Talk about your bombshell announcements!
Anheuser-Busch InBev stunned the Arizona craft beer community this morning by announcing an agreement to purchase Four Peaks Brewing, the state’s largest and most venerable brewery. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.
‘‘We’re excited to join the enthusiastic team and tap into their resources to expand our footprint and share our beer with even more people moving forward,’’ says Four Peaks co-founder and brewmaster Andy Ingram.
Four Peaks opened in 1996 and will produce about 70,000 barrels of beer this year – more than double the amount of the second-largest Arizona brewery.
The sale includes Four Peaks’ original Eighth Street Brewery & Pub in Tempe, the Wilson Street Brewery & Tasting Room in Tempe, the Grill & Tap in Scottsdale, and the outlet at Sky Harbor airport.
Four Peaks becomes the latest in a string of craft breweries – including Goose Island, Blue Point, 10 Barrel, Elysian, and Golden Road – recently purchased by the world’s biggest beer company.
The sales have sparked huge controversy among craft beer fans, many of whom refuse to support any craft brewery owned by the makers of Budweiser and Bud Light.
Bloomberg News published a piece earlier this year asking whether the rise of craft beer – the biggest food-and-beverage industry trend of the past decade – can survive AB InBev’s strategy.
Two months ago, Time magazine warned of ‘‘Big Beer’s 5-Point Plan to Crush the Craft Beer Revolution.’’
Looks like the battle just came to Arizona.
