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(Courtesy Sufferfest Beer)
Sierra Nevada Brewing appears to be rethinking the viability of the company’s first-ever acquisition, Sufferfest Beer Co., an athletic beer brand which may have already reached its finish line.
Here’s the deal…
Citing stated shared values, commitment to innovation, and common goals Sierra Nevada Brewing proudly announced that it had acquired 100 percent of Sufferfest Beer Company in 2019.
With craft beer’s momentum slowing, the deal attracted a lot of attention in the beer biz. Analysts saw it as step towards diversification on Sierra Nevada’s part, and a way to capitalize on the growing low-cal, low-carb, gluten-reduced, healthier beer movement.
Founded in 2016 by Caitlin Landesberg an athlete herself, Sufferfest offered a full-spectrum of craft beers, all of them containing naturally occurring vitamins and micronutrients like potassium-rich barley, sodium, iron, and fiber.
But now it appears that Sierra Nevada is less than enthused about their first-ever acquisition, which was produced the company’s Chico, California and Asheville, North Carolina breweries, and the Sufferfest Beer brand is now on indefinite hold.
This from Sufferfest…
A Message To Our Sufferfest Community
When we started this journey, our goal was to celebrate the sufferfest—the camaraderie and sanctity behind our efforts —with a beer that met the high standards and unique needs of our active and outgoing community.
Since then, we have grown and evolved and learned tremendously. And we have reached a point where we must catch our breath.
As we enter 2021, we are pausing production to explore what’s next for Sufferfest Beer Company.
As such, we do not plan to release any beers this year. As athletes know, the path to success is rarely a straight line, and it is time to find our bearing. Whatever comes next on our journey, we will keep on sweating and celebrating, just as we always have.
Thank you for being beside us through it all.
As Kate Bernot astutely observes at Good Beer Hunting, “Sufferfest’s uncertain future, despite the support of a large brewing company with national distribution, raises questions of how big the niche is for low-calorie, low-carb, ‘better-for-you’ beers.”
