Sixpoint Brewery has signed a partnership agreement to become part of Artisanal Brewing Ventures (ABV), a unique company created to support the growth ambitions of leading regional craft breweries. Located in Brooklyn, New York, Sixpoint is an acclaimed producer of some of New York’s most recognizable craft beer brands. As part of the partnership, Sixpoint plans to open its first taproom and new production brewing facility in Brooklyn. This facility will serve as Sixpoint’s innovation brewery, headquarters, and a much-anticipated location where consumers can experience the Sixpoint brand as well as sample and celebrate Sixpoint beers.
“I am truly excited to be joining ABV,” Eric Bachli, Sixpoint’s brewmaster and chief product officer said. “This is a world-class organization and they bring expertise in the business side of craft beer, so we can focus on our craft and on creating great-tasting, innovative beers. Sixpoint has so much opportunity ahead of it, and our partnership with ABV will help us reach our full potential.”
The partnership provides ABV with a strong presence in the fast-growing New York City market and makes the company one of the nation’s top ten regional craft brewers. With Sixpoint a part of its portfolio, ABV has a leadership position in six of the country’s top 50 markets for craft beer.
“Adding Sixpoint to the ABV family is consistent with our strategy of working with successful regional brands that have great local market penetration, passionate fans, and opportunity to grow,” said John Coleman, CEO, Artisanal Brewing Ventures. “Our resources, expertise in craft beer and high operating standards can unlock Sixpoint’s growth potential, improve its productivity, and allow their team to focus on what makes Sixpoint special and successful: brewing great beer, creating strong local relevance and building an authentic brand.”
In addition to the new Brooklyn brewery, Sixpoint will gain access to ABV’s network of world-class production facilities and talented brewers. Sixpoint will also partner with Southern Tier and Victory to leverage their collective consumer data and insights to build an impactful innovation program and marketing approach, while also creating a unique selling structure and go-to-market strategy.
Eric Bachli will play a vital role on the ABV team. He will partner with ABV’s existing executive team to lead the Sixpoint operation in Brooklyn. Before he joined Sixpoint in 2017, Bachli was head brewer at Trillium Brewing Company in Massachusetts where he was integral in building Trillium into one of the nation’s leading hyper-local “Craft 3.0” brands.
Founded in 2004, Sixpoint is one of the New York-area’s longest-running and most highly regarded craft breweries. Its stable of four core brands are well known across the metro New York market. Sixpoint also produces premium limited-release and seasonal offerings out of their current Brooklyn location.
Shane Welch, a pioneer in the craft beer industry, founded Sixpoint and built it into one of the area’s leading and most-respected craft breweries. Shane will now take the opportunity to focus exclusively on a host of other craft beer related businesses, including an innovative app for direct to consumer engagement and e-commerce.
Sixpoint and ABV remain committed to the three-tier distribution system. ABV will partner with key three-tier distributor partners to bring a strong portfolio of brands to their operations helping to reduce complexity and costs while increasing distribution and sales opportunities across all of ABV’s partner brands. The Brooklyn taproom also represents an investment in the three-tier system in metro New York. Like other successful ABV taprooms and production facilities in Lakewood, Charlotte, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh, the Brooklyn project is designed to attract new customers, drive trial and create passionate advocates for ABV brands, and increase Sixpoint’s presence in the surrounding market.
“The taproom and production brewery are investments in Sixpoint’s growth,” said Coleman. “Taprooms give us the opportunity to connect with consumers in a unique way. They can try our beers, and hopefully leave the taproom as an advocate of our brands which ultimately helps us to grow in the surrounding market.”
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