Boston Beer’s Jim Koch on Blue Moon, Shock Top, Goose Island: “They’re good beers” (video)
Boston Beer Company Chairman, Jim Koch, passed up on a meatball served to him by one of MSNBC’s Morning Joe co-hosts. The co-host mentioned how the “monolithic breweries” were starting to release craft beers under different names to which Koch replied, “Yeah, there is Goose Island, Blue Moon, Shock Top but hey, they’re good beers. It’s good beer for all and I think Sam Adams would have loved that.”
Straddled the edge there masterfully…
via MSNBC.
Breweries: The Boston Beer Company
ROFL when that glass broke. I guess he may have been a bit nervous.
dude don’t group goose island up with blue moon and shocktop. this guy is a fool
When you lump Goose Island in as a fake craft beer a la Shock Top or Blue Moon, you attempt negate everything the Halls worked for tirelessly for MANY years and spit on someone you fought side by side with to gain marketshare and spread good beer.
I’d argue at this point that even with the ABInBev purchase, Goose Island is STILL more of an artisinal/craft brewery with a family-owned feel than Boston Beer. When someone from Goose Island comes into my store, i dont feel like i’m stuck in a Six Sigma meeting…and they certainly dont sue their departing employees.
Goose was purchased by ABInBev because they can do things the big boys cant, and very well. Boston Beer is a big boy, and has played the big boy game for a long time. How’s Twisted Tea doing, Jim? Or Angry Orchard cider?
Seriously, Goose Island? Goose Island beer is way better than Sam Adams
Yeah, I still have a bad taste in my mouth from the InBev acquisition but so far, I have been pleasantly surprised by Goose Island’s post sale performance….So far… I still wish some Bourbon County Vanilla or Coffee made its way into Missouri.
yeah, Blue Moon is decent, I wouldn’t call anything turned out by Big Brew “good” Even the European imports are starting to suck now. My favorite German beer has been spaten but since it was conglomerized they’ve obviously changed the recipe. It tastes like Becks now! Once the monoliths take over they begin cutting costs which means poorer quality and more use of things like adjuncts (corn) The whole thing just sucks which is why I drink stuff like Sam.
I have no issue with Koch’s sentiment about Goose Island but I’d group Sam Adams in the same group without thinking twice. Contract brews, study groups, and big marketing.
Throwing stones out of a glass house.
The comments and outrage are a misquote–one of the hosts mentioned ABI and Coors as the monolithic breweries who are passing off beers as craft brands, so Jim Koch pulls out craft beers that are owned by ABI and Coors (Goose Island, Shock Top, and Blue Moon). He’s hardly making a determination on Goose Island as a similar beer.
I’ll make that call for myself though–Blue Moon is decent, Shock Top is a Bud Light-tasting knock off, and Goose Island’s belgian beers are wonderful, but their regular stuff is just regular. And while I’m at it, I don’t get the Bell’s Oberon craze–it’s incredibly similar to Blue Moon, as if they just blended Blue Moon with Sam Adams Summer Ale. Ever tried Bell’s Amber, or Bell’s Lager? They’re as bland as they get.