“Good beer makes its own friends” says Jim Koch, founder and brewer of The Boston Beer Company. Today, the maker of America’s leading craft beer announced a new venture with Canada’s largest independent brewery, Moosehead Breweries Limited.
At a news conference in Toronto, Koch and Moosehead President Andrew Oland outlined the long-term distribution agreement that means Moosehead Breweries and its subsidiary the Premium Beer Company will assume the Canadian distribution of Boston Beer’s portfolio including its flagship brand, Samuel Adams Boston Lager®.
“This alliance is a real win for Boston Beer,” Koch said. “Our tastes are similar. As Canada’s oldest and largest independently owned brewery, Moosehead understands the Canadian market. I’m raising my Samuel Adams glass today to cheer our new venture.”
Details of the agreement include:
• Moosehead will distribute the Samuel Adams® family of beer — including its seasonal offerings and variety packs.
• Products will be available in 355 ml bottles, and 30 and 58.6 litre kegs for selected brands.
• All Boston Beer sold in Canada will be brewed and packaged by Boston Beer in the United States.
“It is an honour for Moosehead to be formally associated with The Boston Beer Company,” Oland enthused. “My relationship with Boston Beer and Jim Koch goes back many years, and I know that Jim shares the same principles of our own family and company including a strong belief in quality, tradition, integrity, and family values.” Andrew is the sixth-generation member of the Oland family to head up Moosehead since 1867.
About the Boston Beer Company
The Boston Beer Company began in 1984 with a generations-old family recipe that Founder and Brewer Jim Koch uncovered in his father’s attic. After bringing the recipe to life in his kitchen, Jim brought it to bars in Boston with the belief that drinkers would appreciate a complex, full-flavoured beer, brewed fresh in America. That beer was Samuel Adams Boston Lager®, and it helped catalyze what became known as the American craft beer revolution.
Today, the Company brews more than 21 styles of beer. The Company uses the traditional four vessel brewing process and often takes extra steps like dry-hopping and a secondary fermentation known as krausening. It passionately pursues the development of new styles and the perfection of its classic beers by constantly searching for the world’s finest ingredients.
While resurrecting traditional brewing methods, the Company has earned a reputation as a pioneer in another revolution, the “extreme beer” movement, where it seeks to challenge drinkers’ perceptions of what beer can be. The Boston Beer Company strives to elevate the image of American craft beer by entering festivals and competitions the world over, and in the past five years it has won more awards in international beer competitions than any other brewery in the world. The Company remains independent, and brewing quality beer remains its single focus. While Samuel Adams is the country’s largest-selling craft beer, it accounts for less than one percent of the U.S. beer market. For more information, please visit www.samueladams.com.
About Moosehead Breweries Limited
Moosehead Breweries Limited traces its roots to 1867 and is the only Canadian-owned major brewery. The Saint John-based company is owned and managed by New Brunswick’s Oland family, whose members represent the fifth and sixth generation to operate the business. Moosehead Breweries Limited sells its beer throughout Canada, the United States and in 17 other countries around the world.
