Barrel-Aged Stout and Selling Out by Josh Noel

'Fans of good beer will enjoy Noel's explorations, which make for a useful cautionary tale as well.' Kirkus Reviews Publisher: Chicago Review Press ISBN: 9781613737217 Number of pages: 400 Weight: 553 g Dimensions: 228 x 152 x 152 mm MEDIA REVIEWS Anheuser-Busch has since bought nine other craft breweries, and from among the outcry rises a question that Noel addresses through personal anecdotes from industry leaders: how should a brewery grow?

Josh Noel broke the news of the sale in the Chicago Tribune, and he covered the resulting backlash from Chicagoans and beer fanatics across the country as the discussion escalated into an intellectual craft beer war. The sale forced the industry to reckon with craft beer's mainstream appeal and a popularity few envisioned. Then, on March 28, 2011, the Halls sold the brewery to Anheuser-Busch InBev, maker of Budweiser, the least craft-like beer imaginable. With distribution in two dozen states, two brewpubs and status as one of the 20 biggest breweries in the United States, Goose Island became an American success story and was a champion of craft beer. In the golden age of light, bland and cheap beers, John Hall and his son Greg brought European flavors to America. North American Guild of Beer Writer Award Recipient Goose Island opened as a family-owned Chicago brewpub in the late 1980s, and it soon became one of the most inventive breweries in the world.

Barrel-Aged Stout and Selling Out by Josh Noel