Bottle Conditioned

The Associated Press is reporting today that macro-brewers Miller and Molson Coors are planning to combine U.S. operations to help compete with Anheuser-Busch.  The big just keep getting bigger.

The creativity that is so evident in their beer production is also apparent in the name of the new company:  MillerCoors.

This merger raises some interesting questions and will be intriguing to watch over the next year.  Firstly, it shows that the big beer companies may not be near as worried about competing with craft beer as they are each other, which probably makes sense for them given the amount of dollars involved.

That said, I think this is only going to widen the gap between craft beer and “big” beer more, alienating the macro-beer producers and pinning them into a more definite role/stereotype.  With (soon to be) two companies controlling the vast majority of macro beer out there, it seems evident that the variety (if you want to call it that) present in that market will become much more narrow.

In addition, this throws an interesting message to the consumer.  This hammers home the point that the big beer companies really are about mass producing the most beer for the cheapest price possible.  Although this may be lost on many beer drinkers out there, I don’t think it will go completely unnoticed.  To the craft beer producers’ credit, they remain true to the art of producing good, interesting beer, regardless of market pressures or money games.  Go them.

Let’s look more into the future.  As has been reported many times recently, hop and grain prices are on the rise, and next year, they’re going to be out the roof.  This is going to mean an across-the-board increase in beer prices, as the price to produce beer goes up.

Couple the ingredient price increases with a merger that is based largely on saving money (up to $500 million is reported saved in ops costs by this merger), and it doesn’t take much to see that next year could bring an even blander crop of macro beer.  As prices go up and MillerCoors merges to cut costs, undoubtedly some recipe and ingredient changes will probably take place, watering down an already pale product.

What else does that mean?  Well, it could mean that the “craft label” efforts that Coors is currently courting (such as Blue Moon), could become a back burner deal.  Coors has stated in the past that fostering the growth of craft brands is important to them, and in a rare move, I applaud them on that (that is, if they do it right).  However, merging to cut costs and stay competitive with AB, who doesn’t produce any worthwhile craft labels, doesn’t seem to bode well for the future of innovation at Coors.  Just my thoughts and predictions.

So…what does this mean for you, the craft beer lover?  Well, maybe not a whole heck of a lot, but it could mean a widening gap between craft and macro beer that could possibly help to shine the light on craft beer producers more.  As this merger happens, craft beer producers have the opportunity, however brief, to make it evident to consumers that there are great brewers out there whose beer doesn’t revolve around a bottom line.  This could be a big boost to the craft beer market, if it’s approached right.  Will everyone out there catch on?  No, but if a few more people leave behind the mass market machine of malted mess, then it’s all the better for craft beer lovers.

Time to pop the popcorn, grab a great craft beer and watch the show.  Looks to be an interesting one, that’s for sure.

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