AB's High End Purchases Wicked Weed: Implications

Last updated May 03, 2017 · By Dylan Blake

In case you haven’t heard, the line between craft beer and big beer just got blurrier.

AB Buys Wicked Weed

This morning The High End, Anheuser-Busch’s craft beer unit, announced that it had purchased Asheville’s Wicked Weed Brewing. As we’re all aware, this is not the first purchase of its kind.

But it’s certainly different. With this, it’s 10th acquisition, The High End added a brewery with a phenomenal sour and funky program. None of the breweries they’ve acquired until now could honestly say this.

In other words, The High End rounded out its portfolio. This means that AB products can now cover every base that a beer program—craft or otherwise—needs.

This is a big deal. Smaller breweries are already battling both each other and AB-InBev for shelf space and tap lines. They have been for years. Adding a full portfolio to AB-InBev’s size and financials means that battle will become more difficult.

What this means: we believe by ordering a beer, you’re voting with your dollars. So, before you place your next beer order, take a pause and think: what am I voting for? Am I voting for big beer? Or am I voting for local beer?

We’ll continue to vote for the incredible men and women in our neck of the woods who keep this great industry rolling. We urge you to do the same.

Interested in more details? Check out this article on Brewbound.