Craft mergers in Massachusetts continue apace.
Orleans-based Hog Island Beer Co. has struck a deal to acquire Plymouth-based Mayflower Brewing, the companies announced this week.
The acquisition brings together two breweries who sit across Cape Cod Bay from one another, Mayflower in the last mainland Massachusetts town before the bridges to Cape Cod (technically an island) and Hog Island nestled inside the flexed-arm-shaped cape’s elbow.
“Mayflower is a respected name with deep roots and an amazing story,” Hog Island founder Mike McNamara said in a press release. “This acquisition is about preserving that legacy while positioning both brands for long-term growth in a challenging and evolving market. We believe in the strength of community, the importance of storytelling, and, of course, making great beer.”
The deal is expected to close once Mayflower’s operating licenses have been transferred to new ownership, Mayflower founder Drew Brosseau told Brewbound.
Mayflower opened in 2007 when Massachusetts was home to fewer than 50 craft breweries, according to data from the Brewers Association (BA). The brewery sells beer in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont and Maine. Hog Island was founded in 2012 and opened its taproom in 2014, according to its website.
“We could not be more excited about having Mike and the team at Hog Island usher in the next era of growth and prosperity for Mayflower,” Brosseau said in the release. “Their passion for quality and commitment to community is exactly what I envisioned for Mayflower’s future.”
In Mayflower, Hog Island acquires additional production capacity at the brewery’s 9,000 sq. ft. facility, which has a 20-barrel brewhouse and annual capacity of 15,000 barrels, as well as kegging and canning lines, according to its website.
In 2023, the most recent year for which BA data is available, Mayflower produced 4,038 barrels of beer and Hog Island produced 1,104 barrels.
At the beginning of 2025, Mayflower shut down its self-distribution business in eastern Massachusetts and sold its brand rights to the state’s Sheehan Family Companies network.
During Mayflower’s self-distribution tenure, Sheehan’s Craft Massachusetts had been selling Mayflower’s portfolio in Central and Western Massachusetts, Brosseau told Brewbound. In addition, Mayflower is now distributed by L. Knife and Son (south of Boston, Cape Cod, Islands), Seaboard Products (north of Boston) and Craft Massachusetts (Boston).
The Sheehan network also sells Hog Island across Massachusetts, so the merged breweries will have synergy in their distribution operations.
Elsewhere in New England, Mayflower is distributed by McLaughlin & Moran in Rhode Island, Pine State in Maine, Northeast Beverage in Connecticut and the now-closed VT Beer Shepherd in Vermont, Brosseau said.
All full-time and part-time Mayflower employees will keep their jobs following the merger, Brosseau said, but added he will depart the company.
Both Mayflower and Hog Island’s retail locations will continue to operate after the acquisition, Brosseau said. In addition to its brewery taproom, Mayflower’s seasonal beer gardens – one at the brewery and one at multi-use development, The Pinehills, also located in Plymouth – are also included and will run again this year.
Hog Island operates taprooms at its brewery and at Hog Island Surf Lodge in Wellfleet, farther out on Cape Cod.
The Bay State has become a hotbed for craft M&A. At the end of 2024, two of the region’s largest craft platforms – Mass. Bay Brewing and FinkestKind, the parent companies of Harpoon and Smuttynose, respectively – merged to form Barrel One Collective. The platform features several legacy New England craft brands, including Wachusett, Long Trail, Otter Creek and Catamount. Barrel One was the 13th largest craft brewery in the country by volume in 2024, according to the BA.
Weeks before that deal, Norwood-based Castle Island announced it acquired the intellectual property of Cambridge Brewing Company, which closed its brewpub after 35 years.
In November 2024, Woburn-based Lord Hobo merged with Portland, Maine-based Lone Pine Brewing. With the backing of Lord Hobo’s principal investor Valterra Partners, the merged company plans to build out a larger regional craft platform.
Framingham-based Hendler Family Brewing (HFB), parent company of Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers, acquired Everett-based Night Shift Brewing in October 2024 and Worcester-based Wormtown Brewery in April 2024. The platform was the 32nd largest craft brewery in the country by volume in 2024, according to the BA.
Massachusetts was home to 224 craft breweries in 2023, which ranked it 16th in the country, according to the BA. There were 4.2 breweries for every 100,000 legal-drinking-age adults, ranking the commonwealth 26th for breweries per capita nationwide.
The commonwealth’s craft brewing industry generated $1.48 billion in economic impact and produced a combined 448,398 barrels of beer in 2023, per the BA.