BEER Wars???

What is the world coming to? I read this morning that Miller Brewing Co. will be joining forces in North America with Molson/Coors in a bid to combat the evil forces of Budweiser.

WHAT? That's ridiculous in my book.

Miller has about 20% market share and Coors has 11%, while Budweiser has almost 50% of the US Beer market. I knew they were big but damn, 50%. I didn't major in math but this would only put the Miller/Coors venture at 31%. Yes, that's big BUT 50% is huge. I now wonder what the joined forces of Miller/Coors do to bridge the gap. I know Miller is guilty of purchasing smaller breweries and forcing them out of business (One of my favorite Microbrews was Cellis from Texas - they are gone now after being bought by Miller) These big boys will always have their market share and won't really be able to make up ground - the product is the produt and in the US MARKETING is a deciding factor. These beers are interchangeable, sometimes my purchases are based on how funny the last commercial I saw was.

I have recently been moving my taste buds towards Budweiser since one of my soccer boys works for the Bud Plant in Cartersville. The Michelob derrivatives are good, the Martzen, hefe, IPA, Pale Ale.

What will happen to my personal favorite - Pabst Blue Ribbon? They have made an incredible comeback. A friend of the wife is from Milwalkee and states no one up there drinks PBR anymore since the Japanese came in and took over. So, I like the Toyota of beers, whatever.

Microbrews are never going to go away. They are part of the landscape now. These mega corporations will never be able to squash these local brews, and that is good. I will say that I saw the BREWING special on the History Channel and they made a remarkable statement. I thought they would bash the 1 million gallon a day brewers but they said - for the major brewers to brew such a light beer in huge quantities and keep the quality at such a high level, the big boys should be commended because the brewing process is very easy to make a mistake and they never do.

Hmmm. Which brings me to my soccer boy. Sunday, after our game that I hurt my knee in, he stated - I am surprised I could run so much, I had to taste 36 hours of production this morning and then went home and took a nap then came to the game.... I told him - I'm sure there are aspects of your job that suck, just like anyone else's, BUT you will not get any sympathy from me... I continued - If you ever need help, just give me a call and I can have 5 guys in Cartersville in 30 minutes.

Just call me Bob or Doug Mckenzie, eh.