Tiny Chicago Brewery Purchases Brand Formerly Valued at $1 Billion
Post has been updated below.
A two-year-old Chicago concern that touts “great craft beer and golf simulators,” today announced it had purchased Ballast Point. Named Kings and Convicts in honor of its Australian and English founders, the company has 334 Instagram followers. Upon hearing the news, every living being on the planet responded: “Who?”
The website immediately crashed, so little is known about the company. The press release offers these tidbits:
Kings & Convicts is a privately held company headquartered in Highwood, IL, in the North Shore of Chicago. Conceived by an Englishman and an Aussie, Kings & Convicts started brewing for the public in 2017 and was built on the freedom of anti-authority and the spirit of fellowship. They brew ales and lagers inspired by the tales of convicts, royalty and the undercurrent of American gangsters. Every beer tells a story. Kings & Convicts’ beer is available on draft and in cans at its taproom and in bars and restaurants across Chicagoland and southern Wisconsin.
Back in 2015, Ballast Point was the hottest brewery in the US, selling six-packs of Grapefruit Sculpin for $15 and leading a trend that would last well into 2016. Constellation Brands, then principally an importer, swooped in and purchased the California juggernaut for a cool $1 billion. It seemed a tad high at the time, but those were heady days.
Things have changed. The zeitgeist in beer shifted from clarion, bitter (and citrus-flavored) San Diego IPAs to murky, sweet New England hazies. Constellation recognized its error and started buying smaller breweries instead (“At the time we acquired Ballast Point, we thought there would be more national brands that broke out.”) Earlier this year, Constellation had to close locations and spiked further expansion—and was apparently looking for suitors in the meantime. Or CEO Bill Newlands drunkenly lost Ballast in a poker game. Or something.
I have an interview request in with the brewery, and I’ll let you know if I find out more—because clearly there is way more to this story than is currently being reported.
Update. This San Diego Union-Tribune piece has some additional details:
Kings and Convicts makes 600 barrels a year. That’s a six with two zeros, not four or five.
Kings and Convicts employs nine people.
The new company will be headquartered in San Diego.
Ballast has lost over half its volume, from a high of 431,000 bbls to something like 200k this year.
Brendan Watters, co-owner, was meeting with Constellation executives in July. Actual conversation: “Is it for sale?” he asked, half-joking. The response: “Would you like to buy it?”