Wake-Up Call: the weekend in beer

Good morning! It’s Monday, and we’re all plugging through the recovery from our weekend hangover with the news that Chicago’s Goose Island is being acquired by Anheuser-Busch/InBev.

This news isn’t entirely surprising. After all, Anheuser-Busch already had a 5-year old minority stake in Goose Island that grew their footprint to practically nationwide. And in that time, the quality of the beer didn’t degrade. But some craft beer drinkers are already in a huff over this - assuming an A-B buyout will mean a change in recipe to use cheaper ingredients. So far, the brewery says they’ll use the same facilities they always have. We don’t know what will pan out after the sale, and until we do, we’ll withhold judgment on what becomes of Goose lsland.

What are your thoughts? Does this spell impending doom for a great craft brewer? Will you still drink beer whose profits end up in the hands of the Great Beer Satan? Let us know in the comments.

Meanwhile… over at the Bell House in Brooklyn on Saturday, hundreds gathered for Beer for Beasts, a festival put together by the folks at Beer Advocate and Sixpoint Craft Ales to benefit the ASPCA.

The reviews were mainly positive. Beer Advocate knows how to put on a good festival, so the lines weren’t intolerable, the crowds weren’t packed to the gills, and the beer - all small-batch stuff brewed by Sixpoint - was delicious. There were only two major complaints: one, that some of the beers ran out pretty quickly into each session - was controllable. The other - that Mother Nature was uncooperative - was uncontrollable. Robert Sietsema of the Village Voice said it was a bit too cold to stand outside for the food. But why eat outside with all the beer to drink inside?

Some pretty big events are on tap for this week - starting most importantly with tonight’s Brewers for Brewers. Brooklyn Brewery will play host to the festival featuring local beers and food to benefit earthquake and tsunami victims in Japan. Tickets are still available at Brown Paper Tickets.