keep the Goose Island quality afloat.  Messing with it would be a major misstep on InBev’s part, and surely they’re aware of that.  But it’s certainly a possible outcome as Goose Island transitions from a passionate, independent brewery to one of many operated by InBev.

Although I seriously hope that the integrity of Goose Island is never compromised, I also won’t blame the Hall family if it is.  However disappointing this buyout is, I’m not going to jump on the hater train and point fingers at Goose Island’s owners for not hanging on to their independence forever.  Yeah, that would be great for those of us who would enjoy sipping our beers more if we were buying them from the brewery’s founders, but it’s  unrealistic to ask that they turn down a $40 million offer if they’re comfortable with the deal and ready to sell.  Over the last 23 years, they’ve built an amazing operation that has built an enormous following and achieved great success.  And cheers to that.  Not to mention the fact that they led the charge for other great Chicago microbreweries, which we’re seeing more and more of with Half Acre, Revolution, Haymarket, Two Brothers and Metropolitan. 

On a related note, this is not the first time InBev has taken over a hometown brand for me.  As a native of the St. Louis area, I grew up being a fan of Anheuser-Busch – even before I could drink beer, their name was on my favorite baseball team’s stadium, they owned and operated Grant’s Farm – the coolest place for a third-grade field trip and they had those awesome Clydesdales.  Anheuser-Busch was synonymous with St. Louis and undoubtedly one of the strongest American brands in history. 

Ironically, I just started reading a book about InBev’s takeover of Anheuser-Busch – Dethroning the King: The Hostile Takeover of Anheuser-Busch, an American Icon.  At least at this point in my reading, I’d definitely recommend it.

And while the Goose Island buyout doesn’t appear to have anywhere near the level of drama that I’m reading about,  InBev taking them over does take the craftiness out of craft beer.