Drinking Buddies

The big brewsky news today is the proposed merger between Miller Brewing's parent company and Molson Coors Brewing. But the big question is whether or not this spirited marriage would mean a poorer selection of beer for the American consumer and/or higher prices at the taps.

According to the Los Angeles Times:

The two brewers know they have a major challenge ahead.

Although domestic beer still outsells wine and distilled spirits by a large margin, it is steadily losing ground to wine, distilled spirits and specialty drafts, even among older drinkers, who have been among the most loyal customers.

"I'll rarely drink a Miller or a Coors," said Jeff Drobman, a 59-year-old software engineer from Agoura. "I like to drink good-tasting beers, local microbrews, a hefeweizen or something made with a special ingredient."

Drobman said most of the large brewery offerings were so bland that they were like drinking water.

"We're seeing the declining per capita of beer consumption, increasing cost pressures, consolidation of distributors and retailers, and continued growth in the wine and spirits business" as well as stiff competition from craft and import beer brands, said Leo Kiely, chief executive of Molson Coors...

Although it is too soon to tell, the transaction might raise U.S. beer prices, experts said. It would leave just two companies -- Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors -- in control of 80% of the domestic beer market, paving the way for the type of tacit price increases that alarm regulators, he said...

...Smaller brewers also would be at risk, said Susan Johnson, outside counsel for Pyramid Breweries Inc., a Seattle craft brewer known for its unfiltered wheat beers such as Hefe Weizen.

Distributors, which by post-Prohibition alcoholic beverage regulatory laws control much of the domestic beer market, "will have so much money tied up in marketing the brands of just two companies that it will be hard for the small folks to get their products distributed in a wide variety of outlets," Johnson said.

All I can say is that if my beer options end up being limited to insipid (and potentially soon-to-be-overpriced) brews like Miller and Coors Lite, I'll be looking elsewhere for my boozing pleasure.