Barrel-Aged Stout and Selling Out

Goose Island opened as a family-owned Chicago brewpub in the late 1980s, and became one of the most inventive breweries in the world. On March 28, 2011, the Halls sold the brewery to Anheuser-Busch InBev, maker of Budweiser, the least craft-like beer imaginable. The sale forced the industry to reckon with craft beer's mainstream appeal and a popularity few envisioned. Noel examines the backlash from Chicagoans and beer fanatics across the country as the discussion escalated into an intellectual craft beer war. Here he addresses the question: how should a brewery grow?