tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738527488860615106.post5929260185684475857..comments2024-03-19T00:52:11.537-07:00Comments on Beervana Buzz: AB's Pricing Counteroffensive: The SequelUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738527488860615106.post-78975769960134352602014-04-19T14:47:31.304-07:002014-04-19T14:47:31.304-07:00From what Jeff said, it sounds like they have ever...From what Jeff said, it sounds like they have every intention of expanding their speciality line. I'll be interested to see how that plays out.Pete Dunlophttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17456380762400522665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738527488860615106.post-73267997117029807802014-04-19T12:51:14.027-07:002014-04-19T12:51:14.027-07:00I agree that Goose Island is nothing special for t...I agree that Goose Island is nothing special for the most part but Jeff's right that Sophie is great. Bourbon County is, too, both the regular version and the coffee version that was available in limited quantities out here. It will be sad when they stop making them or change the recipes to fit in with AB guidelines but I suspect it will be inevitable.Krishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07266585394191707735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738527488860615106.post-52119032729881501012014-04-18T20:00:20.530-07:002014-04-18T20:00:20.530-07:00Reading through the barrage of comments on Reddit,...Reading through the barrage of comments on Reddit, I figured most of the folks defending Goose were thinking of the brand prior to the AB buyout. Because the mainstream brands are pretty bad. <br /><br />The specialty program may turn out to be an example of what AB can do if they commit to doing things right. I look forward to trying those beers with an open mind when I have the opportunity. But I wonder how readily available those beers will be. Most of what we see from them is the mediocre standards. In that sense, Goose has been mainstreamed. And it is a pawn in the pricing ploy AB is playing.Pete Dunlophttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17456380762400522665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738527488860615106.post-22421287816681432672014-04-18T15:37:56.538-07:002014-04-18T15:37:56.538-07:00I don't know that you can criticize Goose Isla...I don't know that you can criticize Goose Island and Shock Top on the one hand and say AB is no good at brand-building on the other. Reading through that titanic Reddit thread on your last post, I'd say that they have done a spectacular job of building the Goose brand. A ton of people jumped to their defense, which frankly surprised me. I'd call that an unqualified success.<br /><br />The Goose project is one to watch closely. You may not like their mainstream brands--but you wouldn't have liked them in 2010, either. GI has a two-tiered project going on, with the more mainstream brands being produced in large quantities with all the intelligence AB can bring to bear on economies of scale. But they're also investing heavily in the Chicago-brewed specialty line. The new head brewer, Brett Porter--an old Oregon alum who worked at Portland and Deschutes--tells me Goose's barrel project is the biggest in the country, and they are competing on flavor with their stout, saison, and sour line. You may not like those (and you have to try them before you can properly assess the brewery), but claiming they've been mainstreamed is unsupportable. Of the bunch, Sophie is really spectacular.<br /><br />None of which changes the thrust of your arguments, but I'd add these comments to fill in the picture.Jeff Alworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02930119177544342495noreply@blogger.com