The convention's liveliest speech came from Boston Beer CEO Jim Koch, who employed the frankness of, as he described himself, a public company CEO "who owns all the voting shares and can say what I want." Mr. Koch's talk covered a range of industry topics. To point out how profitable the U.S. beer market is, he pointed to the $2 billion in cost cuts currently being inflicted upon A-B. "You can take $2 billion out of what everyone thought was a well-managed company," he said. "Imagine being able to piss away $1 million an hour and still being able to get what you need." He also implored wholesalers to abandon strict franchise agreements that make it difficult for small brewers to choose who distributes their beer, not a popular point in a room full of wholesalers. "I believe in the 21st amendment [abolishing prohibition], but I also believe in the 13th amendment [abolishing slavery]," he said.
On another note, as an addendum to my post on fresh hop ales, I found myself at the Rock Bottom recently and they have, on tap, a delightful wrinkle: a fresh hop lager. Very tasty and exceptionally quaffable.
And yes, this is a post of a man with no real time to blog - sorry. Enjoy the weekend!
3 comments:
I don't know much about economics, but I can knock back a cold one as I drink your next post.
Did I say drink? I mean read your next post. Bartender, I'll have another.
I don't know about you all, but a rich white guy comparing his plight in selling beer to the plight of slavery doesn't go very far with me, regardless of the validity of the issue.
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