Breaking into the brewery business takes a lot of time and a lot of money. But that hasn’t stopped the more than 2,500 independent breweries to eat away at the market share of mass-produced beer year after year. Big Beer has responded by gobbling up craft breweries or launching crafty brands themselves.
Since Coors launched Blue Moon in 1995, many more big breweries have dipped their toes into the micro waters. If there’s an upside to Big Beer investing in craft breweries, it’s that some good beers have received wider distribution than they might otherwise. Goose Island is probably the best example.
Blue Moon
The original crafty beer distributed to the masses was this fruity wheat beer. It’s served as a gateway craft beer for people that have had limited knowledge and taste in the subject. But as it’s now owned by MillerCoors, it was never really a true, independent craft beer in the first place. Just a decent, tasty gateway drug.
Magic Hat
With so much variety, it’s hard to think that the loveable and dependable Magic Hat is owned by North American Breweries (which also owns Pyramid). Until 2010, it was its own craft brewery. But there’s so much variety, and they still make all of the popular beers that gave Magic Hat its name, you shouldn’t feel too bad about picking up any of their beers.
Shock Top
The beer that’s famous for its fruit flavored treats such as the Belgian White or Lemon Shandy is part of the big machine known as Anheuser-Busch. The guys that make Bud Ice also make Shock Top. Remember that next time you want to order this sweet beer.
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