TOPIC:

Curious to see if Beoir intend to continue listing the Franciscan Well in its Directory?

On one hand I do wish the guys in the Well luck. I have always enjoyed the pub and I really hope that the quality is maintained. On the other its inescapable that they are swimming in a different pond, they now have access and means that other craft breweries can only dream off.

I would presume that as the FW no longer needs us promoting them, then any entries in the directory which have a FW beer as their sole craft offering will be removed in time.

Yup.

Our constitution may now bar us from supporting them anyway.

[quote:iy51x4w3]Beoir is focused on supporting and raising awareness of our native [b:iy51x4w3]independent [/b:iy51x4w3]microbreweries and craft cider-makers, defined as those companies on the island of Ireland which brew or make less than 20,000 hectolitres of beer and/or cider per year. [/quote:iy51x4w3]

Anyways, my thoughts, I was hoping the FW would come on here and make a statement sooner but I suppose they are probably very busy.

I'm in 2 minds over the whole thing. On one hand I see the benefits; new brewery, more production and distribution means more good beer for more people. I've been assured that Shane will still be in charge and have final say over the beer so in theory they will continue to make craft beer. At the bottom of it all, I like their beer (largely), I like the people there and Shane of course, is always very generous to Beoir members.

At work though, I regularly convert people from Guinness to O'Hara's Stout and from Heineken to Rebel Lager. With O'Hara's I often get asked what the difference is and I tell them it's nicer and it's an Irish company which often gets the response "Guinness is Irish!!?" and then I remind them that Diageo are not and pay feck all tax here while they're at it. Can I now say the same for Franciscan Well?

Molson Coors want to capture 30% of the craft beer market in Ireland. This means either they plan on buying more breweries or they plan to have 30% of Irish craft beer to be from the Franciscan. If they achieve either, it spells bad news for the independent craft brewers and bad news for the consumer who will ultimately be left with less choice.

I think I may wait and see before making up my mind. As said before, MolsonCoors are in the business of maximising profit. Will pub owners be offered cheaper kegs of FW in an attempt to undersell other craft breweries? Will production of FW beers be moved to a MolsonCoors brewery? Will they pay tax in Ireland or somewhere else? Will the recipes stay the same or will they gradually be dumbed down? Will Blue Moon be making an appearance in the FW? Will they start brewing it?

I am a little taken aback by some of the comments on this forum. Firstly, the word "craft" does not belong to us (we even tried to patent the term "Irish craft beer" correct me if I'm wrong). To me, take-overs of seemingly successful businesses by larger entities has always been and will continue to be the norm.

Secondly, who can blame Franciscan Well if a "super" company like Molson Coors offers to buy them out? It is probably the best offer they would get, as other corporations might buy them out simply to close them (mentioning no names!). At least (for the forseeable future) their beers will continue to be brewed ([i:1dikmwgf]and[/i:1dikmwgf] by them).

Thirdly, I thought that Irish breweries were listed (and supported) on this site determined by their output per year. As yet, Franciscan Well (and Carlow for that matter) is still well within the upper limit (as determined by a former Minister for Finance so a different tax rate could be applied to "micros" - again correct me if I'm wrong).

I am looking forward to the Franciscan Well Winter cask ale festival same as before. Jeez, reading some of the comments, some would have us boycotting the event next!

I think (in Dublin at least) that the cottage group pubs have proved that people are willing to pay a premium for "craft" beer. I don't think underselling the kegs will affect that too much.

I honestly don't think that it will make too much difference to people who are genuinely into their beers. They will most likely target pubs that peddle macro beers, I'm sure it wont be long before these places will be plastered with posters professing the 'new' options on tap. These pubs will probably be happy to get the cheap kegs of beer in and proclaim their new found love of craft beer - will that have any effect on the lads down at the bar in Against the Grain, Bull n Castle, The Oslo and beyond? Probably not. It could on the other hand make the current macro pubs less accessible for the remaining genuinely craft breweries. These are people who are probably already skeptical about the new stuff on tap and would baulk at having to pay X amount extra for a keg of something else for the sake of variety.

Its all down to the public, if they demand variety then there will be place for small operations. IMO <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->