Brooklyn Brewery to be acquired by Miller-Coors

The following piece was an April Fools Day prank that we published on April 1, 2011. This is NOT a real news story, and the suckers who believed it was are now kicking themselves for being so gullible.

BROOKLYN, NY, APRIL 1 — In a move that stunned many on New York’s craft beer scene, a successful craft brewery has been purchased by a global beer conglomerate for the second time this week. On the heels of Anheuser-Busch’s acquisition of Chicago’s Goose Island, MillerCoors, a joint venture of SABMiller and Molson Coors, has announced that it has purchased the majority stake in Brooklyn Brewery. The details of the sale were not disclosed, but initial estimates suggest a $25 million deal.

The deal will place Brooklyn under the umbrella of Tenth and Blake Beer Company, MillerCoors’ new craft beer arm that is responsible for domestic crafts like Blue Moon and Leinenkugel as well as imports like Peroni and Grolsch.

“We’re excited to bring Brooklyn Brewery - with a long history of brewing great craft beer - under our wing,” said Tom Cardella, Tenth and Blake’s CEO, in a joint news conference with Brooklyn Brewery co-founder Steve Hindy. “This is an exciting period for this segment of the beer industry and we’re glad to have the opportunity to use this acquisition to continue to help grow this segment.”

Under the agreement, Brooklyn’s distribution will expand to 46 states, but all brewing of Brooklyn products will be relocated to MillerCoors’ facilities in Shenandoah, Virginia and Golden, Colorado. Brewing will cease at their Utica, New York facility once the transition is complete. In addition, the recently-expanded Brooklyn facility will be placed on the market. Cardella notes that the Brooklyn space is “valuable real estate that can be leveraged toward greater profitability in the future.” He hopes to sell the facility by April 1, 2012.

Departing Brooklyn brewmaster Garrett Oliver is moving on to greener pastures, citing, “I’ve been brewing for over 20 years now, and it’s time to ride off into the sunset.” He will stay on in a consulting capacity until complete shutdown of the Brooklyn facility, developing a new selection of Brooklyn beers that will utilize corn and rice as part of the grain bill. The first - Brooklyn Genuine Draft - will be a crisp, fizzy American Adjunct Lager that clocks in at 3.7% ABV and under 95 calories.

It’s safe to say that for the craft beer industry, this has been an exhausting week that happens to end on April 1st. We’ll keep you apprised of more details on the deal as they become available.

Happy April Fools’ Day, beer drinkers!

April 1, 2011

10 notes /