DuClaw Brewing Acquired by New Jersey Microbrewery River Horse Brewing

The craft-on-craft deals continue to roll in.

Baltimore, Maryland-based DuClaw Brewing Co. has been acquired by River Horse Brewing Co. in Ewing, New Jersey.

DuClaw announced the news Thursday on social media, noting that each brand will continue to be “managed separately,” but will combine facilities and share production capacity, as well as certain distribution partnerships, to create “efficiencies” and “strengthen both entities.”

DuClaw founder Dave Benfield will “continue to be the driving force behind the strategy, portfolio, production innovation and vibe of DuClaw,” but will transition all “production responsibilities” to the River Horse team, so he can “give 100% of his attention to the part of the business that he truly loves” i.e. products, strategy and sales, according to the announcement.

“The operations side of brewing is challenging, and at the end of the day I was spending too much of my time and energy chasing the latest mechanical, supply or logistical issue, and was taken away from driving the brand the way I wanted.” Benfield said in the announcement. “This partnership will allow me to focus on what I am best at.”

River Horse will be expanding capacity at its Ewing facility “in order to meet the demands of DuClaw’s national distribution footprint.” DuClaw distributes its beers in 23 states, plus Washington, D.C., and Canada. The company also distributed its beer in Illinois in 2022, but appears to have pulled out, as the state is no longer listed on the company’s website.

At its peak in 2021, DuClaw produced 30,201 barrels of beer annually – a steep +65% increase year-over-year (YoY) – but its barrelage declined -11% in 2022 to an estimated 27,000 barrels, according to the Brewers Association (BA) in the May/June issue of New Brewer Magazine.

River Horse Brewing produced about a third of that barrelage in 2022, with an estimated 9,000 barrels, a flat year versus 2021. Its own production peaked in 2017, with an estimated 10,473 barrels, according to the BA. The company distributes in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania – three states that DuClaw also distributes in, but with different distributors in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, according to River Horse’s website.

Benfield has been reportedly looking for someone to take over DuClaw for several years, announcing in 2017 that the brewery was looking for a buyer.

River Horse is “currently seeking new team members,” according to the announcement. It is unknown how many DuClaw employees will be affected by the change, but at least one staff member has since posted on Linkedin that their time at the company is “coming to an end” as a result of the acquisition.

The news comes just days after another craft-on-craft deal, the merger of Eugene, Oregon-based Ninkasi Brewing and California portfolio brand Wings & Arrow to form Great Frontier Holdings.

The week before, news broke that another Maryland craft brewery, Flying Dog Brewery, was set to be acquired by Utica, New York-based FX Matt Brewing Company.

With its acquisition, Flying Dog is also closing its Maryland production facility and transferring all production to Utica.

In April, Diageo closed its production facility in Maryland, but not its Guinness Open Gate Brewery, which would make DuClaw the third brewery in the past two months to close its production operations in the state, should all its production move to River Horse.