Beavertown confirm sale of minority stake to Heineken

or from beavertown https://www.beavertownbrewery.co.uk/brave-new-world-beaverworld/

No real surprises

Minority Stake…53M$

That investment is in their new brewery / theme park or whatever it is, in addition to the minority stake purchase.

Its a massive catch for Heineken no doubt about it, and certainly i cant think of a better way to gain a foothold in the UK craft scene.

Yeah, it´s a big step forward for the industry (specially both Beavertown and Heineken) but not for the craft beer in my opinion.

And “Beaverworld”…I care about good craft beers not a fucking theme park. Let´s see if they can manage to continue releasing new good brews, collaborations, festivals…or they focus their way in selling Neck Oil / Gamma Ray everywhere with the Heineken distribution sale.

Glad I didnt buy tickets for the Beavertown Extravaganza yet. No doubt there will be some brewers pulling out?

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The Veil. First one.

The Veil already have as Logan wouldnt give them a definite answer about selling out a few weeks ago. Some are ready to pull out waiting on the official response. I got a ticket as its on my birthday, but its bloody expensive - if enough brewers pull out im getting a refund or at least a big discount

Really disapointed in Veil just as i was will all the brewers who didnt even have the Integrity to Honour their commitments.

Yeah dont go again, but if youve commited to it, stand by that commitment

But i still see BeaverFest being a great event

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But. The whole concept of Beaverex was in reaction to big breweries’ growing control over the craft beer scene. At last years event logan even said “the puppet master that is Big Beer is stirring and starting to swipe its tentacles far and wide across this beer industry.”

Its an event celebrating craft independence & drawing in breweries based on independent ethics. Breweries signed up to this, not a Heineken subsidiary event. I dont blame them for pulling out. Ill still go as im going for the beer, providing enough breweries remain

Well, apparently they never have been that strict, as de Molen was present last year. And as many know, the “independent family brewer” Bavaria has a minority stake in de Molen, I think similar to what Heineken will have in Beavertown.

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Agreed, fair play to the Veil standing by their principles. What a pity though.

As one brewer i know said
“We signed up for the fest because of Logan Plant and his team. We will still be apart of it for the same reason. Fest like that are about the people involved and they are all still involved so why wouldn’t we.”

Logan and his team have not gone away. The brewers made a commitment to them, they should stick by it. if you cant trust their word. What can you trust about them

If they really dont want to have any dealing with beavertown going forward, no problem with that. But ive got no respect for any of them that pull out

Just one quote from q&a with Logan

You’ve previously criticised bland mass-produced beer. What do you think of Heineken?

Heineken is known as the ‘world brewer’. They serve their beer in over 190 countries. They are amazing brand builders, who have a track record of brilliant execution in getting those brands into new markets and have established amazing brewing quality and consistency throughout their network of breweries across the world. They are guided by fourth generation family leadership. As a family they are in control of their destiny which resonates with Bridget and me. The culture and values across their team are heralded and I take inspiration from the great journeys their team members have been on, progression through their company is amazing and something we have always tried to promote at Beavertown. So, we share many values, both cultural and brand specific, with them.

Finally. Why did it take them so long to announce this?

There is more fallout going to happen not just at BeaverEx though. For example today, Hop Burns & Black, one of the UK’s best bottleshops and one I’ve bought from frequently, has announced in an open letter to the brewery that it will stop selling Beavertown beers.

Not every shop will follow their lead but I would not be at all surprised to hear a few others following suit. Some are 100% serious about only supporting fully independent breweries.

They sell La Trappe, which is owned by Bavaria Netherlands. So, not 100% serious.

Not seeing that on their website? https://shop.hopburnsblack.co.uk/pages/search-results-page?q=trappe

It was on the beer menu 5 mins ago

not in the same league though is it

and there goes Cloudwater