No Big Deal: Why Craft Brewery M&A’s Have Lost Their Shock Value

Goose Island, Bluepoint, Boulevard, Sweetwater, Founders, Wicked Weed, Anchor, Oskar Blues, Lagunitas, Dogfish Head, Ballast Point, Cigar City, Modern Times, Stone, Bell’s, and most recently Avery Brewing – not a comprehensive list by any means, but just a sampling of formerly independent craft breweries that merged with or were acquired by larger parent companies over roughly the past decade. The difference between now and then is that craft brewery M&A’s are just not that big of a deal anymore. Back then, craft beer drinkers and superfans would be up in arms over a buyout or partnership deal of any size – suggesting boycotts, bashing brands online, and protesting festivals where “sellout” breweries would be pouring their liquid. Today, that’s not quite the case, with deals like the Bell’s and New Belgium merger or the acquisition of Avery Brewing by import giant Mahou San Miguel barely sparking a peep of controversy online. So what’s changed – the craft beer fan or the business of craft beer?

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