AB-InBev invests in craft brewer Wicked Weed and closes brewery in Portsmouth

USA | As AB-InBev continues to streamline its craft brewing operations in the US, it announced on 28 March that it would invest USD 1 million in the operations of Wicked Weed in Asheville, North Carolina, which it acquired in 2017. The news coincided with the winding down of operations at its production facility in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, “over the next few months”.

This move aligns with AB-InBev’s strategy to focus on high-performing craft brands, as Wicked Weed has reportedly thrived under its ownership, achieving significant production milestones in recent years.

Surplus to requirements

Having already shuttered Elysian’s production brewery in Seattle at the end of 2024, AB-InBev’s decision to also wind down operations in Portsmouth reflects a broader trend of operational consolidation. The Portsmouth facility, originally built by Redhook in 1996 to look like Redhook’s west coast brewery in Seattle, was renamed Cisco Brewers in 2018, when under the ownership of Craft Brew Alliance (CBA). AB-InBev bought the rest of CBA it did not own yet in 2020.

In 2023, the Portsmouth brewery was expanded with a USD 6 million investment in a new canning line. However, shifting priorities – possibly driven by market demand, cost efficiencies, or a reallocation of resources – appear to have led AB-InBev to scale back in Portsmouth.

In 2023, cannabis firm Tilray bought eight craft beer brands from AB-InBev for USD 83 million, Redhook among them. The following year, Tilray acquired another four craft breweries from Molson Coors for USD 23 million, each time paying a fire sale price, it seems.