Today’s news that Anheuser-Busch has had preliminary talks with Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo SAB de CV about a possible tie-up that could thwart an unsolicited takeover bid by InBev NV has the Board of Directors at Pennington Brewing shaking their collective heads. The news is both good and bad.

 

The brewmaster at Pennington Brewing sighed, “Well, Bud is not my mug of choice but it is an institution.”  The King of Beers is, if nothing else, certainly King of Marketing. The brand is an international juggernaut, from Super Bowl commercials to the Clydesdales. It’s viewed as America’s beer, like it or not. Known world-wide and swilled in just about every honky-tonk west of the Statue of Liberty, there’s bound to be a backlash if Anheuser-Busch pursues the deal. Think about how fired up the colonists got when somebody started messing with their tea! It could get ugly.

 

G.W. Flash, hopyard foreman at PB explained that “Bud sales have lagged the past few years while the craftbrewing industry has exploded.  Ultimately, it could mean more sales for us but I’d hate to see the horses disappear.”  Then he added, “That is, if we were to actually SELL our beer. Our tasting room is always open, though...(wink-wink).”