USA, WA: Elysian’s head brewer quits after sale to Anheuser-Busch InBev

A Seattle craft brewing pioneer quit on April 13th, citing his successful company’s recent sale to Anheuser-Busch InBev as the catalyst for his departure, Seattlepi reported on the same day.

Dick Cantwell, head brewer and co-founder of the Elysian Brewing Company, wrote to the Washington Beer Blog on April 13th to announce his resignation.

Cantwell made his feelings about Elysian’s January sale to Anheuser-Busch InBev clear. According to the Washington Beer Blog’s reporting of Cantwell’s email, he said:

“Just wanted to let you that about half an hour ago I resigned from Anheuser-Busch. The tenor of the deal, mainly from the point of view of my former partners and me, was such that I can’t possibly work with them into a future of any duration. My concerns were never even considered as a factor. … From the start it was me against everyone else, with no regrets expressed. Enough about that.”

“In the past few months AB has treated me with consideration and seriousness, and they’ve presented me some pretty exciting future possibilities, should I be able to see my way clear to working for them. But I can’t. I am a craft brewer, past, present and future, no matter what I end up doing.”

Elysian, which includes four Seattle brewpubs and a full production brewery in Georgetown, is famous for its Immortal IPA and Men’s Room, as well as its seasonal brews. In addition to its popular bars and brewpubs, its beer is seen in stores all over the Northwest, as well as in several more states.

Its other two co-founders are Joe Bisacca and David Buhler.

Anheuser-Busch InBev, as of 2013, owns about 50 percent of the U.S. market share of beer and about 20 percent of the global share, according to Euromonitor International.

Elysian, founded in 1995, sold more than 50,000 barrels of beer in 2014, with the Immortal IPA accounting for more than one-fourth of those sales. It is recognized among the Northwest’s modern craft beer innovators, having pumped out popular local suds more than a decade before the rampant nanobrewery trend took over Seattle.

Anheuser-Busch InBev is working to grow its craft brewing cred by purchasing other breweries like Elysian. Its other recent acquisitions include Chicago’s Goose Island and Oregon’s 10 Barrel Brewing. The company also claims minority ownership in Seattle-based Red Hook and Portland, Ore.’s Widmer Brothers.

Cantwell has made a name for himself as a craft brewing advocate and an author on the topic.

The resignation comes on the eve of the annual Craft Brewers Conference, which opens on April 14th in Portland, Oregon. The Washington Beer Blog expects the thousands of conference-goers to take interest in Cantwell’s departure from Elysian.

The Puget Sound Business Journal reported that Anheuser-Busch’s craft CEO Andy Goeler issued the following statement:

“I feel fortunate that I was able to get to know and work with Dick over the past couple of months, he is a true pioneer within the craft beer industry. His input and opinions have been incredibly valuable to both me and Anheuser-Busch.”

15 April, 2015