I just saw this. Here is the money quote:
"Breaking news – we don’t have all the details yet, but some rumors we caught wind of earlier this week are confirmed this morning in an email from Dick Cantwell, Brewmaster and Co-owner of Elysian Brewing Company.
“I’m free to tell you it’s true. Elysian is now part of ABI,” said Cantwell."
Wow they are really in a buying mode!
Here we go again…
Cue Elysian haters in 4…3…2…
Wow. Didn’t see that coming. I’m a fan of their beers.
The more I think about it the more I can’t find the downside to these deals. The brewer, all the investors that helped them build, all get a nice return on their time and it opens up space in the market at the bottom for more new breweries. After all, there is no way that ABI is going to continue to maintain hundreds of tiny operations with all the overhead associated with that. They still don’t seem to get that the consumer wants to buy from a small independent guy just as much as they want to buy xyz brand of beer.
I have a homebrewery for sale, home not included.
I’ve got mixed thoughts about these deals. I will say though that AB has PLENTY of money to scoop up these large regional breweries. They made over 40 Billion in revenue last year.
Dick Cantwell? More like can’t dick well, amiright?
Seriously though, if he wants to get out, that’s fine. He’s been in it for a long time and deserves a retirement.
And I’m sure most of the haters would jump at an offer even faster than they did.
However, if one of my local favorites decided to do this, I may feel a little betrayed. When did craft beer get so complicated and trendy?
I agree. They don’t get it. Another craft (hopefully a good one) will take their place.
oh they’ll keep buying. My point was more that they won’t keep that physical brewery around very long. They want the brand, the facilities are more of a liability than anything else in the long run. Once you remove the People and the facilities all that’s left is the recipe and as we all know recipe is only about 10% of a great beer.
Good point. I wonder if this is a full buyout or an investment? Terrapin took money years ago and IMO is still quite popular as a craft brewery.
Jonathan is nailing it here. There are plenty of smaller operations that put out a fantastic product, but dont get the traffic. Maybe this will get their front swinging more. I am fortunate to live in the land of plenty where you can’t throw a rock without hitting a brewery, but I might feel differently if this was my tiny hometown in Iowa. Then again, it’s so flat I could probably another on the horizon.
Brewbound says it’s a full purchase
I think you’ll see more deals like this as the wave of pioneers nears retirement.
I believe they’re going to need to rethink the slogan on their Loser Pale Ale…
I’m not an Elysian hater or a hater of anyone who makes a business decision that he feels is best for him or his company, but Elysian now drops to the bottom of my list of breweries to buy from.
That’s how I feel. Good for Elysian and their families. But I won’t support BMC by buying it afterward.
Personally I don’t get all the hub bub about this or any of the others that have “sold out”
Everyone said the same thing here in Chicago when Goose Island sold out but yet they are still brewing great beer and people are still buying barrels of it! In addition the sheer power they now have has allowed them to do some really great things in their distribution and barrel aging program as well.
There are so many new breweries opening all over the country right now and there will be more that prove successful and eventually decide to sell as well.
I get the whole small, local, kindred spirit thing but just because an owner seeks greener pastures doesn’t mean they’re selling out. No one ever really knows the whole story that determines the reasons.
If the beer is good, I’ll drink it and I’ll buy it. Do those that state they will never buy it again do it simply out of principal since its now owned by a multinational company? Personally if these types of things mean that I can now buy beer here that prior I couldn’t get, and the beer is the same, I’m winning, not losing as a consumer.
How would people feel if Sierra Nevada or Anchor or Boulevard or Boston Beer were the big boy buying them or someone else, would it still be considered selling out?
It is a brewpub. Is AB getting into a food business? Good luck.
exactly! on comparitive scale it doesn’t even matter if the profit margin is through the roof the actual net profit is a drop in the bucket to AB. It’s just not going to be worth it to them to maintain the tiny separate operation.