(Chicago, IL) – On Friday, Stone Brewing Co. co-founder and CEO, Greg Koch, stirred the pot with a tweet that read, “Word is a larger craft brewer is dramatically ramping up their playing of unethical/illegal games in Chicago. Bad for the biz, bad for all.” Despite this statement singling out a small subset of large craft brewers, Koch declined our request to name the brewery, saying only, “I call out practices, not brewers.” Koch continued on with the subject on Saturday…
The more access to a range of craft beer that fans have, the better for them & the better for the craft biz. Fight restriction of access!
— Greg Koch (@StoneGreg) February 2, 2013
Illegal inducements to retailers to stock one brand over another, reduces choice 2 beer fans. Reduced choice = reduced fwd movement 4 craft.
— Greg Koch (@StoneGreg) February 2, 2013
Behind the scenes, craft beer fans r sometimes sold out w/out knowing it…choice removed from them by illegal inducements. Fight 4 choice!
— Greg Koch (@StoneGreg) February 2, 2013
Brands that use illegal inducements 2 carry their beers r not the better choices 4 retailers/fans. If they were, bribing wouldn’t be needed.
— Greg Koch (@StoneGreg) February 2, 2013
Brewers who are confident in the quality and viability of their beers don’t need to “play games” to sell their beer. They sell on merit.
— Greg Koch (@StoneGreg) February 2, 2013
@scottxwood @craftbeer Actually, I think illegal inducement / bribery is < 5% of biz, but is worst / saddest when it's craft brewers.
— Greg Koch (@StoneGreg) February 2, 2013
Why report on vague non-specific accusations? Unless he names names, this is pointless. Breaking: certain people are doing things.
Yeah, I think it’s pretty easy to guess who he’s talking about here. Larger craft brewer? Chicago? The only thing he left out was owned by A-B/InBev.
@Dan Putting it out there may yield more information from someone somewhere.
Lawsuits would result unless you had hard proof.
If Koch doesn’t have ‘nads to name names, some people will also assume the allegations apply to the wrong brewer. Put up or shut up, Greg.
With no proof its gossip and rumor. In that case, then did you hear Three Floyds burned down today? And Bells is selling out and there is a bidding war between SABMiller and ABInbev to buy them?
No offense to adam, my frustration is more with Greg for making the vague accusatory claims and not backing them up. He could be hurting the rep of innocent breweries….for example, clearly people are assuming its GI. He didnt say the Brewery was in chicago, he said te practices were. Could be Deschutes, Lagunitas, Boulevard, or any number of breweries trying to gain advantage but GI takes the blame. Odds are it is who everyone thinks but it’s still very irresponsible.
Agree with pm. Name the brewer, report them to appropriate authorities, or just shut up.
Here in Virginia we are seeing growth of both numbers and quality of local craft breweries and huge support from craft beer fans in the state. With this background it is increasingly disappointing and self destructive that large corporate restaurant chains such as Outback and Ruby Tuesdays, to list a few, have “sold” their tap rights to large craft and international brewery conglomerates. In these restaurant you cannot buy and enjoy a local craft. I plan to promote a buy local campaign that will encourage and list restaurants in the state that support local among their offerings and allow the market to dictate the selection of their offerings. Steve Crandall, Founder, Devils Backbone Brewing Company
Get me another Bierbitzch.
Cowardly. I’m going to tweet that a “certain Souther California craft brewer” is up to something dastardly and possibly illegal, and leave it at that. Not sure how that would sit with Greg. Casts a dark cloud over a bunch of innocent people.
Some of you are missing large CRAFT brewer. Only one he can be talking about is Goose I would think (and yes they are owned by AB I know).
The word, “craft,” means a lot to Koch and I think he respects/views it in the same way as the BA. Doubt he would refer to Goose Island as a “craft” brewer (in the same way the BA doesn’t) or he’d do so only using quotes. http://captainsbeerblog.com/2011/04/01/craft-crusader-greg-koch-of-stone-brewing/
For what its worth, I have seen a lot of classy GI displays at local shops in South Jersey.
Really? All of these comments saying to specifically name the brewery or to shut up? I find it far more virtuous not to be specific. You will find out eventually. Greg seems far more intellectual than to be a snitch.
I have to agree with Dan’s ogirinal post. Adam, I really wish you do some journalism else, leave it alone. I don’t see the difference between posting Greg’s tweet or posting what you overheard in the bathroom last night.
“I don’t see the difference between posting Greg’s tweet or posting what you overheard in the bathroom last night.”
You’re right. I, too, don’t see a smidge of difference between overhearing something said by someone in a private conversation in a bathroom and what one of the top five (three?) most prolific personalities in craft beer called out on the most viral communication platform created in the internet age.
Nope. No difference.
Now, let me go spend days researching and writing a single story while this website magically runs itself.
Cheers! 🙂
I agree, Adam. I think its highly unlikely that Greg Koch would be referring to Goose Island as a craft brewery. Definitely other large craft brewers in the Chicago market to take a look at…
Derek: “Greg seems far more intellectual than to be a snitch.”
That’s literally the funniest thing I’ve ever heard in my entire life, without exaggeration.
Surely he’s not referring to Lagunitas, is he? That was my first thought. But that guy (Tony?) always seems to be trying to stick it to the man, so I’d be surprised if he were hurting the little guys.
This practice in Chicago is not news and big breweries have been named before.
http://blog.stonebrew.com/index.php/graft-beer-the-sleaze-that-limits-your-choices/
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20101120/ISSUE01/311209986/pay-to-play-infects-chicago-beer-market-crains-investigation-finds
The Alton Brown video I posted on Sunday isn’t news either but a lot of people sure as hell liked it. Cheers!
This sure is interesting considering that in the not too distant past, you could find Arrogant Bastard in Miller’s Ale House down here in Florida, and they are notoriously well-known for being pay-to-play. Maybe Greg should check is own house before calling out others.