Big Beer buys Northern Brewer

Photo via Northern Brewer Facebook page

Roseville-based Northern Brewer Homebrew Supply, the largest homebrewing supplier in the country, and its sister company Midwest Supplies have been acquired by a venture capital arm of Anheuser-Busch InBev.

The Growler first caught wind of a potential acquisition from a tip pointing us a homebrew forum last week. Since then, Beer Marketer’s Insights has reported that Northern has “partnered” with ZX Ventures, a report confirmed by ZX Ventures in an email to The Growler. The company released a statement from their Global VP of Homebrewing, Cassiano Hissnauer:

“ZX Ventures, AB InBev’s disruptive growth organization, is pleased to share we have partnered with Northern Brewer. The team there shares our passion for brewing and commitment to the best ingredients. Northern Brewer has been a leader in homebrewing for more than 20 years, and has built an extraordinary network and community of homebrewers. ZX Ventures is excited to enter the homebrew space to help Northern Brewer to grow.”

Northern Brewer’s Todd Jackson released this statement to The Growler:

We have seen tremendous growth in homebrewing in the nearly 25 years since Chris Farley founded Northern Brewing. Our community continues to expand as does the diversity of quality ingredients and equipment available. While Northern’s family has widened exponentially since 1993, we have never lost our identity. Our employees and managers come to work every day with a commitment to be the best in the industry. Period. Someday we want homebrewing to be as common a household craft in America as gardening or cooking. But we know we won’t get there through complacency.

So we have been acquired by ZX Ventures, the disruptive growth unit of AB InBev, to help take our company and our passion for brewing great beer to the next level. I want to be clear about what this means for Northern Brewer. Nothing will fundamentally change in as the result of this deal—in fact, things will only get better. Northern’s leadership team will remain in charge and the company will continue to be independent. Our staff of dedicated employees will continue to serve and help our industry innovate. Our culture will remain as it is today: vibrant, energetic, fair and dedicated to our mission and our customers.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Northern Brewer Founder Chris Farley has since issued a formal statement about the sale.