http://www.beerscribe.com/2009/11/24/welcome-to-the-age-of-craft-brewery-consolidation-long-trail-to-buy-otter-creek-brewing/ Dedicated to the art, complexity, and business of beer... Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:23:56 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 http://www.beerscribe.com/2009/11/24/welcome-to-the-age-of-craft-brewery-consolidation-long-trail-to-buy-otter-creek-brewing/comment-page-1/#comment-857 Lew Bryson Wed, 25 Nov 2009 04:20:20 +0000 http://www.beerscribe.com/?p=335#comment-857 We saw what happens when this doesn't work out so smoothly at Penn Brewery in Pittsburgh. Tom Pastorius founded the brewery in 1987, built it up slowly -- as befits a lager brewery -- through a mix of in-house and contract brewing, then finally realized that his family was not interested in continuing with the business, that he was approaching retirement age, and that the lack of capital that had kept Penn small was not getting better. He sold a majority share of the business to venture capitalists, then sold more to them...and watched them mis-manage the company almost into oblivion. He gathered some investors and bought the company back this weekend. So the company's saved. The beer continues. And now Tom has to find a new exit strategy, just as he was beginning to enjoy retirement. This is not going to be easy. We saw what happens when this doesn’t work out so smoothly at Penn Brewery in Pittsburgh. Tom Pastorius founded the brewery in 1987, built it up slowly — as befits a lager brewery — through a mix of in-house and contract brewing, then finally realized that his family was not interested in continuing with the business, that he was approaching retirement age, and that the lack of capital that had kept Penn small was not getting better. He sold a majority share of the business to venture capitalists, then sold more to them…and watched them mis-manage the company almost into oblivion. He gathered some investors and bought the company back this weekend.
So the company’s saved. The beer continues. And now Tom has to find a new exit strategy, just as he was beginning to enjoy retirement.
This is not going to be easy.

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