Oskar Blues Brewing Holding Co, the tenth largest craft brewing group in the US with nearly 350,000 barrels (417.000 hl) in 2016, has 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
Colorado-based Oskar Blues Brewery, which is part of the group together with Michigan’s Perrin Brewing, Tampa’s Cigar City, and Utah’s Salt Lake Brewing, including the two brands Squatters and Wasatch, was one of the first craft breweries to eschew glass bottles and to launch the canning trend in 2002.
The group is majority owned by Fireman Capital Partners, a Boston private equity firm. In contrast to other groups the breweries within the holding act independently. The fact that the brewers have full control of their business and brand and that they are not majority owned by another mega brewer, makes them a craft brewery according to current Brewers’ Association guidelines. The platform helps its members to share industry knowledge and networks and to leverage already existing relationships with raw materials suppliers through collective buying.
Keith Klopcic, who left West Side Beer Distributing to become CEO of Perrin Brewing after Oskar Blues bought 100 percent of the Michigan brewery in March 2015, said: “The collective experience of CANarchy allowed us to implement a canning line nearly overnight, expanding our core brands beyond the tap and strengthening Perrin across the Midwest.”
Justin Clark, COO of Cigar City Brewing, which joined the group in March 2016, added: “CANarchy has increased our production to meet the growing demand of Cigar City beers and expanded our out-of-state distribution to get our Florida born beers into the hands of more craft beer drinkers.”
