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With the writing on the wall and abrupt closure of its San Leandro brewery last fall, 21st Amendment co-founder Nico Freccia was hoping for a "plug and play" deal that might keep the brand in the market. That's precisely what he found as Philly-based Evil Genius announced acquisition of the brand's intellectual property this morn. It includes everything except co's Bay Area facility, Evil Genius co-founder Luke Bowen told CBN, which fits nicely with the "asset-light business model" the co has employed since founding in 2011. The deal brings 21A back to its contract brewing roots. Evil Genius doesn't have its own large-scale facility, instead working with "highly respected" breweries to produce vast majority of its beer. And tho bringing on 21A means "we triple overnight," Luke told us, surprisingly little else changes. In addition to being contract brewed, Evil Genius beers are sold thru an agreement with sales and mktg platform US Beverage signed last fall. Beyond the scale and the brands it's managing, "nothing is really changing in our business," day-to-day for the co's "small team," he explained. And the speed of onboarding a big new brand? "That's sort of the sauce."This deal for 21A's IP follows just a few weeks after announcement that Firestone Walker acquired the Trumer brand, but not its longtime Berkeley brewery, from Gambrinus (see below for more). Deals for craft brands, but not craft breweries, have been fewer and farther between over the last decade or so. But with so much capacity to go around, this may be far from the last IP-only craft deal signed in 2026.21A Back on Shelves with Hell or High Watermelon on Both Coasts, More to Come This Summer Evil Genius is also "not changing anything" about 21A's beer, brands, or distribution, Luke confirmed. Its major seasonal brand Hell or High Watermelon plus both base and blood orange variants of Brew Free or Die! IPA and more recent addition Amendment Lager are available now in NorCal and the Bay Area, as well as PA, NJ, MA, CT, RI, NY with 21A's existing distribs. The brand plans to once more be "coast-to-coast" by June. Luke and his co-founder Trevor Hayward "love the brand and want to be a part of the brand," he told us. They're "trying to keep as much the same as possible" because they "don't want to mess up a good thing."The goal was to get Hell or High Watermelon ready for spring chain resets, aiming to "release this beer exactly when it's supposed to be coming back for everybody," Luke explained. But there's plenty more planned beyond these core brands. In fact, co is preparing non-alc versions of both the famed watermelon wheat and the blood orange variant of Brew Free, "coming this summer," Luke told us. They're also working towards bringing back El Sully Mexican-style lager, 21A's Pumpkin Haze beer for the fall and vty pk including the hazy Brew Free.Asset Light from the Outset; Building Out West Coast Brewing "We did it backwards in the beginning," Luke said of opening Evil Genius as "a brewery without a brewery" in 2011. They've got a taproom in Philly with a 15-bbl system (reporting <800 bbls to the Brewers Assn in 2024), and basically "bootstrapped all of this." They've "worked with different breweries" over the yrs, currently with Yards and Susquehanna. It's one of largest brands for Yards, that co noted when discussing B3 Beverage contract production network with Two Roads and Bald Birds, formed last May.21A beer currently in the market all came from out east, Luke shared. But "our goal is to brew on both coasts so we can keep the beer fresher" with "better service times," he said. Brewing on the west coast is "in process" as co jumps a few more "compliance hurdles." He also would like to expand work with US Beverage to include 21A and cos are "still working out the details of that as we speak."Rebuilding After Backwards Steps; PA Connections and Oppy to Expand Evil Genius Neither brand fam is operating at the scale it once did, recall. Evil Genius got close to 20K bbls by 2022, but has contracted since then. And 21A topped 100K bbls at one point before falling back to around 23K bbls in 2024 and declining double digits again last yr ahead of the San Leandro closure. Despite difficulties in a tough mkt, Luke feels good about growing velocities for Evil Genius low double digits in the last 12 mos. And "everybody's seeing a rebound this year," he reported, with growth in both sales and distribution so far in 2026."A lot of things about" bringing the brands together "made a lot of sense" to Luke and Trevor. Both brands are pretty irreverent, keeping it "light-hearted and fun," Luke commented. Evil Genius' flagship IPA is Stacy's Mom, not the only brand in its portfolio named for a pop hit. They also make beers that are "really accessible to people," including folks unfamiliar with craft styles. Both portfolios include plenty of fruit beers, for instance.21A co-founder Shaun O'Sullivan has family roots in PA, which remained the brand's #2 mkt behind CA. The brand's always done lots of biz in the northeast, where its Americana-laden cans populated with Founding Fathers seems to resonate best. Bringing on the brand means "working with the 21st Amendment distribution network, which is a huge opportunity for Evil Genius," Luke said. He does aim to expand that brand's reach from its current 8-state footprint, which reaches west to MI, south to MD and north to CT, RI and MA.Wholesaler Connection; Nico & Shaun Move On 21A and Evil Genius already share plenty of wholesalers in the latter's existing markets, Luke explained, including its home mkt distrib Origlio. In fact, it was a shared distrib, an "industry connection," that put Luke in contact with Shaun and Nico, he told us. The pair at 21A have "been awesome in terms of helping us transition" and "been incredibly generous," Luke said. But they're "not going to continue on with the business." Reflecting on "an incredible 25-year run here in San Francisco," where the brand was born as a brewpub, Shaun said he's excited for 21A's "next chapter," in public statement today.New Individual Investors to Finance Deal; "Open for Business" to Bring on More Brands Acquiring IP isn't nearly as costly as acquiring a full brewery asset, to be sure. So to help finance the deal, Evil Genius didn't turn to bank financing. Instead, the co "added some capital partners," Luke told us, "but just individuals. No institutional" investors. "All independent" folks that are "from our cohort," he explained. These "additional investors" join the friends and family that helped Luke and Trevor get Evil Genius off the ground 15 yrs ago.And Luke is very up front about his interest in bringing more brands into the fold. "This was very curated," he told us, and "we turned down a bunch of stuff" since "we've been in the market for a while." 21A was far from "the first brand" he and Trevor looked at. Once they "meet the existing demand" for the brand and "expand Evil Genius' footprint, we're exploring additional opportunities," he said in a prepared statement. "We want to prevent the industry from losing legacies. We're open for business."With Great Brands and Plenty of "High Quality" Capacity, the Time is Right "There are some really amazing companies that have some really amazing brands," Luke told CBN. And "we're guys in our 40s. We're not done. We have a lot of runway." Plugging in the 21A IP into Evil Genius' existing structure means "continuing our business as it was designed," a fairly different model than many of the other craft roll-ups, Luke understands. But "if someone else has the comparative advantage in manufacturing," why not use it? "There's a lot of capacity out there and it's really high quality," he knows."Being asset-light in this time period" is, well, an asset, Luke supposes. "I could never build a brewery as nice as some of the ones that exist." And in craft, "if somebody has extra of something, they share it." Those facilities "need to fill the capacity and retain their workers and their jobs" and "we need it," he said, "a win-win." With the capabilities of existing contract partners and a distribution network, "we can really move forward here pretty quickly," Luke said.And speed is key in this mkt. "Beer is in a little bit of a mini-recession," he observed, remembering the lessons of finishing grad school with Trevor amid the 2008-2009 recession. That's what turned them away from building their own large facility. "You just have to stay agile right now," in his view, as "agility is really the name of the game, because things are changing." And those things are "bigger than us," he understands. "We're a rounding error in the industry." So it's about the speed you're "jumping from ice floe to ice floe to make sure we don't fall in the river."

Evil Genius Picks Up 21st Amendment IP to Put it Back on Shelves; Scaling Up "Asset Light" Model

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