Cue the Imperial March?

Over the past few days, an interesting beer map has been circulating across the internet. NPR apparently posted a map and list of all of the brewing companies both AB-InBev and SABMiller own across the world. I've linked the entire article and list for you below. Overall, it's just really interesting to see what these major companies actually have control over as well as the reach they have across the world. Holy Toledo.

Have you ever enjoyed a beer and weren't completely sure whether or not it was owned by one of the previously mentioned big beer companies? Have you sat and drank said beer in fear of persecution from the craft vs. crafty folk?

I certainly have. I can go for a nice glass of Fransiskaner wheat or something from Leinenkugel once in a while. I've never really picked sides in the craft vs. crafty debate. If your product is above par I'm going to enjoy it. I don't agree with what these companies do all of the time, but that's not stopping from enjoying what can be a good product.

My favorite Leinenkugel offering has always been Sunset Wheat due to its similarities to Fruity Pebbles cereal in terms of flavor and aroma. We can also expect Leinenkugel to come out with an Orange Shandy later in the spring. Some might call me crazy for fraternizing with the evil empire, but I want to try that. I'm still not touching a Bud or Coors Light anytime soon.

You can see the NPR article its entirety right here.

A Long Time Ago in a Brewery Far, Far Away

I sure hope you get the reference in the title I chose for this post. If you don't, we might have to have a sit down and watch a few of my favorite movies. It wasn't that long ago that Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Owner Sam Calagione went off on a few Beer Advocate message board geeks about overrated breweries.

Well, we have yet another edition of angry craft brewers as Lagunitas Brewing owner/founder Tony Magee had a bit of a Twitter tirade towards Miller Coors and A-B InBev earlier this week. You can read all about it over at Beer Pulse.

I love it when someone in a higher position makes their voices be heard sometimes, but I'm not totally sure Magee has anything to stand on with this one. Maybe it's just my opinion. Who knows?

I'm not totally sure the big-time American brewing corporations are completely against the smaller craft brewers anymore. I think that they are fully aware of how fast some of these breweries are growing in size and popularity and that they know they need to maintain somewhat of a good relationship with them. It could be that or you could say that maybe all of the recent purchases of breweries by the big boys might mean the exact opposite.

I'm certainly not an economic expert on the beer industry. That's for sure.

Monday Rant: Corona - No Big Deal

News of this swarmed the craft beer world late last week. So, it's not like I'm trying to break the next big news story here. By now, you most likely know that Anheuser-Busch purchased the remaining 50 percent (the half that it didn't already own) of Grupo Modelo.

Grupo Modelo was the Mexican brewer of a few familiar beers to some of us such as Corona and Negra Modelo. I'm sure this news led many to assume that the quality of both or either beer will now be severely reduced due to the recent purchase and supported it with stories like that of Rolling Rock in Latrobe.

In my opinion, there isn't any reason to fret because even if a beer like Corona changes it's not like we are missing out on what we call a "classic" beer. Have you ever had Corona without the lime? To me, it's almost the same as having a Blue Moon without the orange slice. Putrid.

Corona might be an alright beer, but not much more than that. Corona advertisements are mostly about the line rather than the beer that it gets put in.

Just because it's all over your television sets during vacation season doesn't mean it's actually tasty. Corona makes my stomach somewhat upset, especially when there's no lime in it.

When we lose a good local brewery like a Fat Head's or an East End, then we can fret when the big American Brewer tampers with amazing concoctions like Head Hunter IPA and Monkey Boy Hefe. Until then, Corona will be much the same as it always has. Maybe with just more beach ads.