Smuttynose parent company Finestkind Brewing has acquired Wachusett Brewing in a deal that will unite two New England legacy craft beer brands.
Smuttynose will eventually produce Wachusett beers at its Hampton, New Hampshire-based facility. Sixty Wachusett employees, including the company’s hospitality team, will join Finestkind, which represents about 90% of all Wachusett employees.
The deal includes Wachusett’s Westminster, Massachusetts-based facility and equipment, as well as the brand and intellectual property.
“This acquisition is a strategic step in our market expansion,” Smuttynose CEO Steve Kierstead said in a press release. “Wachusett’s strong market presence and additional 15,000 [barrels] notably increase our total annual volume to over 50,000 [barrels], marking a new chapter in our growth story.”
For roughly the first two months, both brands will be produced at scale in their respective breweries.
“The ultimate plan is to have a smaller brew system at the Wachusett facility for R&D, while larger volume commercial production will take place in New Hampshire,” a spokesperson told Brewbound.
This is the second acquisition Smuttynose has made in recent months. In November, it acquired Brooklyn, New York-based Five Boroughs Brewing, and at the time Kierstead told Brewbound Smuttynose had “a large appetite for more M&A.”
Both breweries were founded in 1994 and will turn 30 this year. Co-founders Ned LaFortune, Peter Quinn and Kevin Buckler started brewing what would become Wachusett beers on LaFortune’s family farm. After literally draining the farm’s well several times, they found a nearby location to install custom-built brewhouse cobbled together from used dairy equipment, according to a Yankee Brew News story in 1995.
Wachusett’s year-round portfolio includes Blueberry Ale, Blood Orange Ale, Country Pale Ale, Mass Soul IPA, MASSive Haze IPA, Wally Juice IPA, Wally IPA and Sir Veza. Seasonally, the brewery also offers Quinn’s Amber Ale, Summer Ale, Strawberry Belgian ale, Oktoberfest, Pumpkin Ale, Frosty Day IPA and West Coast IPA.
Finestkind plans to focus on Wachusett’s core offerings to build on the momentum the brand had last year.
“The brand actually grew slightly in 2023, so we plan to accelerate some of the initiatives they had in place to build on the core and focus on what is working, like Blueberry,” Kierstead said.
No changes to Wachusett’s product line up are planned in the near future, Kierstead said.
“Not right away,” he said. “We need to get to know the brand and see what is working and what isn’t before making any changes.”
Both of Wachusett’s Brew Yards at its Westminster facility and in Worcester will remain open, Kierstead said.
Smuttynose and Wachusett have some overlap in their distributor footprint, but the addition of Wachusett’s portfolio will require onboarding new distributors in Connecticut and Rhode Island. In New Hampshire, Amoskeag Beverages distributes both brands, as does the Sheehan Family Companies network in Massachusetts (Seaboard Products, L. Knife & Son, Craft Massachusetts).
Wachusett distributors that do not also sell Smuttynose include Atlas Distributing in central Massachusetts, Craft Connecticut and Star Distributors in Connecticut, and McLaughlin & Moran in Rhode Island.
Wachusett’s production peaked at an estimated 69,491 barrels of beer in 2018, which included contract brewing for other brands. The company’s output was cut in half in 2019, down to 30,922 barrels (-56%), according to the Brewers Association (BA).
The brewery’s volume has declined double digits in each of the last three years: -12% in 2020, to 27,250 barrels; -14% in 2021, to 23,500 barrels; -22% in 2022, to 18,345 barrels. 2023 production numbers are not yet available.
A group led by cider entrepreneur Brett Williams acquired a stake in Wachusett in September 2020. Wachusett co-founder Ned LaFortune retained his ownership stake in the business at the time.
Smuttynose’s volume declined -11%, to 19,150 barrels in 2022, according to the BA. Five Boroughs produced 10,079 barrels (-7% from 2021) in 2022.
In addition to its now three beer brands, Finestkind also produces Island District Cocktails, ready-to-drink, vodka- and tequila-based cocktails. The company has its sights on becoming a bigger craft beverage platform.
“We’re exploring new territories, including non-alcoholic beverages and RTDs, and are in talks with potential partners to further diversify our beverage lineup, ” Kierstead said in the release.