And there was me thinking that splitting the NHC off from Beoir would cause problems!!
The discussions at the moment about "What is Craft", "Is the M/C owned FW brewery a 'Craft' operation", "should Beoir delete the FW as a recommended CB" will surely split them assunder!
TG I am a home brewer and will drink and support who the CS I like!
I drink Beer, I prefer Irish Beer.
This mirrors the hardcore punk scene so much. Band does well on the underground circuit. Spend years honing their sound, tour loads & work their asses off for very little reward. For their efforts they get signed by a bigger record label. All of a sudden they lose all their old fans & get branded sell outs.
Funny story: I over heard a conversation on the Dort between 3 young south dubliners who got on around Dalkey.
They were talking about their quirky mate who goes into town of a weekend evening and walks the streets. He says "pubs are too main stream!!"
If that catches on theyre all f'd!! :P
This should be seen as a victory in a way. A Successful business grew until it needed to expand. Then it was bought by a bigger brewery. Hopefully their beer will be more available now and everyone is a winner. I had rebel red in Paddy Cullens and Mary Macs recently. €4 a pop. Hooker was being served in the Horse Shoe House for over €5. Winner - the FW and me.
The bottom line is that its a business and it was built to make money for the owner/shareholders, whoever.
It might have been fun building the business, but I'm sure it wasn't a walk in the park.
Congrats to Shane & Co. on their success. They will probably move on to another venture, probably not in the same field immediately as there are probably clauses that would prevent him/them competing against their previous interest.
It's the fault of the definition in a way. Even if FW didn't cease to be "Irish Craft Beer" (TM) in view of ceasing to be independent, eventually one of the microbreweries would cross the 20000hl barrier before too long. People were always going to have to decide what it is they want to support exactly. That's why I like my definition of craft beer as beer brewed by brewers who stand in the same relation to their beer as authors stand to their works. http://kenanddot.wordpress.com/2012/08/24/craft-brewers-as-authors/
I would always prefer to support a smaller outfit, other things being equal, because that's more likely to make a bigger contribution to the local economy and because it contributes to diversity. But FW's change of status is not going to turn me away from them. I don't see the beer getting worse. There's no denying that the big guys do quality control and consistency very well. If the FW management are allowed to keep the same recipes, the beer will only get better.
QuoteIt's the fault of the definition in a way. Even if FW didn't cease to be "Irish Craft Beer" (TM) in view of ceasing to be independent, eventually one of the microbreweries would cross the 20000hl barrier before too long. People were always going to have to decide what it is they want to support exactly. That's why I like my definition of craft beer as beer brewed by brewers who stand in the same relation to their beer as authors stand to their works. http://kenanddot.wordpress.com/2012/08/24/craft-brewers-as-authors/
I would always prefer to support a smaller outfit, other things being equal, because that's more likely to make a bigger contribution to the local economy and because it contributes to diversity. But FW's change of status is not going to turn me away from them. I don't see the beer getting worse. There's no denying that the big guys do quality control and consistency very well. If the FW management are allowed to keep the same recipes, the beer will only get better.
All of the noise I'm hearing seems to say the Fran Well will be run as it is now, in a shinier brewery with more capacity... they just now have a sugar daddy!
I'm hoping it is true that they will be left to their own devices, but it is no longer a micro brewery by definition (parent produces more than 20000HL) but to me that doesn't matter as long as they produce good beers. I'm looking forward to the festival next month for my first trip to the Fran Well!
I think the conclusion to the Beoir discussion will be that it's good news for FW, but that they will no longer really need the support of Beoir because they've "made it".