Appalachian Mountain Brewery and Cidery (AMB) is returning to familiar ownership.
Nathan Kelischek and Chris Zieber, founders of the Boone, North Carolina craft brewery, have agreed to purchase AMB from Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B), according to a press release.
AMB has been under A-B control since 2020, after the beer giant acquired the remaining stake in Craft Brew Alliance (CBA), bringing the company’s portfolio into A-B’s Brewers Collective. Kelischek and Zieber, cousins and North Carolina natives, have not had ownership of the company since 2018, when the company was fully acquired by CBA.
Financial details of the latest transaction were not disclosed.
“We’re grateful to have spent the last two years as active founders within A-B’s craft portfolio and want to thank the people at A-B, including our fellow craft brewery founders, for the support, collaboration and friendship that we’ve enjoyed during our time together,” Kelischek and Zieber said in the press release.
The duo celebrated the announcement with a post on Instagram, writing: “Celebratory shotgun for a new chapter of AMB and independence. … We got some big things planned!”
Under the new ownership, AMB will shift its focus to growing its local team and opening a new taproom in Mills River, North Carolina, according to the release. Kelischek and Zieber also plan to invest more in the company’s sustainability and philanthropy efforts to “make a difference in our North Carolina communities.
“This all hinges on producing the highest quality products and delivering a unique experience for our customers,” the founders said in the release.
AMB also operates a decade-old taproom in Boone, which will stay in operation under the new ownership.
Along with Sean Spiegelman, Kelischek and Zieber founded AMB in 2011. The brewery brewed 499 barrels of beer in 2013, the first year for which production data is available from the Brewers Association (BA) for the craft brewery. By 2016, AMB’s output had increased nearly tenfold, to 4,000 barrels.
In 2014, AMB elevated its profile by winning Brewbound’s Startup Brewery Challenge, a precursor to the annual Brewbound Pitch Slam competition. Part of AMB’s prize for winning the contest was a trip to CBA’s headquarters in Portland, Oregon, beginning a relationship between the craft platform and AMB that resulted in AMB’s sale to CBA in 2018. That year, AMB was part of a $45 million deal that included Miami, Florida-based Wynwood Brewing and Nantucket, Massachusetts-based Cisco Brewers. In 2019, AMB’s first full year under the CBA umbrella, its output increased +33%, to 10,000 barrels, according to BA data.
At the time, A-B owned a minority stake in CBA, but acquired the remaining roughly two-thirds of CBA it did not yet own in 2020, after announcing its intention to complete the sale in 2019. Following the transaction, volume data for CBA brands was no longer broken out, but the collective’s total output was 660,000 barrels in 2021, marking an +8% increase once adjusted for the removal of Kona Brewing’s Hawaii operations, which were required to be spun off to attain U.S. Department of Justice approval.
When A-B acquired the rest of CBA, it added two breweries in markets where it already had a craft presence. Both AMB and A-B-owned Wicked Weed are based in western North Carolina. Wynwood and A-B’s Veza Sur are both located in the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami.
The sale of AMB comes at a point of transition for its craft division. In February, A-B ceased production at Platform Beer Co.’s Ohio breweries and shuttered its taprooms, while continuing to produce three of its IPAs for distribution. The same month, A-B laid off an unknown number of staff members at several of its craft breweries, including Karbach Brewing, Blue Point Brewing, Devils Backbone, Wicked Weed and Goose Island.
“Winning in craft remains a key pillar of our strategy to lead and develop the premium segment, but winning means something different in today’s marketplace than it did a few years ago,” Andy Thomas, president of A-B’s High End division and former CEO of CBA, said in a statement to Brewbound following the layoffs. “[S]everal of our craft brewery partners announced local team updates that will allow them to better address evolving consumer needs and trends in their home markets and beyond. As the craft industry continues to transform, we’re staying laser focused on continuing to lead growth in the segment.”
A-B also made several changes to its craft leadership team this year, which is helmed by Thomas. The world’s largest beer manufacturer grouped brands in its craft division, the Brewers Collective, geographically with five regional vice presidents. They include Hayes Humphreys (Devils Backbone, Blue Point, Cisco), Todd Ahsmann (Goose Island, Virtue Cider, Breckenridge Brewery), Brad Nadal (Golden Road, Elysian, 10 Barrel, Four Peaks), Chris Meyer (Karbach), and Ryan Guthy (Wicked Weed). The job alignments were confirmed to Brewbound by an A-B spokesperson earlier in 2023.
No leadership changes at AMB were mentioned during the wave of craft moves.
Update May 18, 5:15PM
A-B sent Brewbound statements from Kelischek, Zieber and Thomas after the initial publication of the story.
From Kelischek and Zieber:
“Today, we reached an agreement to purchase Appalachian Mountain Brewery from our partners at Anheuser-Busch. We’re more excited than ever about the future of AMB and look forward to continuing to brew award-winning, high-quality beers and ciders, focused on our home state of North Carolina.
“We’re grateful to have spent the last two years as active founders within A-B’s craft portfolio, and we want to thank the people at A-B, including our fellow craft brewery founders, for the support, collaboration, and beers that we’ve enjoyed during our time together. Moving forward, we’ll focus on growing our local team, opening our new taproom in Mills River, NC, and continuing to invest in sustainability and philanthropy efforts that make a difference in our North Carolina communities.”
From Thomas:
“Since Nathan and Chris reached out with the idea to purchase AMB, we’ve had many positive conversations and found a path forward that works well for everyone. I’ve known Nathan, Chris and others at AMB since 2014, and I couldn’t be more excited to see where they take AMB going forward.”