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"Tube":11ujn4w1 wrote: Free market economics, I'm all for them!
If the rumour is true there is nothing to say the actual beer would change.[/quote:11ujn4w1]
I do not agree,free market economics is why the brewing industry is owned by 2. Good Government is all about whats best for the whole country and not for a few. To believe that the beer will not suffer you only have to look at Smithwicks Ale, a family brewery once, but taken into ownership by a group containing Ind coup and Guinness,they decided that other beers they had would not be supported and let die (time beer)and many others.

"DEMPSEY":wxtijnzk wrote: you only have to look at Smithwicks Ale, a family brewery once, but taken into ownership by a group containing Ind coup and Guinness,they decided that other beers they had would not be supported and let die (time beer)and many others.[/quote:wxtijnzk]Which was the way it went in the late 20th century. The multinationals are now reaping what they sowed with that, with flatlining sales of mainstream beers in the developed world.

That's why the smart ones are now buying craft brands with credibility (Goose Island, Sharp's) or setting up craft or pseudo-craft subsidiaries (William Worthington, Blue Moon). The accountants are the ones who are making these decisions and the accountants know that the finished beer has to taste of something.

I've never tasted anything brewed by Steve Wellington, a MolsonCoors employee, that seemed on the slippery road to blandness.

"TheBeerNut":1my7uvld wrote: Which was the way it went in the late 20th century. The multinationals are now reaping what they sowed with that, with flatlining sales of mainstream beers in the developed world.[/quote:1my7uvld]
And at the same time exports of American craft beers are growing in the order of 25% a year. Again, more free market economics and capitalism at its best.

The best thing the Irish Govt could do is to do less. Deregulate, de-red-tape and untax the industry and let the entrepreneurs do their thing. Historically the more the Govt got involved the bigger the (subsidised) turkey we ended up with.