Two pioneering New England craft breweries are joining forces: Harpoon parent company Mass. Bay Brewing in Boston has struck a deal to acquire Long Trail Brewing Company in Bridgewater Corners, Vermont.
Both breweries have expanded their portfolios to include several brands in recent years. In addition to Harpoon, the Mass. Bay family includes UFO, Clown Shoes and Arctic Chill Hard Seltzer. Long Trail is the parent company of the Otter Creek and Shed brands.
As part of the deal, WhistlePig Whiskey will acquire the Otter Creek and Shed brewery in Middlebury, Vermont. Long Trail’s Bridgewater Corners brewery will be the second Vermont facility for Mass. Bay, joining its Harpoon production brewery and taproom in Windsor, Vermont — the former Catamount Brewery, which the company acquired in 2000.
Production of all Long Trail, Otter Creek and Shed beers will be moved to Windsor, while WhistlePig will take over brewing operations in Middlebury, converting to bottling and distilling “after a transition period,” according to a press release.
“The Long Trail family of brands represents more than just the right strategic fit for our business,” Dan Kenary, Mass. Bay CEO and co-founder, said in the release. “After talking with Dan Fulham about ways we could potentially partner and create efficiencies when it comes to brewing in Vermont, it became clear that we’d be stronger together.”
Long Trail’s availability has been long known in the craft brewing industry, following the 2006 acquisition by Wellesley, Massachusetts’-based private equity firm Fulham & Co.
“Dan Kenary and I have been friends for a long time – and we have a shared commitment to the Vermont community and passion for making great beer,” Daniel Fulham, Long Trail CEO, said in the release.” So when the time came to choose someone to take the helm at Long Trail, I knew Dan and the team at Mass. Bay Brewing Company would be the right choice to carry on and protect the Long Trail legacy.”
The deal marks a union of two Brewers Association-defined top 50 craft breweries by volume.
In 2021, Harpoon ranked as the 21st largest craft brewery by volume, while Long Trail ranked as the 36th largest.
Harpoon’s output declined -16% last year, to 123,345 barrels, and the company’s share of craft declined -.14, to 0.50% share.
Long Trail’s production fell -8%, to an estimated 80,000 barrels, in 2021. Long Trail held a 0.32% share of craft, a decline of -0.6%.
Both companies’ volume has declined since peaking in the middle 2010s. Harpoon reached 209,000 barrels of beer in 2014, and has declined in the years following. Long Trail’s volume reached 131,000 barrels in 2015 and 2016 and has declined in the years after.
In the announcement of the transaction, the companies said they “are working to retain production, sales, and support functions as part of the transition.”
Long Trail was founded as Mountain Brewers in 1989, making it one of the nation’s oldest craft breweries. The company rebranded as Long Trail Brewing in 1996 to coincide with the move into its 17,000 sq. ft. brewery in Bridgewater Corners, according to Yankee Brew News. The then-new name aligned with the brewery’s flagship Long Trail Ale, named for a Vermont hiking trail. Long Trail acquired Otter Creek and its sister brand Wolaver’s in 2010.
Fulham has led Long Trail since 2013, when former CEO Brian Walsh departed. At the time, Fulham told Brewbound he intended for his time as CEO of brewery to be short, as the company was planning to find a replacement for Walsh, who went on to lead several New England craft breweries and became CEO of Lord Hobo last year.
In October 2017, Mass. Bay acquired Massachusetts-based contract brand Clown Shoes.