German brewer Gilde to expand into US

USA | One of Germany’s oldest breweries is to establish a brewing base in Charlotte, North Carolina, a city 200 km to the east of Asheville. Founded in 1526 in Hannover, Gilde (German for "Guild") fell on hard times after it was bought by Belgium’s Interbrew in 2003.

AB-InBev disposed of Gilde to TCB Group in 2016 for an undisclosed sum. By this stage its beer output had dropped to 150,000 hl.

TCB Group is a privately-owned group of breweries with a subsidiary in France, (Brasserie Champigneulles). It claims to be Europe’s major producer of private label beers. It has a brewing capacity of 10.5 million hl.

Its German beer output was estimated at 4.7 million hl in 2018, making it the seventh largest brewing group in Germany.

Unbeknown to German media, TCB announced plans to start producing beer in Charlotte and selling it across the US market in June 2019.

According to the website charlotteobserver.com, Gilde first introduced itself to Charlotte during the South End Hops Fest, which also happened to be the company’s first ever appearance at a US beer festival. As says the website, Gilde is working with local Charlotte distributor Adams Beverages to sell their cans in several local grocery chains within the coming months.

Reportedly, Gilde will open a microbrewery and taproom in Charlotte, named “The Embassy”, before the end of the year. The facility will brew small batches of authentic German-style pilsners and hefeweizens to serve in the tap room, while continuing to import canned and bottled beer from Germany.

There are currently about 260 craft breweries in North Carolina. There are more than 30 craft breweries in Asheville and nearly 50 in the Charlotte area alone.

Seemingly undaunted, Gilde also let it be known that within the next three years it hopes to build a flagship brewery plus a German beergarden and restaurant in Charlotte. The brewery shall have a capacity of up to 580,000 hl per year.

What I don’t get: In Asheville, there are two new breweries (New Belgium and Sierra Nevada), which are running at far less than their currently-installed capacity. They could easily produce what Gilde needs. Besides, both breweries have plenty of room to add more tanks. If Gilde were to talk to New Belgium or Sierra Nevada, I fully expect that its needs will be accommodated.

In the meantime, TCB has confirmed the media report, albeit only in parts. As of July, the first containers with Gilde beer will arrive in North Carolina, TCB’s Managing Director Mike Gärtner told Brauwelt International. Should consumers take to Gilde in a major way, a brewpub will follow. As to the construction of a brewery, Mr Gärtner said: “That is all still up in the air.”