Please let this mean Magic Hat in California!

The blogs and newstreams are buzzing with yesterday’s announcement that Magic Hat will buy Pyramid. 

I’m not going to post the full press release here, and oddly enough it is not posted on the Pyramid site yet, even under the ‘Investor Info’ or ‘Company News: hot off the presses!” sections.  Hmmm…If this isn’t investor info or news hot off the presses, what is?

This means linking to Magic Hat’s regrettable website (see link above, it won’t even let me link to the press release itself, just go to ‘about us’, ‘in the press’, and ‘press releases’ once there).  Much as I like their beer and their kooky creepy aesthetic, their website annoys me like none other.  If I were in charge, first order of business in their now bi-coastal company would be hiring a new web-designer.

For those unfamiliar with these brands, this is a big deal for the craft beer world, considering that Pyramid is the 5^th largest American craft brewery, a Northwest brewery whose signature is wheat beers.  Magic Hat is the 12^th largest craft brewery in the country, with a decidedly experimental streak.  Why then, you ask, is Magic Hat buying Pyramid and not the other way around? Well, Pyramid has been losing money for the last five years and Magic Hat has been growing. 

It’s also worth noting that Martin Kelly, the CEO of Magic Hat, used to be the CEO of Pyramid.  So, he clearly understands the company and what he’s buying. 

So, enough with the facts, the real question is what does this mean? The short answer: I don’t know yet. 

Availability: No news yet on which beers will be available in which geographies, but the rumor, or at least the proposed deal rationale, is both beers on both coasts.  Yay!  If so, I get my Magic Hat back and now people will know what my favorite t-shirt is all about. 

Recipes:Will they change them?  I’d guess not, but they might add to them.  How cool would it be to see the Magic Hat twist on wheat beers?  Imagine if every box of 12 Pyramid beers came with three beers from a mystery batch!  Huckleberry vanilla weizen?  Honey wit beer? Nutmeg dunkel weiss?  They might not all be great, but it would be awesome to try them. 

My gut reaction: I was anxious at first, but believe it will work out positively for beer drinkers.  I was anxious because Pyramid has always struck me as a very safe, corporate beer company and I wondered what would happen to Magic Hat’s creativity and flair.  It might not be fair to paint this impression since Magic Hat’s Martin Kelly used to work at Coca-Cola and Miller and the whole concept of growth by acquisition smacks of corporatism.  But hey, times are tough, ingredient prices are up, the market’s crowded, I can see why people are starting to feel like it is an eat or be eaten world out there right now.  Given that it is Magic Hat doing the buying, and I’ve always liked what they’ve done with their beers, I’m choosing to hope for the best: (A) Magic Hat gets distributed on the west coast and (B) Magic Hat lends a little pizazz to Pyramid’s brews.