Craft brewers continue to find strength in numbers.
Hendler Family Brewing (HFB) and Sloop Brewing have forged a strategic partnership in which the Framingham, Massachusetts-based brewery platform will take over production, sales and marketing for the Hopewell Junction, New York-based craft brewery’s portfolio, including flagship Juice Bomb IPA (6.5% ABV).
“There’s been a lot of talk over the last couple of years about the pressures facing craft beer,” HFB co-founder and CEO Sam Hendler told Brewbound. “Brewers need to either get large or be smaller and nimble, and I think this transaction essentially does both.”
HFB has grown larger through two high-profile acquisitions in 2024, adding fellow Massachusetts craft breweries Wormtown and Night Shift to its Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers portfolio. The company also operates a contract brewing arm in Jack’s Beverage Company. Combined, the platform’s output reached 86,000 barrels (+1% year-over-year [YoY]) and ranked 38th among BA-defined craft breweries by volume last year.
Under HFB’s arrangement with Sloop, no equity will change hands. Sloop will maintain ownership and control of its taproom and production facility, which will focus on innovation. No jobs will be lost as a result of the partnership, the leaders confirmed.
“We’ve been long admirers of Sloop,” Hendler said. “Obviously, as we’re trying to build up the contract brewing side of our business – and Sloop has had a need for additional volumes beyond their capacity in New York for years now – we’ve been in some level of conversations with Sloop about brewing beer here.
“The conversation evolved as their needs evolved,” he continued. “So last year, conversations transitioned to, ‘Is there a way to better leverage the capabilities of both companies that would allow for Sloop to be stronger and more stable, and Hendler Family Brewing to be stronger and more stable?’”
Sloop reached the 25,000-barrel ceiling of its brewery’s capacity years ago, and needed a new partner after an alternating proprietorship with Smuttynose Brewing, now part of the Barrel One Collective, wound down, Sloop co-founder Adam Watson told Brewbound.
Founded in 2011, Sloop’s output reached 25,300 barrels in 2019, according to data from the Brewers Association (BA), necessitating off-site production. In 2024, the brewery’s volume dipped 17% YoY, to 26,359 barrels, down from 31,854 barrels in 2023.
“We were looking for a partner,” Watson said. “I don’t love contract brewing. I think it adds another layer to the three-tier system, and eats up margin and is not necessary. We were talking to Sam and his team forever about contract brewing, and it just fit with them for a number of reasons.
“We’re like-minded people – Sam, his brothers and his team. We align,” he continued. “They’re good people. They’re normal people. They’re not crazy business people – they’re just down-to-earth, regular guys. So that went a long way.
“Also, the fact that our distribution partners, our wholesalers are so aligned makes it very easy. So it really just fit. And once we found a structure that worked, just everything fell into place.”
The vast majority (87.5%) of Sloop’s volume flows through distributors that also carry HFB brands, Hendler said. Both companies had largely been aligned with Sheehan Family Companies distributors, and remain in Sheehan houses in their respective home states (Craft New York, Union Beer, Craft Massachusetts).
“The biggest chunk of misalignment is New Jersey,” Hendler said.
After the Sheehan family sold Hunterdon Brewing, its craft-centric Garden State subsidiary, the HFB portfolio went to Remarkable Liquids, while Sloop went to the state’s Anheuser-Busch InBev network. Similar mismatches can be found in other states where the Sheehans sold their craft distributors, including New Hampshire and Maine.
Sloop marks HFB’s first official relationship with a brewery outside of Massachusetts, though the partnership is different from HFB’s 2024 acquisitions of Wormtown and Night Shift. Hendler is “doubtful” more interstate relationships will materialize and pointed out that HFB’s personal and professional connections to Sloop’s Hudson Valley location makes the relationship unique.
“New York was our second biggest market, so this really strengthens our footprint in what was a critical market for us already,” he said. “Obviously, Sloop is so much larger than Jack’s is in New York, but it’s still a massively important market for Jack’s.
“It’s the market that Jack’s has been in the longest, other than Massachusetts,” he continued. “It’s actually our first market we added after we opened. It made a ton of sense. My brothers and I are also from New York. We grew up less than an hour away from Sloop and there’s definitely a lot of excitement for us getting a stronger foothold in a market that means a lot to us.”
HFB’s output including its three brands and contract volume is on pace to surpass 100,000 barrels in 2025, Hendler said.
“Being local remains extremely important,” Hendler said. “Where we’re seeing strength on our brands is largely in Massachusetts. We are seeing a lot of strength with the Jack’s Abby brand, probably the one exception.
“There’s more tailwinds than ever on lager production,” he continued.
Within the Jack’s Abby all-lager portfolio, Post Shift Pilsner is “really healthy,” Shipping Out of Boston amber lager is growing and the seasonal family is “up north of 40%,” Hendler said.
Wormtown Be Hoppy IPA “absolutely crushes the IPA category in Massachusetts,” where it “remains a top-five brand in Mass. craft,” Hendler said. Night Shift Fluffy IPA is “really coming into form as a top SKU” and Nite Lite’s rebrand “has been really well-received.” The company’s variety packs are growing near double-digits.
However, flagship Jack’s Abby House Lager is down, Hendler said.
“It’s a mixed bag,” he said. “I wish I could say everything was growing, but that’s not the time we live in. The brands are stable, finding strength at home and finding some nice tailwinds in the lager space beyond home.”
For Sloop, two new SKUs have driven “a lot of success”: Sloop Cruiser (4.2% ABV) – a golden ale with lemon peel – and New York Pale Ale (5.2% ABV), which is brewed with New York-grown ingredients and only sold in the state.
“New York Pale Ale specifically is doing very well right now, so we’re hitting the whole market with that pretty strong,” Watson said, adding the company is exploring a philanthropic partnership with a local organization.
Broadly, Watson said he has noticed THC-infused drinks have siphoned off drinkers’ attention and “obviously, people are just drinking less in general.” Sloop is monitoring state-level legislation that would bring hemp-derived, THC-infused beverages out of the legal gray area, but has no interest in entering the space until that time, he said. Hendler echoed the sentiment.
Until then, both companies are focused on their largely craft-centric portfolios (Night Shift Hoot Seltzer being the exception).
“We’re very excited,” Watson said. “With this partnership with Hendler Family Brewing, we’re going to be able to really hit the ground running in ’26.”