Appalachian Mountain Brewing Bought Itself Back from Anheuser-Busch

The beer world is accustomed to hearing about big companies acquiring smaller craft breweries, but Boone-based Appalachian Mountain Brewing (163 Boone Creek Drive) has recently bought its operation back from brew giant Anheuser-Busch.

Asheville natives Nathan Kelischek and Chris Zieber founded Appalachian Mountain Brewing (AMB) with their love of craft beer and the Carolinas in 2011. They paired with Craft Brew Alliance (CBA) in 2014 to increase production and expand distribution. In 2018, CBA acquired AMB. When CBA extended its partnership with Anheuser-Busch, AMB fell into the corporation’s craft beer portfolio. Now, AMB is back on its own.

Sent the following statement to Eater:

We wanted to take ownership of the full customer experience. With a large company, you have a lot of stakeholders to consider. With 10 years of experience behind us as founders and brewers, we wanted the autonomy to do what’s right for our brand and quickly react and make decisions without the input of a larger company.

“We are excited to take what we learned from our time at [Anheuser-Busch] and apply it to our future business and best practices. With the right structure paired with our passion for our local market, we feel it’s a recipe for success.

The next move for the team at AMB is to open a new taproom in Mills RIver, North Carolina.