E-Malt.com News article: USA, IL: Goose Island Brewing Co. develops under Anheuser-Busch InBev ownership

Goose Island Brewing Co. employees admit things have changed in the two years since the company was purchased by Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, just not in the way they feared, Chicago Business reported on May, 6.

“Anheuser-Busch is letting us do our own thing,” says Andrew Goeler, 56, who took over as Goose Island's CEO on Jan. 1, replacing founder John Hall. “I'm not getting directives.”

And there are benefits to being aligned with the world's largest brewer. A hop farm in Idaho is sown with varieties for Goose Island brewing. There are more sponsorship dollars for events like the Pitchfork Festival. Staff has grown, as have some wages. And there's a more stringent safety protocol.

“We've gone well over a year without a lost-time injury,” says Brett Porter, 49, Goose Island's brewmaster. “Before Anheuser-Busch picked us up, we had four in one year.”

When Belgium's Anheuser-Busch InBev swallowed Goose Island for $38.8 million in 2011, it provided a relief valve for an overwhelmed brewing facility.

Moving production for three of Goose Island's most popular beers out of Chicago, a decision that enthusiasts worried was the beginning of the end for the craft brand, solved a long-standing problem of pent-up demand. Top sellers are now brewed at Anheuser-Busch InBev facilities in Fort Collins, Colorado, and Baldwinsville, N.Y., an expansion that allows Goose Island bottles to be carried in all 50 states.

“I think there were some irrational doubts about what's going to happen to Goose Island,” says Greg Hall, 47, Goose Island's former brewmaster and son of its founder. “It's not like they're trying to make India Pale Ale and Bud Light comes out.”

It took a fall tasting session to convince Steve LaHaie, senior vice president at Shaw's Crab House, that the Goose Island carried by the Chicago restaurant for nearly 20 years was still the same under Anheuser-Busch InBev ownership. Shaw's was the first commercial customer for the Fulton brewing facility. “I think they've been able to maintain their individuality,” Mr. LaHaie says.

Free from satisfying the growing demand for 312 Urban Wheat Ale, Honker's Ale and India Pale Ale, Goose Island brewers now have space to grow their more experimental lines of beer. Goose stopped producing Nut Brown Ale in 2010, for instance, because it needed the space for 312 and Honker's Ale. It came back in production in 2012.

“I do feel a little sad that 312 is not brewed in Chicago,” says John Hall, who left in September as Goose Island's senior brewer and is no relation to its founder. “But moving things off property has allowed us to make five times more Bourbon County beer.”

Anheuser-Busch financed the four new tanks installed last week to boost production of Goose Island's Matilda Belgian-style pale ale by 1,200 barrels a month. Mr. Goeler, a career Anheuser-Busch employee who has run its Bud Light and Budweiser brands, meanwhile, has fallen in love with Juliet, a beer made with wild yeast and blackberries. He says while his goal is to ensure consumers can buy all the 312 they can get their hands on, he wants to give Goose Island brewers “the opportunity to create innovative brands.”

Goose Island began as a small Lincoln Park brewpub on May 13, 1988. The Fulton Street brewery came in 1995. Production was 26,000 barrels that first year, and jumped to 40,000 by 2000.

“We got to a point at Fulton where it was either build a new brewery or start saying no to people who wanted our beer,” Mr. Hall says.

It's not a one-sided relationship, of course. While Goose produces only about 130,000 barrels of beer each year compared with Anheuser-Busch's 98.5 million barrels, it gives the parent company credibility in the small but passionate craft brewing industry.

While Goose Island is no longer defined as a craft brewer by the Brewers Association because of its new ownership, Chicago's brewing community still views it as such.

“They're still definitely part of the scene,” says Jonathan Cutler, brewer at Piece Brewery & Pizzeria in Wicker Park. “Goose Island is a good place to work and get training.”

Goose Island has spawned brewers throughout the area. Former employees are now competitors at Revolution Brewing in Logan Square, Temperance Beer Co. in Evanston and 5 Rabbit Cerveceria in Bedford Park. And with at least a dozen craft brewers opening in the state this year, Goose Island will be competing for drinkers who have not only more choices but also a deeper affinity for independent brews.

10 May, 2013