Oregon spirits producer buys craft bottler

Oregon-based Eastside Distilling has acquired third party craft spirits producer and bottler MotherLode Craft Distillery, with plans to expand both businesses.

‘Craft’ spirits producer Eastside Distilling has taken over third party distiller and bottler MotherLode Craft Distillery

The cost of the transaction was US$377,000, approximately equal to the revenues of MotherLode in 2016.

Eastside, a producer of ‘handcrafted’ spirits, will relocate much of its operations to MotherLode’s Portland, Oregon facility and expand the manufacturing resources of both companies.

Plans are now in place to increase the bottling rate five times over with the introduction of a pneumatic bottling line, allowing large volume spirit handling capabilities. Eastside estimates that cost reductions associated with the acquisition and relocation will exceed US$200,000 per annum.

Founded in 2014, MotherLode enables craft distillers to increase production and extend product lines. Allen Barteld, founder of MotherLode Craft Distillery, said: “We are excited to be joining forces with Eastside Distilling. Portland is known for its excellent craft spirits I look forward to leveraging the capabilities of MotherLode’s bottling equipment and customer relationships for the overall benefit of Eastside.”

Grover Wickersham, executive chairman of Eastside, added: “A high point of this merger is the recruitment of Allen Barteld, a foresighted entrepreneur who adds to our team. We hope to accelerate Allen’s efforts in the growing third-party craft bottling market.

“As other opportunities to grow by acquisition arise, we will continue to take advantage of being a public company. We can bring entrepreneurial businesses like MotherLode into our organisation while offering their investors the liquidity of publicly traded stock.”

In 2015, Eastside launched the Barrel Hitch American Whiskey brand, consisting of the core Barrel Hitch American Whiskey expression and Barrel Hitch Oregon Oak American Whiskey.