AB Inbev buys 4 Pines

[MetalRooster]

http://4pinesbeer.com.au/our-thoughts/joining-abi/

Must say i'm a little gutted. Could be a good thing but the cynic in me says unlikely.

 

[fletcher]

just read the same. 4 pines are a great brewery, and i'm hoping it stays that way. trying to think positive.

 

[mtb]

Hoping for the best but preparing for another Fat Yak..

 

[laxation]

Fortunately for this: https://aussiehomebrewer.com/threads/whats-in-the-glass.19438/page-435#post-1475043

we can still enjoy their beer

 

[homebrewnewb]

Yes. 4 Pines did treat themselves to a case of Crownies to celebrate.
righto...

 

[BKBrews]

Pretty gutted about this. Surely they were successful enough as it was, to not need to do this for the money? Unless they're trying to step away from the business a little, but even that rings alarm bells for how this pans out.

 

[Mardoo]

Zero surprise. Having sat through a few years of the American acquisitions, any successful brewery will land in the crosshairs.

 

[earle]

Yes. 4 Pines did treat themselves to a case of Crownies to celebrate.
righto...

To reacquaint themselves with what **** beer tastes like

 

[homebrewnewb]

Pretty gutted about this. Surely they were successful enough as it was, to not need to do this for the money? Unless they're trying to step away from the business a little, but even that rings alarm bells for how this pans out.

these are the craft wars my son, market share and al that. matilida bay n carlton, mountain goat and asahi and now this, if you have market share in a market a big guy does not have, guess what, they will throw dollars at you till you come round.

 

[GalBrew]

I predicted this exact event.

 

[manticle]

Hoping for the best but preparing for another Fat Yak..

That suggests fat yak was ever any good.
4 Pines make great beer and hopefully continue to do so under the new banner.

There are some decent beers in the Inbev range (loads of ****** ones too) and I still enjoy Mountain Goat and Little Creatures, despite the big ownership.

 

[mtb]

That suggests fat yak was ever any good

It had some malt backbone before it became a watery hop-flavoured drink.. but yes, it never held a candle to 4 Pines.

 

[manticle]

I haven't tried the hop flavoured one

 

[Lyrebird_Cycles]

Surely they were successful enough as it was, to not need to do this for the money?

AFAIK the majority of 4 Pines brews have been contract made for quite some time*, which says that their sales exceeded their capacity. Possibly they went shopping for a capital injection to increase capacity and that turned into a buyout offer.

* I was at a large brewery a while ago looking at QA systems and 4 Pines pale was coming down the line at the time.

 

[pcqypcqy]

Good on them. They had a good business and managed to cash out and earn a reward for all their hardwork. The owners may have had personal reasons for wanting to get out, or may have simply cashed in. If the beers change for the worse, that will be unfortunate, but we are spoiled for choice so who really cares?

Whenver news like this breaks, people are always up in arms about it crying 'how could they?' I never understand it, they're not doing it for a bunch of crazy beer enthusiasts on the internet. At least not solely.

 

[good4whatAlesU]

Another one bites the dust...

I tried their Stout, but wasn't really a fan. Perhaps AB will improve it.

Others seem to like their beers though, hence the takeover.

 

[Moog]

at yak was a great beer, you obviously never drank it when they first brought it out, must be 7 or 8 years ago now..

 

[earle]

at yak was a great beer, you obviously never drank it when they first brought it out, must be 7 or 8 years ago now..

It was better when it first came out.

Lots of people were trying to clone it back in the day. Not sure we'll ever be saying that about Iron Jack

https://aussiehomebrewer.com/threads/fat-yak-ag-clone.35586/
https://aussiehomebrewer.com/threads/fat-yak-k-k-clone.54243/
https://aussiehomebrewer.com/threads/anyone-done-an-ag-fat-yak-clone.40784/

 

[Andy_27]

I just got this email and was pretty ****** at the news. Call me cynical, but there's very few craft breweries that still made good beer after a multinational buy out. At some point, cost cutting takes precedence.

