Is anyone interested in buying Green Flash’s Virginia Beach brewery? It’s up for sale

Green_Flash_Photo_Collage pdf — View the rest of the equipment right here.

The somber news just keeps coming in from Green Flash Brewing Co. In January, the San Diego-headquartered craft brewery announced it was cutting back on its distribution footprint, pulling out of 33 states (about 18 percent of its wholesale business). As a result, close to 15 percent of its workforce was let go. It was a big-time bummer for sure. Now, there’s even worse news. Green Flash’s East Coast brewery is apparently up for sale, and it just opened in November of 2016 and cost some $20 million.

Heritage Global Partners is now accepting bids for this lot: “KEY ASSETS Global Private Treaty Featuring an Amazing Turnkey Opportunity for a 1 Year Old 50 Barrel Brewery Operation, Constructed in 2016! Virginia Beach, VA. No Expense Was Spared–Tremendous Opportunity!” You can look at the photo collage right here. From The Virginian-Pilot:

“To be clear, this is NOT an auction or liquidation of the equipment. This an offering for the complete, turnkey operation only. We are seeking offers from parties interested to acquire everything from the site in a turnkey purchase, take over the lease, etc.,” Nick Dove, executive vice president of Heritage, said in an email.

There’s been no word from Green Flash about the sale, and Virginia Beach employees seemed as shocked as everyone else. It may be that news came out before it was supposed to. Word around the block is that Green Flash’s decision to finance its 58,000-sq-ft East Coast hub with debt has greatly affected its capital structure. That debt coupled with its decision to pull back distribution seems to have put Green Flash in a precarious situation. We’ve reached out for more info, and we’ll keep you updated.

To imagine the enormous effort Green Flash put into this brewery, watch this video about how Paul Mueller Co. helped design repeat-ability into the brewhouse to enable East and West Coast beers to taste the same.

Back to The Virginian-Pilot:

Virginia now has more than 230 craft breweries statewide. The growth isn’t slowing down, [Brett] Vassey [president and CEO of the Virginia Manufacturers Association, which includes the Virginia Craft Brewers Guild Vassey] said, but smaller rather than larger breweries are opening these days.

He pointed to the challenges faced by breweries with a national footprint. Green Flash could be a cautionary tale for the state’s small and midsize craft breweries about taking risks and going multistate or national.

For further evidence of this, check out stories of Sam Adams’ dipping sales and the recent auction of Smuttynose Brewing. Also, here’s what’s actually up for sale: