Texas’ Bishop Cider Acquires Wild Acre Brewing, Assets of Legal Draft; Plans to Open 4 New Cidercade Locations

Dallas, Texas-based Bishop Cider has struck a deal to acquire Wild Acre Brewing in Fort Worth, as well as the assets of Legal Draft Beer Co. in Arlington, the 10-year-old cider maker announced Thursday. The planned acquisitions are part of an ambitious expansion plan to open four new entertainment spaces – one each in Dallas, Arlington and two in Fort Worth.

The transactions are expected to close by the end of May.

Bishop Cider, which was founded by Joel and Laura Malone, will operate seven locations, including four of its Cidercade restaurant and arcade venues, in Texas once the expansion project is completed. The company will employ 265 workers, up from its current 140.

“These are all-cash acquisitions and when new equipment has 12-18 month lead times, shockingly, acquisitions are faster,” Joel Malone told Brewbound.

Bishop Cider will continue producing beers under the Wild Acre brand, which was founded in 2014 by John Pritchett. Grant Wood, the co-founder and brewmaster of Revolver Brewing, is joining the company to dial in Wild Acre’s recipes while the brand will receive a refresh. The company is also investing in QA/QC equipment.

Bishop Cider said it acquired the assets of Legal Draft due to long lead-times for new equipment. However, the company did not assume Legal Draft’s “liabilities and will not market beer bearing the Legal Draft brand.” Legal Draft closed in March after six years in business.

As part of the expansion, Bishop Cider’s co-packing and manufacturing operation, TexBev, will relocate operations from Dallas to Wild Acre’s 200,000 sq. ft. warehouse space on 21 acres of land in Fort Worth. TexBev co-packs canned cold brew coffee, tea, juice, energy drinks, beer, wine and ready-to-drink offerings, and the business’ capacity will expand at the Wild Acre facility with the addition of equipment from Bishop’s Dallas cidery and Legal Draft’s brewery.

“John Pritchett has built a gorgeous facility,” Joel Malone said in a press release. “If you are an industrial manufacturing nerd like me, you get it. There’s some serious untapped infrastructure at that location and we plan to exploit it.”

In addition to the manufacturing piece at Wild Acre, Bishop Cider plans to open an entertainment concept at the Fort Worth facility.

Bishop Cider now operates three Cidercade restaurants and arcade bars in Dallas, Austin and Houston, with a fourth under construction in Fort Worth. The Fort Worth Cidercade location is slated to open by the end of the summer and will be the largest in the chain yet, with 25,000 sq. ft.

The Dallas Cidercade location will relocate to a new 79,000 sq. ft facility at a yet-to-be-announced date. In the interim, the existing Dallas Cidercade will continue operations until construction is completed on the new site.

The company also plans to open a Cidercade location in Arlington in the former Legal Draft location by the end of 2022.

Bishop Cider, which is sold and distributed in Texas, Oklahoma and a few northeast markets, has averaged more than 100% revenue growth year-over-year, with “sustained profitability even in 2020 when entertainment venues were closed due to the pandemic,” the company said in the release. In 2021, the company hosted nearly 1 million customers at its Cidercade locations, the company added.

Joel Malone shared that Bishop Cider sold just shy of 16,000 barrels in 2021, and the company is projecting around 20,000 barrels of production this year.