Anheuser-Busch Acquires Seattle-Based Elysian Brewing Company

With the Super Bowl less than two weeks away, excitement about Seattle is in the air—and Anheuser-Busch is feeling it. This morning the AB InBev brewing giant added another craft brewing feather to its portfolio, announcing that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Seattle-based craft brewery Elysian Brewing Company. In a press release from Anheuser-Busch, the company talked about what makes Elysian a standout craft brewery worth investing in:

This marks AB InBev’s second West Coast craft brewing acquisition in almost as many months—in November 2014, the brewing company picked up Oregon’s 10 Barrel Brewing Company along with its brewpubs in Bend, Oregon and Boise, Idaho. Much like 10 Barrel, Elysian has also seen impressive growth—founded in 1995, the brewery today has considerable regional distribution into 11 states and abroad, and sold more than 50,000 barrels in 2014. The new partnership with Anheuser-Busch should also similarly help Elysian expand its scope of distribution in coming years. Also in the press release, Elysian CEO Joe Bisacca expressed excitement about what the support of a backer like Anheuser-Busch could mean for the brewery:

Anheuser-Busch acquired Elysian for an undisclosed sum, in a transaction that also includes four brewpubs (Elysian Capitol Hill, Elysian Tangletown, Elysian Fields and Elysian BAR) along with the brewery proper. The transaction is expected to be finalized by the end of Q1 2015.