The Next Step for Anderson Valley Brewing
It’s not every day that a brewery with almost 25 years of craft brewing history gets sold, but that’s exactly what happened recently with Anderson Valley Brewing Company. On top of that, it was sold to a mysterious holdings group, of which we only knew that the primary investor had ties with US Beverages in the past. Then came the final line of the press release, “HMB Holdings, LLC is a new company devoted to bringing hand-crafted, small batch produced beer to as many American consumers as possible.” I have to admit, I didn’t have a good feeling about this sale.
Before I get into the sale, a brief history of me and Anderson Valley. My first craft beer was a Boont Amber Ale. I was 17, sitting in a beer garden in Berkeley, and a pitcher of this amber brew was sitting before me. It blew me away, I had no idea that beer could taste this way. Since then, I’ve always been a fan of Anderson Valley beers, always giving them the benefit of the doubt when a new release came along.
Lately, the Boonville Beer has seem to have gone into hibernation. Seasonal releases continue to come out twice a year, but a new beer hasn’t hit the shelves since the 20th Anniversary Imperial IPA in 2007. The tables at festivals seemed to be less crowded as people had “been there, done that.” I likened their position to that of other craft beer pioneers Sierra Nevada, Full Sail and Mendocino Brewing. Sierra Nevada made changes, updated their look with new seasonals, new ideas, and in my opinion is now better than ever. Full Sail and Mendocino waited, and if you ask me, are no longer relevant on the craft beer scene, not to the degree that they had been anyway.
So with a new sale and a couple years of quietly doing the same thing, where would Boonville be headed?
After having sat down with with new owner Trey White, I’d have to say the future of Anderson Valley seems rather bright. He assured me that the famous Boonville Beer Festival will indeed be around in the future and even threw out the idea of hosting additional events. On the topic of beer he had ideas on new packaging as well as a specialty draft lineup to spark interest in the brewery. White appeared very excited about the raw materials at their disposal and the talented staff already in place. He also assured me that previous owner Ken Allen will continue to be a part of the Anderson Valley Brewing team.
“When Ken got into this business he was about my age,” White told me. “In a way, we’re just reloading for the future.”
When asked about the HMB Holdings group, White expressed his regret in using the name in the press release. For the purpose of the sale, the holdings name was needed. With the sale officially having gone through on Thursday of last week, He and his wife are the sole owners of Anderson Valley Brewing Company. There need not be any fear of a corporation owning another Mendocino County brewery.
If you’re headed to the Boonville Beer Festival this year, keep an eye out for the new owner as well as the RateBeer and Hop Press crew.
5 Comments to “The Next Step for Anderson Valley Brewing”
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Good to hear that AVBC is in good hands. I will disagree that Full Sail is no longer relevant. Maybe not popular in the current barrel aged zeitgest but I hear about them frequently on a show called Beer O’Clock hosted by your fellow HopPresser.
I hope the new folks are reading this:
Ensure your beer is taken care of better. If you want to get this beer out to more people, make sure that it hasn’t been sitting on a hot shelf at Bevmo, Cost Plus World Market, or Trader Joes for months. Hop Ottin should be hoppy and clean, not gross.
Full Sail reinvented themselves in the last few years, and are much more relevant because of it. They have their Brewmaster Series, Session Series and LTD Series going in full force.
I have to agree Full Sail is alive and well for us folks here in Oregon and as a cooperatively owned brewery they really have that collective attitude toward craft beer.
I too had a sinking feeling at the announcement of the sale. Since then the more I’ve learned about Trey the more I like AVBC’s future. Looks like Ken found a great fit. Cheers!
Kevin
Maybe it’s as Dan says about the freshness of beer and the choice of retailers who carry your beer. Full Sail here in the Bay Area tends to be kept at room temperature, typically marked down for discount, and really not that interesting.
I have to say I did try their Black Gold from the Brewmaster’s Series and enjoyed it.
I’m always willing to give breweries a second (or third, or fourth) chance when changes have been made, so I will do my best to try Full Sail and ensure that it is fresh. Thanks for the comments in support of Full Sail.