The Definitive Timeline Of Craft Beer Acquisitions

1988 Jacob Leinenkugel Miller Brewing Co. The Wisconsin brewery was a fifth-generation, family-owned business until 1988, when it was acquired by what was then known as Miller Brewing Co. Jake Leinenkugel told the Milwaukee Business Journal that the company was in “survival mode” in the 1970s and ‘80s, and might not have made it into the ‘90s.
1989 Spoetzl Brewery Gambrinus Company Gambrinus, a beer import company in the Southwest, purchased the Spoetzl brewery in Shiner, Texas in 1989. Spoetzl’s Shiner Bock is now an iconic Texas beer.
1994 Redhook Ales Anheuser-Busch Anheuser-Busch, before it was purchased by InBev to form AB InBev in 2008, bought a 25 percent stake in Independent Ale Co., which ran Redhook Ales, in 1994. Jim Koch, the founder of Boston Beer Company, started calling the brewery “Budhook.”
1995 Bridgeport Brewery Gambrinus Company Gambrinus Company acquired its second brewery six years after it bought Spoetzl, this time in the Pacific Northwest. Bridgeport Brewery in Portland, Oregon, was purchased in 1995. Bridgeport purported to be “Oregon’s Oldest Craft Brewery” on its labels.
1997 Widmer Brothers Anheuser-Busch Anheuser-Busch purchased a 27 percent stake in Widmer Brothers Brewing Company for a reported $18.25 million in 1997.
1997 Mendocino Brewing United Breweries Group United Breweries Group, owned by the Mallya family of India's Kingfisher Beer, entered the U.S. market with the purchase of Mendocino Brewing Company. Further brewery acquisitions were completed under the Mendocino Brewing Company name.
1997 Humboldt Brewing United Breweries Group United Breweries Group purchased Humboldt Brewing as well as Mendocino Brewing.
1998 Pete's Brewing Gambrinus Company Gambrinus picked up its third brewery in 1998 with Pete's Brewing Company, which was based in Palo Alto, California. It was the second largest microbrewery in the country at the time, and a publicly traded company.
1998 Carmel Brewing United Breweries Group Carmel Brewing was added to the Mendocino Brewing Company's list of breweries, bringing the number of breweries operating under the Mendocino parent company to three.
1999 Gordon Biersch Big River Brewing Company Gordon Biersch, a restaurant and brewery focused on German beer, was acquired in 1999. It now operates 35 restaurants in the U.S.
2000 Saxer Brewing Portland Brewing Company Portland Brewing acquired the rights to sell the Saxer brand as a division of Portland Brewing in 2000.
2000 Nor'Wester Brewing Portland Brewing Company Portland Brewing acquired the rights to sell the Nor'Wester brand of beers as a division of Portland Brewing in 2000.
2001 Olde Saratoga Brewing United Breweries Group United Breweries Group added Olde Saratoga Brewing to the Mendocino Brewing name in 2001. Today the Saratoga brewery does contract beers for other labels and brews under its own name.
2003 Brewery Ommegang Duvel Moortgat The Belgium-based brewery Duvel Moortgat purchased the portion they did not control of Brewery Ommegang, which specializes in Belgian-style beers, in 2003. The Cooperstown brewery now operates under its parent company, Duvel Moortgat USA. The President of the Moortgat Brewery one of the original partners at Ommegang.
2004 Portland Brewing Pyramid Brewing Pyramid spent around $4.2 million to buy Portland Brewing and its assets. At the time, Pyramid positioned the purchase as better than a craft brewery being bought by a macro-brewery.
2008 Pyramid Brewing Independent Brewers United Independent Brewers United, the parent company of Magic Hat Brewing, acquired Pyramid Breweries in 2008.
2010 Independent Brewers United North American Breweries North American Breweries, a subsidiary of KPS Capital Partners, purchased Independent Brewers United, whose assets included Magic Hat and Pyramid.
2010 Butte Creek Brewing United Breweries Group Organic specialists Butte Creek was acquired by the United Breweries Group in 2010.
2010 Kona Brewing Craft Brew Alliance Redhook Ale and Widmer Brothers, both partially owned by Anheuser-Busch, created the Craft Brew Alliance in 2008. In 2010, Kona Brewing was folded into the mix. AB InBev now owns more than 30 percent of Craft Brew Alliance.
2010 Rock Bottom Brewery Centerbridge Capital Partners Centerbridge Capital Partners, a New York-based investment company, purchased Rock Bottom Brewery in 2010.
2010 Gordon Biersch Centerbridge Capital Partners Centerbridge Capital Partners, a New York-based investment company, also purchased Gordon Biersch in 2010, and merged it with Rock Bottom Brewery.
2011 Goose Island Brewing Company AB-InBev Despite numerous previous buyouts, AB-InBev's purchase of Goose Island made the biggest splash in the industry. The Craft Brewers Alliance, partially owned by AB-InBev, already had a 42 percent stake in Goose Island, but the complete buyout shocked other brewers and set the tone for future purchases.
