Earlier this year, a listing popped up for Lost Nation Brewing in Morrisville, Vermont.
The Beer Advocate forum lit up with questions and concerns about the brewery’s future, while other posters expressed sadness.
After receiving interest from a few parties over the summer, Lost Nation co-founder Allen Van Anda told Brewbound that he pulled the listing. He described the number of “tire kickers” and “interested parties” as “mind boggling.” However a sale of the business has yet to materialize, and time is beginning to run out on Lost Nation.
Van Anda reached out to Brewbound recently after seeing coverage of Weathered Souls Brewing’s search for a new equity partner to buy out co-founder Mike Holt.
Lost Nation is in a similar position, Van Anda explained. He and Lost Nation co-founder Jamie Griffith dissolved their partnership last October after around a decade in business together. They had founded the brewery in 2012 after working together at the Von Trapp Brewery in Stowe.
The partnership was no longer working for either party, Van Anda said. So the founders decided to go their separate ways. As cracks formed in the foundation of the partnership of Lost Nation’s founders, the business was struggling from a “perfect storm” of a COVID-19 hangover and an oversaturated craft beer market.
Lost Nation and Van Anda are now at a crossroads. He’s seeking a new equity partner to buy out Griffith’s stake in the business or a complete turnkey sale of the brewery. Both options remain on the table.
Should someone purchase the business outright, they’ll be buying a brewery with a capacity of around 8,000 barrels annually, a 50-seat restaurant and taproom and a 200-seat outdoor beer garden. They’ll also be receiving a warehouse that was converted to a live music venue.
Should someone buy into Lost Nation as an equity partner to Van Anda for $250,000, they’ll essentially be giving the business a clean slate. Van Anda said he’s negotiated a deal with the brewery’s bank to refinance its note should the investment come through.
“$250,000 would save this brewery,” he said.
“What would happen is if I bring $250k, they would fund $300k, and that $550k would wipe out all of my accounts payable, all of my short-term notes with the higher interest rates, high interest credit cards, all that and allow me to completely start fresh,” he explained. “Jamie would be fully out and removed, and it would be Lost Nation, phoenix rising from the ashes kind of story.”
Van Anda believes Lost Nation could thrive as a refocused taproom brewery with regional distribution catering to the community in Morrisville.
“We live in the fastest growing community in the state of Vermont,” Van Anda said. “It just takes the right person to believe in it, and it’s going to take off. It’s just going to fly.”
Time is running short though. Van Anda initially believed after his partnership with Griffith ended that the brewery wouldn’t survive to see the summer. However, he credited Lost Nation’s “amazingly dedicated small staff” and restaurant business “floating cash flow” with keeping the Lost Nation alive.
Now, Van Anda expects the end of fall foliage to lead to a slowdown in Lost Nation’s business. Without a clear path forward, Van Anda has been reluctant to brew beer. Lost Nation has subsisted on batches of Pilsner and Mosaic brewed in January but supply is beginning to dry up. The brewery’s remaining taps have flowed with a curated list of beers.
“If I don’t have some kind of clear path by October, November is gonna get real dicey,” he said. “I’m confident that the restaurant can float itself to an extent, but I have 10,000 sq. ft for a 50-seat restaurant. With the bank notes and with everything else that’s past due, that’s where things are gonna get real sticky is in November, December. So I’m trying to move as quickly as humanly possible.”
Even as the pressure mounts, Van Anda said his heart is still in the business.
“I’ve spent 10 years here, pushing 30 years in the beer industry, I don’t know what the hell else I would do with myself,” he said. “In the buckling down and fighting to save this thing over the past year and seeing the dedication from the community, the dedication from my small team here, I want to keep it going.”
As much as he’d like to see Lost Nation through to its next phase, Van Anda has other priorities.
“I have two young children,” he said. “My house is on the line. My credit is on the line. I’ve got everything in the world to lose right now. So the first deal that comes my way that feels right, I’m gonna have to take.”
Interested parties can contact Van Anda at allen@lostnationbrewing.com.