Lawmakers calling for DOJ to investigate potential beer merger

A looming merger between the parent companies of Anheuser-Busch and Miller has some lawmakers concerned, including U.S. Senator Chris Coons.

At a Judiciary Subcommittee hearing Tuesday, the question of how the merger could impact Delaware craft brewers and consumers was brought up.

According to Senator Coons, consumers benefit when craft brewers can compete on a fair and level playing field with big breweries. This is a big reason why he and a bipartisan group of senators are calling the U.S. Department Of Justice to investigate the merger further.

“Look, nobody wants to go a bar and sit down and discover they only have a choice between Miller and Bud and that’s a possible outcome here if this merger of two mega beer companies is allowed to go forward and if they’re allowed to squeeze whole salers and distributors in a way that shuts out Delaware’s inventive craft breweries and market place.” Explains Senator Coons.

According to Senator Coons, small and independent brewers contribute about 55.7 billion dollars to the U.S. economy and support about 424,000 jobs.