2012 Schlafly Sage Capital Sage Capital, a St. Louis-based investment firm, acquired 60 percent of Schlafly, the brewery that dared to start operating in the same town as Anheuser-Busch, in 1991.
2012 North American Breweries Florida Ice & Farm Company North American Breweries, the KPS Capital subsidiary, was purchased by Florida Ice & Farm Co., a Costa Rican company, for $388 million.
2012 Terrapin Beer Company MillerCoors The MillerCoors craft division, Tenth and Blake, picked up a minority of shares of Terrapin Beer Company, which is based in Athens, Georgia.
2012 Utah Brewers Cooperative Fireman Capital Partners The Boston-based investment firm purchased a majority stake of the Utah Brewers Cooperative, which consists of Wasatch Brewery and Squatters Brewing.
2012 Angel City Brewing Boston Beer Company Boston Beer Company acquired Angel City Brewing in Los Angeles through Boston Beer Co.’s investment division, Alchemy & Science, or A&S.
2013 Coney Island Brewing Boston Beer Company Boston Beer Company acquired Coney Island Brewing in New York City via Alchemy & Science in 2013.
2014 Boulevard Brewing Duvel Moortgat The Belgian company purchased Kansas City’s Boulevard Brewing, which started in 1989, in 2014. It was the second American brewery purchased by Duvel Moortgat.
2014 Bluepoint Brewery AB-InBev AB InBev purchased Blue Point Brewing Company on Long Island, New York, for $24 million.
2014 Uinta Brewing The Riverside Company Uinta Brewing sold a partial stake to The Riverside Company, a private equity firm. A new Uinta CEO was announced simultaneously.
2014 SweetWater TSG Consumer Partners TSG Consumer Partners, a private equity firm, purchased a minority stake in SweetWater Brewing. In a statement, the sale was said to give liquidity for existing investors.
2014 Southern Tier Brewing Ulysses Management Private equity company Ulysses Management purchased a minority stake in Southern Tier Brewing, based in New York state.
2014 10 Barrel Brewing AB-InBev 10 Barrel Brewing, a brewery in Bend, Oregon, was purchased by AB-InBev in 2014.
2014 Alpine Beer Company Green Flash Brewing Alpine Beer was fully acquired by nearby San Diego-based Green Flash Brewing in November 2014. The deal made Alpine Beer a subsidiary of Green Flash, and under the agreement Green Flash will bottle Alpine’s beers.
2014 Founders Mahou Founders Brewing sold 30 percent of its organization to Mahou San Miguel, Spain’s largest brewing company.
2015 Bayhawk Ales Evans Brewing Company Bayhawk Ales, based in Orange County, California, passed control of the company to Evans Brewing company in 2013, but the deal was made official in 2015.
2015 Elysian Brewing AB-InBev AB InBev purchased Washington’s Elysian Brewing in 2015. Elysian’s best-selling pale ale at the time was called “Corporate Beer Still Sucks.”
2015 Full Sail Brewing Encore Consumer Capital Full Sail Brewing was previously owned by its employees in an employee stock option program before being bought out by the private equity fund Encore Consumer Capital.
2015 Oskar Blues Fireman Capital Partners Fireman Capital Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm, purchased a majority controlling stake in Oskar Blues in 2015.
2015 Perrin Brewing Fireman Capital Partners Boston-based investors Fireman Capital Partners, newfound majority stakeholders in Oskar Blues, among others, purchased a majority stake in Perrin Brewing in 2015.
2015 Abita Brewing Enjoy Beer LLC Enjoy Beer LLC, a craft beer investment group, made its first purchase when it bought an ownership stake in Abita Brewing. Enjoy Beer is run by the co-founder of Harpoon.
2015 American Sky Brewing Lucid Brewing Both breweries produced less than 5,000 barrels the year prior to this acquisition. Minnesota-based Lucid Brewing picked up Wisconsin's American Sky essentially for its tap room.
2015 Logsdon Farmhouse Ales Uptown Market LLC Oregon's Logsdon Farmhouse Ales was acquired by a bottle shop called Uptown Market, which was among the brewery's original investors.
2015 Firestone Walker Duvel Moortgat Duvel Moortgat announced an investment in Firestone Walker in 2015, and shared plans to combine Firestone with Boulevard Brewing. Firestone continues to operate in Paso Robles, California.
2015 Golden Road Brewing AB-InBev Golden Road, previously Los Angeles’s largest craft brewer, was purchased by AB InBev in 2015. Founding partner Meg Gill said she initiated conversations with AB InBev, not the other way around.
2015 Lagunitas Heineken Lagunitas, a previously fiercely independent brewery, sold 50 percent of its company to Heineken in 2015 to expand its international presence.
2015 Saint Archer Brewing MillerCoors San Diego’s Saint Archer Brewery announced a majority sale to MillerCoors the day after Lagunitas announced a 50 percent sale to Heineken.
2015 Dogfish Head LNK Partners Dogfish Head sold a 15-percent stake in the brewery to LNK Partners, a New York private equity firm, in 2015. Dogfish Head owner Sam Calagione said that he planned to buy back the shares in coming years.
