How Many Beers?

265 Beers. What does that number mean? Its the combined number of beers that two, yes two brewing companies own in part or whole. Beer writer Jay Brooks has put together a list of beers that are either owned or have distribution deals with ABINBEV and MillerCoors. The scary thing is, this list may not be complete. Jay is working diligently to update and correct this list. Also as take overs and mergers continue to happen this list will only grow. Why publish this list? Is it to knock all of these breweries? No, its for education. All of us should be aware of what we are buying and who we are buying from, these things should be and need to be transparent.
There are multiple reasons that people like me get into craft beer. For most it begins and ends with wanting something that tastes good, that's complex, that goes well beyond the industrial lager that not only this country but the majority of the beer drinking world is inundated with. However there is a small group of beer lovers like me that love craft beer not only for what it is (something delicious) but for what it isn't (owned by huge industrial companies of questionable business ethics). I won't get preachy, as that's not my purpose here, only to say, its good to support local, and in my mind its good to support small hand crafted goods over large industrially made ones. Its why I point out this list as I think consumers of all products (but hey this IS a beer blog) should know where their goods are coming from.