beer.

[kboish]

if its a good brewery buying them or not, its still very disappointing. I did not see any hint of this coming.

[loftguy]

NY Times confirms.........

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/18/busin ... d=all&_r=0

[KCtonic]

Letter from John McDonald

http://www.boulevard.com/a-letter-from-our-founder/

[bobbyhawks]

It is quite possible that Duvel is better equipped than any other potential buyer to grow the brand and respect its attention to quality. We have been so fortunate to have a brand locally like Boulevard and will continue to be lucky in the forseeable future.

[brewcrew1000]

Damn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On the bright side, much better suitor for Boulevard than someone like Miller-Coors etc.

Until Duvel is bought out by InBev. Duvel's CEO is a former InBev exec

[bobbyhawks]

Damn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On the bright side, much better suitor for Boulevard than someone like Miller-Coors etc.

Until Duvel is bought out by InBev. Duvel's CEO is a former InBev exec

Yeah. That would suck. If the goal is for Duvel to develop a portfolio to sell to InBev, I would be very disappointed. Duvel, according to the wiki, is still family controlled, and it is one of those brands I would hope the family hopes to hold onto forever, not unlike a fine winery. But alas, nothing gold can stay. Not even beer.

[pash]

.

[taxi]

Wasn't he already a local brewer flush with cash?
I heard this news from a neighbor and walked straight to my fridge and popped open a Bob's and a couple tears fell into my beer.
I wish him luck and happiness. He earned it. His letter on the website is a class act.
I love Blvd beer and I sure hope I get to continue drinking as much free beer as I have enjoyed, thanks to the generosity of Blvd Brewery and their employees, over these last 23 years. They have supported so many community causes and activities that it is difficult to imagine life without them.
Cheers!

[warwickland]

These first generation craft breweries are precious to smaller cities like St. Louis and Kansas City. Tom Schlafly went out of his way to make sure that the ownership stayed in St. Louis hands when the majority ownership was shifted to a St. Louis based equity company. I would have expected BLVD to do the same, because I feel like the BLVD brand was/is synonymous with Kansas City to me way more than Schlafly with St. Louis, and BLVD is a stronger brand. Maybe this is harsh, unfair, and ignorant, but I feel like MacDonald kind of threw some Kansas City civic pride under the bus, here.

The example of Goose Island being gobbled by AB-InBev (and making the argument that it's better that BLVD was gobbled by Duvel) isn't the same because the association with the being the "Pride of Chicago" just wasn't there.

Damn.

[droopy]

I'm hopeful Duvel will be somewhat of a silent partner with management truly staying in KC. I know Ommegang a bit and they don't seem to have screwed that place up at all. It does take away some of the KC pride though.

[heatherkay]

I'd rather he sell to a foreign, privately-held, brewer than to a local investment group with little brewing experience. That coupled with the fact that Schlafly is something like 30,000 barrels per year whereas BLVD is more like 175,000 barrels. Who local and trustworthy has that kind of cash on hand?

[warwickland]

I'd rather he sell to a foreign, privately-held, brewer than to a local investment group with little brewing experience. That coupled with the fact that Schlafly is something like 30,000 barrels per year whereas BLVD is more like 175,000 barrels. Who local and trustworthy has that kind of cash on hand?

Schlafly is at 55-60k bbls a year just at Maplewood, but has tons of contract stuff in Wisconsin that will be shifted to the new much larger St. Louis brewery that will be under construction hopefully soon.

http://fox2now.com/2013/09/24/schlafly- ... ouis-area/

I do hope this leads to heavy support for the next up and coming brewer/bottler in Kansas City. When A-B went down, brewery construction saw a massive surge in St. Louis about the same time (Perennial, Civil Life, on and on), which is now being followed by a wave of big capacity expansions (Urban Chestnut, etc). Perhaps this will be the same in KC. Although I don't see BLVD being vilified locally like A-B, it's too beloved.

[bobbyhawks]

I'd rather he sell to a foreign, privately-held, brewer than to a local investment group with little brewing experience. That coupled with the fact that Schlafly is something like 30,000 barrels per year whereas BLVD is more like 175,000 barrels. Who local and trustworthy has that kind of cash on hand?

Ditto. I would hate to see what would happen to Boulevard as a plaything for a local Billionaire who doesn't necessarily live and breathe beer. I think you need people who know how to run breweries with high standards of quality to ensure that a handover doesn't result in a degradation of the brand.

This is a pretty great article written a month ago and is very encouraging:
http://www.brewbound.com/news/duvel-moo ... estaurants

“We’re looking to the U.S. to be the engine of our group growth over the next 10 to 20 years. Part of that will be achieved by growing the Ommegang and Duvel brands but part of it will also come by finding other breweries that fit our portfolio.”

“We are not interested in brands where margins and pricing is low,” Thorpe said. “We are only interested in the luxury end of the market. We are looking for premium, high-end, beautiful brands. We believe that over time, if the quality is good, you will survive.”

Large beer conglomerates like Anheuser-Busch InBev and MillerCoors would be among those financial investors looking to make a faster return and they’ve already demonstrated their interest in craft through acquisitions like Goose Island and Crispin Cider, respectively. But what makes Duvel Moortgat a more attractive option, in Thorpe’s eyes, is its commitment to maintaining the provenance and pre-existing structure at any craft brewery it would acquire.

“Duvel [Moortgat] already owns seven breweries,” he said. “We don’t squash them altogether. “The Chouffe brewery still exists; we’ve just made it bigger, stronger and faster. Fundamentally, this is something we believe in. It is important for the branding and how consumers perceive the brand.”

Portfolio additions aside, Duvel USA is also exploring other ways to grow equity in its own Ommegang and Duvel brands through two concepts: a new ‘Ommegang Foods’ business and Duvel and Ommegang restaurant chains in the U.S.

Boulevard Restaurants?

[chaglang]

I know about other local brewers like 75th St and McCoy's. Who are the others? Where can I try some of their beer?

[grovester]

I know about other local brewers like 75th St and McCoy's. Who are the others? Where can I try some of their beer?

Big Rip in NKC is at the top of my to do list.

[pash]

.

[grovester]

whoa, that link takes me back to 2006.

[pash]

.

[Highlander]

I'd rather he sell to a foreign, privately-held, brewer than to a local investment group with little brewing experience.

Well, I'd rather Boulevard go to Duvel than to AB (In Bev), Miller or Coors. Keeping it local had some advantages (like the profit stays in KC). The biggest advantage to Duvel is that they don't market heavily in the US (as far as I can tell) so they may have a motivation to expand the presence of Boulevard around the country which means jobs and more recognition for KC (as it's still essentially a KC company).

At the same time, I know I will stay away from craft beers that I know are owned (or created) by Miller, Coors or AB and I suspect a lot of craft beer drinkers do the same. So the sale could have a backlash also - but Duvel being not well known plays well in that regard.

[chaglang]

At the same time, I know I will stay away from craft beers that I know are owned (or created) by Miller, Coors or AB and I suspect a lot of craft beer drinkers do the same. So the sale could have a backlash also - but Duvel being not well known plays well in that regard.

That's kind of what I was thinking. Duvel seems to have a pretty good reputation among beerfolk, so any backlash should be small. And being in a company comprised of them, Duvel, and Ommegang isn't terrible.