AB InBev and the looming Belgian Beer Cafe Monster
“InBev is my best friend, and my worst enemy,” [Brunehaut Owner, Marc-Antoine] De Mees tells me.
“Best friend because they have marketed Belgian beer, and the concept of Belgian beer worldwide, and Belgian beer is known because of that. So, they have opened the door. Now the problem is that they are becoming so big that they are destroying the image, a little bit, of a good Belgian beer.”
Clark Boyd had not one but two thorough write-ups (and even some audio) about AB InBev’s influence on Belgian beer culture.
H/T to Jay Brooks and Stan Hieronymous.
First write-up >> Think Europe, Think Beer | PRI’s The World.
Breweries: A-B InBev
Don’t try to put this on AB InBev. If the Belgian breweries care as much about their craft as they say they do, they will protect it. If they care more about making money, they will sell out. Belgian breweries have had plenty of success without AB InBev’s influence. It will be telling to see if they value their “culture” enough to pass up the big bucks to keep it intact.
Their primary concern seems to be that they will miss the bus on an opportunity to make millions if they don’t latch on to AB InBev. I understand the point, and trust me I would love to have all these great Belgian beers readily available to me, but you know if they hook up with AB InBev they’ll end up just like Stella Artois, Hoegaarden, and Leffe: made-for-the-masses cheap representations of what Belgian beer is all about.
Please, all you smaller breweries in Belgium that I hope to visit someday, keep brewing your beers your way.