GRB Chart, page-36

I have heard that GRB is the only ASX listed craft brewer, but I have not verified that myself. There was another one that seemed to be all talk and no beer, so to speak, but I had quickly dismissed it as an investment and now can't even remember its name.

I still subscribe to the Intelligent Investor, but the investor that I feel best suits my method and mindset is Steve Johnson over at Forager Funds. He used to be one of the owners at Intelligent Investor, but sold up and setup his own funds business - and put all of his own personal money into the funds. Given the premium his Australian fund trades at, I find a lot of value in buying the same companies he is buying instead of paying a premium to buy his ASX listed fund. If the premium disappears one day, I'll start buying his fund. But as an amateur value investor, I can't bring myself to pay a premium for something I can spend a bit of time on and then mirror myself.

I feel GRB really started to turn a corner when they got rid of Woolies and then won a fairly prestigeous beer award which gave them much needed brand awareness. Being part of the Woolies family gave them access to a big market, but also seemed to block them from the non-Woolies sales channels, which are significant. So good riddance to Woolies I say and the beer award win was very timely.

The Matso deal looks really good. I was pretty dirty with management awhile ago, so I can't decide if this was good managment and part of their strategy, or something good that just fell into their lap. A bit of luck doesn't hurt sometimes. Either way, it looks like a good deal for us.