Brewery sells to Colorado company

Brewery sells to Colorado company

Comstock Park-based Perrin Brewing Co. is part of Oskar Blues Holding Co. Photo via fb.com

A growing craft brewery that distributes in Michigan has been purchased by a brewery with an international distribution footprint.

Oskar Blues Brewing Co. in Longmont, Colo. said today that it has purchased Perrin Brewing Co. in Comstock Park.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The transaction is expected to close in the next 60 days.

“Industry challenges”

Perrin Brewing was started in 2012 by clothing manufacturer Randy Perrin.

In 2014, Perrin brewed 14,000 barrels of beer and sent it to more than 700 tap accounts across Michigan.

Perrin Brewing partner Jarred Sper said that it’s been “staggering to see the state of Michigan get behind Perrin over the past few years."

“We’re stoked to join forces with Oskar Blues amongst increased competition, capacity and growing industry challenges,” Sper said.

The acquisition is “a radical thing,” said Dale Katechis, founder, Oskar Blues.

“We dig the Michigan craft scene and what the guys at Perrin are doing,” Katechis said. “Perrin and Oskar Blues have the same mindset towards the craft industry, and this partnership will allow us to share information and get after it with one another.”

Former partners

In December, the breweries collaborated on a beer, Cornlaboration.

In February, Oskar Blues said that it intends to buy small craft breweries across the country.

The partnership between the breweries developed into a conversation relating Oskar Blues large-scale growth and expansion to Perrin’s local brand.

Setting up the deal

The former owner of West Side Beer Distributing, Keith Klopcic, orchestrated the sale.

He showed the brewery to Katechis last year.

“I took Dale Katechis out to Perrin to show him the brewery, and he was blown away by the facility, incredible beers and culture of Perrin,” Klopcic said.

Leadership

Klopcic will replace Randy Perrin as the president of Perrin Brewing Co.

Perrin’s brother, Dan, and partner Sper will continue to run the brewery, along with head brewer and production manager John Stewart.

“To truly partner and align ourselves with a renegade craft brewery like Oskar Blues and then to be led by Keith Klopcic is literally catching lightning in a bottle — er can,” Sper said. “It’s beyond words at this point, and everyone at Perrin Brewing can’t wait to see what planet this rocket ship is gonna land on.”

Oskar Blues

Oskar Blues was started in Lyons, Colo. in 1997 by Katechis and has taken off to brew more than 150,000 barrels and distributes in 42 states and several nations worldwide.

The brewery has two production facilities, one in Longmont and one in Brevard, N.C.

Oskar Blues began distributing its beers, including the flagship Dale’s Pale Ale, in Michigan in 2013.

It was one of the first craft breweries to stand behind the use of cans.

“Challenging the craft collaboration concept and taking it to the next level with Keith and the Perrin crew is exciting,” Katechis said. “Growing Oskar Blues and engaging new communities across the country has been a ton of fun and has given us the experience we can bring to a partner like Perrin to hit the next gear.”

Acquisition trend

Oskar Blues announced its intentions to buy craft breweries following the recent sales of Elysian Brewing Co. in Seattle and 10 Barrel Brewing Co. in Bend, Ore. to AB InBev this winter.

Oskar Blues is backed by the Waltham, Mass. investment firm Firemen Capital Partners, which could help the brewery buy up to six other small breweries.

Founders Brewing Co. in Grand Rapids sold a 30-percent stake in ownership to Spanish brewing giant Mahou San Miguel late last year.

Other craft breweries have bought smaller craft breweries in the past, such as Green Flash Brewing Co. in San Diego acquiring its cross-town competitor Alpine Beer Co. last year.