Anheuser-Busch announced today it is acquiring Golden Road Brewing, the largest craft brewery in Los Angeles County.
It is the fourth smaller brewery A-B has purchased since it first bought Goose Island Beer Co. In 2014 it acquired Blue Point Brewing, 10 Barrel Brewing and Elysian Brewing. In addition,s last month Goose Island subsidiary bought a majority stake in Michigan-based Virtue Cider.
The deal comes on the heals of news of other acquisitions. Most recently, MillerCoors acquired a majority stake in San Diego’s St. Archer Brewing Co. Not long before, Lagunitas Brewing announced a partnership with Heineken that traded 50% of the company for an undisclosed sum and unequaled access to the international marketplace.
Founded in 2011, Golden Road produced 30,000 barrels last year.
Golden Road plans to remain focused on its current distribution in California, Arizona and Las Vegas, but could expand to other states under A-B’s ownership. “As demand grows, hopefully we’ll look at what other states and countries look like,” company co-founder and president Meg Gill told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
St. Louis-based A-B, the U.S. subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev, said the sale includes Golden Road’s brewery, a pub in Los Angeles and a tasting room. Golden Road is adding a new tasting room this year, and a second production brewery and pub in Anaheim in late 2016.
Andy Goeler, A-B’s CEO of craft division, said Golden Road has created a passionate beer culture in its four years in operation. A-B continues to evaluate other craft brewery acquisition opportunities, he said.
“In addition to Budweiser and Bud Light, there’s a lot of demand for local beers and varieties of styles within those local beers,” said Andy Goeler, A-B’s CEO of craft division. “We’re always looking for other phenomenal companies to partner with to add to the portfolio.”
More from a press release; “A press release from A-B included As the largest craft brewery in Los Angeles County, Golden Road expects to sell approximately 45,000 barrels of beer in 2015 and can be found in more than 4,000 retail locations. With a brewery focused on draft and can production, a pub in Los Angeles and a new tasting room downtown. Additionally a new tasting room, opening in 2015, second production brewery and pub in Anaheim will be operational by the forth quarter of 2016. Its core brands – Point the Way IPA, Wolf Among Weeds IPA, Golden Road Hefeweizen and 329 Days of Sun Lager – represent 95 percent of volume. Along with the core beers, Golden Road brewers are constantly experimenting with the freshest ingredients through a collection of rotating, seasonal and limited-edition brews, most notably the Custom IPA Series, a line-up of diverse, hop-forward IPAs.”
In addition, A-B released this video.