2015 Ballast Point Brewing Constellation Constellation Brands, the U.S. distributor of Corona and Modelo, purchased Ballast Point for a then-unheard-of $1 billion.
2015 Breckenridge Brewing AB-InBev Breckenridge was Colorado’s sixth-largest craft brewer before the purchase. The buyout didn’t include Breckenridge's brewpubs.
2015 Four Peaks Brewing AB-InBev After 20 years in business, this Tempe, Arizona brewery was acquired by AB InBev in 2015.
2016 Cigar City Brewing Fireman Capital Partners Cigar City joined Fireman Capital Partners' beer division, United Craft Brews, in 2016. Comrades in arms included Oskar Blues, Perrin Brewing, and the Utah Brewers Cooperative (Wasatch and Squatters).
2016 Devils Backbone Brewing AB-InBev Devils Backbone was purchased by AB InBev in 2016. Co-founder Steve Crandall was on the board of the Brewers Association when the sale was announced, and had to step down because the purchase ended Devils Backbone's qualification as craft.
2016 Southend Brewery Lagunitas The Charleston, South Carolina brewpub sold a majority stake to Lagunitas in 2016. Part of the buyout included changing the name from Southend Brewery & Smokehouse to Lagunitas Taproom and Beer Sanctuary.
2016 Moonlight Brewing Lagunitas Lagunitas bought a partial stake in Moonlight Brewing in 2016, shortly after Heineken’s investment in Lagunitas.
2016 Independence Brewing Lagunitas As the third and final Lagunitas acquisition after Heineken's 50 percent investment, the company purchased a minority stake in Independence Brewing in Austin, Texas.
2016 Hop and Valley MillerCoors Hop and Valley, an Oregon brewery, was purchased by MillerCoors’s craft division, Tenth and Blake.
2016 Terrapin Brewing Company MillerCoors MillerCoors takes a larger stake in Terrapin after its 2012 minority stake. After the 2016 purchase, Terrapin operates as a business unit of MillerCoors' Tenth and Blake.
2016 Revolver Brewing MillerCoors The North Texas brewery sold to MillerCoors’s craft division, Tenth and Blake, in 2016.
2016 Brooklyn Brewery Kirin Holdings Company Brooklyn Brewery sold 24.5 percent to Kirin, Japan’s second-biggest brewer. The partnership allowed Brooklyn Brewery to use Kirin’s distribution arm to sell in Japan and Brazil.
2016 Victory Brewing Artisanal Brewing Ventures Victory Brewing was purchased by Ulysses Management, which owned a minority stake in Southern Tier. Victory and Southern Tier were combined into a holding company after the purchase called Artisanal Brewing Ventures.
2016 Karbach Brewing AB-InBev One of Houston’s fastest-growing breweries, Karbach, was purchased by AB InBev in 2016. It was founded in 2011.
2016 Deep Ellum Brewing Storied Craft Breweries Deep Ellum Brewing, which is one of the fastest growing breweries in Texas, sold a 56 percent stake to Storied Craft Breweries, an investment company founded by the creators of Effen Vodka.
2017 Wicked Weed AB-InBev Wicked Weed was acquired by AB InBev in 2017, igniting a fierce backlash. Shortly after the Wicked Weed purchase, AB InBev announced that it wasn’t looking to buy any more American craft breweries.
2017 Lagunitas Heineken Heineken completed the buyout of Lagunitas that it had initiated in 2015. Heineken announced at the time its plans to make Lagunitas the leading brewery in the company’s new American craft division, LUSH. The acronym stands for Lagunitas U.S. Holdings.
2017 The Bruery Castanea Partners The Bruery, a specialty brewery in California, sold a majority stake to the Massachusetts-based private equity firm Castanea Partners. Three board seats for The Bruery went to Castanea, and two stayed with The Bruery founders Patrick and Mike Rue.
2017 Monkey Paw Brewing Coronado Brewing Coronado Brewing purchased the Monkey Paw Brewing and its brewpub with the intention of quadrupling the brewpub’s business.
2017 Short's Brewing Lagunitas U.S. Holdings Short’s Brewing sold 19.99 percent of the company to LUSH. Short's also announced that it will not report to Heineken, which owns Lagunitas.
2017 Anchor Brewing Sapporo Anchor Brewing, America’s oldest craft brewery dating back to 1896, sold to Sapporo, Japan’s fourth-largest beer brand.
2017 Magnolia Brewing New Belgium San Francisco’s Magnolia Brewing announced bankruptcy and a team of brewers, including Elysian Founder Dick Cantwell, promptly bought it. The sale was positioned as a partnership for Magnolia’s two brewpubs. Cantwell left Elysian in 2015 after it was purchased by AB InBev.
2017 Funky Buddha Constellation Brands Constellation Brands added Florida’s Funky Buddha Brewing to its portfolio, which includes Ballast Point and Corona, in 2017.
2017 Lord Hobo Valterra Partners Lord Hobo Brewing launched in 2015 and rapidly expanded. To fund more growth, the company sold a minority stake to Valterra Partners, an investment firm with offices in New York and Massachusetts.

The Definitive Timeline Of Craft Beer Acquisitions

Key To The Timeline