Oskar Blues Acquires Perrin Brewing Company

Oskar Blues Brewery has announced the acquisition of Perrin Brewing Company in Michigan. It appears Oskar Blues founder Dale Katechis is pursuing a craft beer approach to acquiring smaller brewers in different regions. This follows a successful expansion to Brevard, N.C. two years ago. Fireman Capital, a family office based in Boston, and West Side Distributing are sources of financing, according to an interview with Katechis at Brewbound.com. Here is the full release:

Oskar Blues Brewery and Perrin Brewing Company Take Craft Collaboration to the Next Level

Longmont, CO, Brevard, NC, & Comstock Park, MI (March 27th, 2015)

Colorado and North Carolina-based Oskar Blues Brewery and Perrin Brewing Company have taken the craft beer collaboration to the next level and announced the acquisition of the Comstock Park, Michigan native.

The two breweries kicked off their relationship in 2014 with a collaboration lager that brought brewers together in both Colorado and Michigan.  That brew has developed into a partnership aligning the years of large scale growth, expansion experience and resources of Oskar Blues with the opportunities of Perrin’s strong local brand to help both breweries strengthen their position in an era of increasing competition.

Oskar Blues teamed up with former West Side Beer Distributing owner and Michigan native Keith Klopcic in orchestrating the partnership.  Keith will act as president of Perrin Brewing. “West Side Distributing has a great working relationship with Oskar Blues.  Dale is the first person I want to have stoking the fire” Said Keith Klopcic. 

Oskar Blues Brewery, a funky brew pub that started brewing beer in 1999 in the small town of Lyons, CO expanded down the street to Longmont, CO in 2008. The recent addition of a brewery in Brevard, NC has allowed them to brew nearly 150,000 barrels in 2014 while reaching 42 states in early 2015. 

“Challenging the craft collaboration concept and taking it to the next level with Keith and the Perrin crew is exciting.  Growing Oskar Blues and engaging new communities across the country has been a ton of fun and has given us the experience we can bring to a partner like Perrin to hit the next gear” said Oskar Blues Soul-Founder Dale Katechis.

Located just off the beaten path in Comstock, MI, Perrin Brewing has achieved an impressive near-ubiquitous status on draft menus around West Michigan in just 2 years. In addition to the strength of their brewpub experience Perrin taps are found at more than 700 locations in Michigan helping the brewery reach nearly 14,000 barrels in 2014.

Jarred Sper, a Lowell, MI native, and driving force behind Perrin says “It’s been staggering to see the state of Michigan get behind Perrin over the past few years, we’re stoked to join forces with Oskar Blues amongst increased competition, capacity and growing industry challenges.”

“The state of Michigan has embraced Perrin and created something special.  We’re taking the tradition we started with head brewer John Stewart and Jarred Sper to the next level by adding Keith and Oskar Blues to our team.” said Perrin operations manager Dan Perrin.

Terms of the acquisition are not disclosed.