Those who follow America's brewery scene woke up to something of a surprise this morning. After buying a 40 percent stake in Chicago-based brewery Goose Island in 2006, Anheuser-Busch today is buying up the rest of the company for $38.8 million. As part of the sale brewmaster Greg Hall will be stepping down, but the company swears the change in who pays the bills won't have a big impact on the company's commitment to creative brews. Explains founder John Hall: "They didn’t buy us to change what we’re doing."
And with that one of the bigger small breweries around is a fully-owned subsidy of Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest brewer. We wonder if any of our local brews might soon follow Goose Island into the world of corporate beer making. Will Sixpoint be a sixth point on the Heineken star? Will Blue Point become a part of Molson? Will Rudy's Blonde get taken over by... anyone? Any takers?