 

[Lyrebird_Cycles]

It's called death by a thousand focus groups.

The bean counters come up with something that is slightly cheaper. This gets put before a focus group which reports no significant difference; the change is made and the slippery slope beckons.

 

[Dave70]

I haven't tried the hop flavoured one

You just need to drink XXXX Gold Shandys for a month to re calibrate you hop perception threshold.

I'm sure I also remember a time when Yak was a half decent beer for a hard earned thirst. Then it wasn't.

 

[Bribie G]

Fortunately after a couple of years of trying, I've pretty well nailed the Four Pines Pale Ale. IMHO.

I've diverted my current batch as a test bed for the new LupuLN2 so it's going to be more Citra-ish.

However next move will be to lay on a few bottles of the 4 Pines for comparison and get back to refining my original recipe until it's bang on and hopefully it might aspire to reach the heights of DSGA etc for forum members wanting to give it a whirl.

I bet as some point in the near future their new masters will remove the malt and hops list from the description on their site, and bottles.
Too late suckas..(evil chuckle).

 

[rude]

What your pines clone wasn't part of the take over
How dare they
At lest in the future we will know what it tasted like back then with you're clone

 

[Bribie G]

Yup that's the idea, that's why I want to stabilise the recipe. However I'm thinking of buying a very large dog for when they send the hitmen.

 

[huez]

AFAIK the majority of 4 Pines brews have been contract made for quite some time*, which says that their sales exceeded their capacity. Possibly they went shopping for a capital injection to increase capacity and that turned into a buyout offer.

* I was at a large brewery a while ago looking at QA systems and 4 Pines pale was coming down the line at the time.

Incredible really as i was under the impression their production brewery was one of the largest for nsw, craft beer wise. Maybe they contracted out their bottled products.

Disappointing news otherwise. But who knows, maybe their beers will stay the same, or possibly get better....? Ahhh who am i kidding!

 

[Camo6]

Kudos to them. You know you've made it when the big boys buy you out. There wouldn't be a soul among us that would refuse the payout. Didn't read the links but hopefully the original owners retain some control as their "cellar door" offerings were generally dee-lish-oosh and were the only beers of theirs I'd buy nowadays. Three or four years ago their pale ale was one of the greatest pale ales being produced in the country IMO. I dare say the quality of their beers may now take a hit but I reckon it's been on the cards for awhile now.
Curse the reign of the beer giants but it's good to know that they're feeling the pinch from the little man.

 

[Bribie G]

Their original brewhouse was at their pub diagonally opposite Manly Ferry Wharf and I had a good session or three there over the years, then they moved to Brookvale on the North Shore in the commercial Bob Jane T Mart, panelbeaters etc. area there. I'd expect that their draught production is now the major part of that brewery's production. However their bottled pint and six pack offering is widely available around the state and no doubt Australia as a whole, and I can't see the Brookvale operation having enough capacity to satisfy the whole state and national market so clearly they are putting these beers through contract brewing.

Maybe a bit like James Squire that is mostly now produced at Toohey's Lidcombe. I hope the beers don't go down the same track as JS.

I'd be interested to know what brewery LC saw the 4 Pines run going through but of course that would be commercial in confidence. Maybe one could speculate that it could be near a famous pie joint, perhaps.

 

[MetalRooster]

I remember first popping in for a pint in the Manly brew pub about 8 years back, and being relatively local have always enjoyed their Keller door brews. I'm only about a 5 min drive from the brookvale brewery now and try and get in at least once a fortnight for a pint and a growler fill. Look forward to continuing that for a long time to come.

Oh and their stout on nitro is damn good.

 

[GalBrew]

The real gold is getting their ESB off the hand pump at the brewpub in Manly.

 

[Edgebrew]

Another one bites the dust. RIP 4 Pines.