It hasn't taken New Belgium long to show its true colors as a predatory corporation. With disgust, I've seen RiverLink and New Belgium conspire to foist New Belgium beer, exclusively, on the attendees of the RiverMUSIC series. This may be the only public event in Asheville history monopolized by one beer. Not even Budweiser does that. And they could have.
For years, our local breweries have played nicely together at events like Downtown After 5, offering a representative selection of fabulous local craft beers.
RiverLink, on the other hand, has been bought and co-opted by New Belgium, whose promotional bankroll dwarfs that of local breweries. What an ungrateful slap in the face to the local breweries that have helped RiverLink raise funds over the years!
So, I will be boycotting RiverMUSIC and New Belgium until they allow the other local breweries to participate in the event as sponsors.
So much for New Belgium respecting our existing culture. It is a wolf in "green clothing.”
— Mike Hiers
Oakley
Our Council and Commission probably screwed the pooch on the New Belgium thing. There are going to be lots of announcements of Colorado- and California-based brewers building East Coast plants in the next few years. It’s unlikely that many announcements will involve significant incentives, and, sadly, unlikely that any other brewers will choose to locate here. If you ask around the brewing industry, one brewer – besides Anheuser-Busch – has quite the reputation. We’ve got a great neighborhood for brewing, but we’ve paid a premium for this one, new, neighbor . . .
Happily, we’re getting Sierra Nevada, and those folks are the real deal. Less talk, more rock.