The craft-on-craft partnership trend has reached the Bay Area.
San Francisco-based Fort Point Beer Co. and Sonoma County-headquartered HenHouse Brewing Company are merging to form Fort Point HenHouse Inc.
The Fort Point and HenHouse brands will continue to operate independently of one another, maintaining their individual and complementary portfolios.
As part of the merger, Fort Point co-founder and CEO Justin Catalana will serve as CEO of the combined entity, while HenHouse co-founder and CEO Collin McDonnell will operate as chief sales officer.
Fort Point co-founders Dina Dobkin and Mike Schnebeck will continue their roles as chief brand officer and chief financial officer, respectively. HenHouse co-founder Shane Goepel will take the role of chief production officer.
“The merger enables us to truly future-proof our business while doubling down on our values,” Catalana said in the announcement. “Often craft breweries turn to national expansion or corporate acquisition to achieve long-term viability, but Fort Point and HenHouse have never been ones to follow existing playbooks. Through collaboration, we’re able to double our production and sales volume overnight, all while staying independent and maintaining a local focus.”
McDonnell added that the merger is about deepening their presence in the Bay Area, not expanding territory.
“With Fort Point based in SF, HenHouse in Sonoma County, highly differentiated flagship beers, and diverse product portfolios, there’s a clear path to local growth,” he continued. “Our brands complement each other – they’re not competitive.”
Fort Point produced an estimated 24,971 barrels of beer in 2023, while HenHouse’s output reached an estimated 18,978 barrels, according to production data from the Brewers Association (BA). Their combined output (43,949 barrels of beer) would have placed them just outside of the BA’s top 50 list of independent craft brewing companies in 2023.
The combined company is expected to produce around 40,000 barrels of beer in 2025, which the company said would position it as the fifth largest craft brewery in Northern California.
The distribution networks for Fort Point and HenHouse are 95% aligned, with around 90% of the breweries’ business in the Bay Area with Matagrano, Morris, and Markstein, director of marketing Christina Shatzen told Brewbound.
Fort Point and HenHouse are expected to retain their individual teams.
The merger may not be the last for Fort Point HenHouse. Dobkin said the company may “build a broader collective of craft breweries in the Bay Area in the future.”
HenHouse and Fort Point were founded in 2013 and 2014, respectively. HenHouse runs taprooms in Santa Rosa, Petaluma and Novato, while Fort Point operates a headquarters in San Francisco and a taproom on Valencia Street, as well as a beer garden at the Ferry Building.
The Fort Point-HenHouse merger follows similar craft-on-craft deals in recent months, including in Colorado with the combinations of Wilding Brands (Denver Beer, Stem Ciders) and Great Divide, as well as the merger of Left Hand and Dry Dock; and in New England with the formation of Barrel One Collective, led by Harpoon, Wachusett and Smuttynose; Lord Hobo and Lone Pine; and Hendler Family Brewing Company (Jack’s Abby, Night Shift and Wormtown).
Northern California was ahead of the trend – San Leandro-based Drake’s acquired Cloverdale-based Bear Republic in early 2023.