Wild Beer Co brand saved following purchase by Curious Brewery
The acquisition will double the size of the existing Curious operation, with production switching to the company’s state-of-the-art brewery in Kent, where there is a current production capacity of five million pints per year and potential to expand upwards of 15 million pints per year.
Following the transaction, Wild Beer Co’s portfolio – led by its flagship Wild IPA – will sit alongside Curious’ premium English lager Curious Brew, its Curious Session IPA and Curious Apple cider.
As part of the deal, Curious Brewery intends to honour the subscriptions and regular discounts available to current members of Wild Beer Co’s Secret Cellar Club and previous shareholders.
“We are delighted to be collaborating with some of the original team from Wild Beer Co to maintain the original innovative and creative spirit of that business. Adding their delicious craft beers to our stable of award-winning premium brands, Wild Beer Co’s range fits perfectly alongside our existing portfolio, delivering a range of interesting and differentiated beers,” says Curious Brewery Chairman Mark Crowther.
“The Wild Beer Co acquisition brings a lot of positives including high-quality beers and distinctive brands, impressive distribution in both the on and off-trade, as well as a significant direct-to-consumer e-commerce operation.
“This new chapter for Wild Beer Co will bring some stability, placing the business on a sure footing. For Curious, this is an important step in our journey to become one of the UK’s leading brewers of specialist, premium beer and ciders.”
Wild Beer Co was founded in 2013 and in 2017 raised almost £1.8m on Crowdcube. It fell into administration in December after failing to recover from the pressures of Covid and in the face of rising costs. A company statement at the time said: “It has been a wild 10 years and we are heartbroken to be in this position. We could see the potential for Wild Beer and we had ambitions to increase sales and brand exposure.”
Curious Brewery was acquired in April 2021 from Chapel Down by a team led by Crowther and backed by private equity firm Risk Capital Partners. The brewery opened a multimillion-pound freehold brewery in 2019 that includes a visitor centre, tap room and a 120-cover bar-restaurant.
