CANarchy, one of the leading brewing groups in the United States with sales of about 350,000 bbls (410,000 hl) in 2017, will take over the premises of Lexington Avenue Brewery (LAB) in downtown Asheville, North Carolina and create a space for “experimentation and collaboration in beer, food and culture.”
The new restaurant and brewpub will be dubbed The CANarchy Collaboratory and will open in March 2019. As the name implies, The Collaboratory will specialize in innovative flavors and brewing methods; as well as creating limited-edition, small-batch collab beers from leading craft breweries both in Asheville and throughout the country. The space will also feature projects between top chefs, artists and musicians across the Asheville community. CANarchy plans to invest in significant renovations to the current layout that will allow for increased seating and brewing capacity.
The owner of Lexington Avenue Brewery, Mike Healy said, “After nine years at LAB and with a new baby at home, I’m looking for a change. I believe I’m leaving LAB in good hands with CANarchy – they have experience running successful brewpubs; plus, they’ll put time and resources into creating exciting new brews and experiences for craft beer drinkers in Asheville.”
Matt Fraser, President of CANarchy, said, “We feel that collaboration and innovation are essential to the future of the craft movement. CANarchy was founded as a collaboration between like-minded brewers dedicated to bringing high-quality, innovative flavors to drinkers in the name of craft beer. So collaboration is very much in our DNA.”
CANarchy is majority owned by Boston based private equity firm Fireman Capital Partners and is comprised of seven craft breweries, including Oskar Blues Brewery, Cigar City Brewing, Perrin Brewing Company, Squatters Craft Beers, Wasatch Brewery, Deep Ellum Brewing Company and Three Weavers Brewing Company. The group was founded in 2015 to provide a platform for breweries looking for resources to expand and compete in the craft beer segment while maintaining their independence. One year ago, the group which was formerly named Oskar Blues Brewing Holding changed its name to CANarchy to free itself from the name of its largest brewery and to reflect better the unique property of its breweries. (inside.beer, 29.11.2017)
