Anheuser-Busch Buys Blue Point Brewing Company

Blue Point Brewing Company is being sold to Anheuser-Busch, according to a statement released by both companies Wednesday. 

Terms of the deals, expected to close within the next few months, were not released, but Blue Point's operations will continue to be based in Patchogue, the companies said.  

"We are deeply grateful to our family of loyal employees and customers," said Peter Cotter, who co-founded Blue Point with Mark Burford in 1998. "Our success was made possible by the hard work of good people and good beer in Patchogue."

Blue Point, ranked among the top-50 craft brewing companies in the country by the Brewers Association, produces more than 40 beers and its sales, currently concentrated on the East Coast, may get a big boost with the backing of St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch. 

"As we welcome Blue Point into the Anheuser-Busch family of brands, we look forward to working with Mark and Peter to accelerate the growth of the Blue Point portfolio and expand to new markets, while preserving the heritage and innovation of the brands," Anheuser-Busch CEO Luiz Edmond said. 

Anheuser-Busch said it "plans to invest in the brewery to grow its operational capabilities and enhance the consumer experience over the next few years."

Blue Point will not be the only craft brewer in Anheuser-Busch's portfolio. Among other craft beers it owns, the company purchased Chicago's Goose Island brand in 2011. 

Following the Goose Island sale, Blue Point poked fun at craft brewers being sold to major corporations by posting an April Fool's joke on its website saying the company was being sold to MillerCoors. In it, Cotter jokes that Blue Point would soon begin producing a BP Lite Lime IPA.  

The last line of the joke reads: "Everyone at Blue Point Brewing Company would like you to have a happy April Fools' Day! Blue Point Brewing Company––independently owned with no corporate ties. Ever."

Major brewing companies have been snapping up craft breweries in recent years as craft beer sales have exploded across the country.

Burford said the sale will allow Blue Point "the resources to create new and exciting beers and share our portfolio with even more beer lovers."

Greenport Harbor Brewing Company, another Long Island craft brewer, posted the following message on its Facebook page Wednesday morning:

"No one has contributed more and worked harder to promote Long Island craft beer than Mark and Pete. Their success is well deserved and we congratulate them. We do hope that as the brands get absorbed in to the A-B InBev world that the investment in the beer and the brewery is focused on Long Island. Where it all started. Cheers."

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