Magic Hat Brewing Company
{{Short description|American brewery founded in Burlington, VT}}
{{Infobox Brewery
| name = Magic Hat Brewing Company
| image = File:Magichatlogo.jpg
| caption =
| location =
| coordinates =
| owner = Florida Ice & Farm Co.
| key_people = Alan Newman
| opened = 1994
| production = {{convert|154236|usbeerbbl|hl|lk=on}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2010/09/17/The-10-Biggest-US-Craft-Breweries.html |title=The 10 Biggest US Craft Breweries - CNBC |website=CNBC |access-date=2017-09-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012094746/http://www.cnbc.com/id/39233398/The_10_Biggest_US_Craft_Breweries?slide=4 |archive-date=2012-10-12 |url-status=live }}
| website = [http://www.magichat.net magichat.net]
}}
Magic Hat Brewing Company is a wholly owned brand of Florida Ice & Farm Co., which is headquartered in Costa Rica. It began production as an independent craft brewer in South Burlington, Vermont in 1994, and the brand is distributed across the United States. Their flagship beer, the apricot-tinged #9, is widely regarded as a significant early force in introducing many Americans to craft beer, especially in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
History
Magic Hat Brewing Company was formed in 1994 in Burlington, Vermont by serial entrepreneur Alan Newman and Bob Johnson, the company's original brewmaster. It expanded and moved to an industrial park in neighboring South Burlington in 1997. By 2005 it had 64 employees.{{cite web|url=http://www.vermontguides.com/2005/02-feb/magic.html|title=Business People-Vermont: Magic Hat Brewery|website=www.vermontguides.com|access-date=2010-01-09|archive-date=2018-01-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180119120402/http://www.vermontguides.com/2005/02-feb/magic.html|url-status=dead}} In 2008 the company purchased Pyramid Breweries, makers of the Pyramid and MacTarnahan's brands, expanding to 129 employees.{{Cite news | first=Joeal Banner | last=Baird | title=Magic Hat reportedly 'days away' from sale | publisher=Burlington Free Press | location=Burlington, Vermont | pages= 1A, 4A | date=29 July 2010 }}
=Acquisitions and eventual shutdown of Vermont space=
In 2010, Alan Newman sold Magic Hat and all of its assets to North American Breweries,[http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20100812/BUSINESS/8120338/Genesee-Beer-owner-buys-brewer-of-Magic-Hat-9 Rochester, North American buys Magic Hat, Pyramid and MacTarnahan's] a subsidiary of KPS Capital Partners, a private equity firm with a business model described by Newman as "stripping out expense and flipping." The new owners did exactly that: in December 2012, North American Breweries was purchased by Florida Ice & Farm Company (FIFCO), a Costa Rican food and beverages company.{{cite news |title= Cerveceria Costa Rica to buy North American Breweries |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nab-costarica-idUSBRE89P0UQ20121026 |date= Oct 26, 2012 |accessdate= May 21, 2013}}
FIFCO soon began producing some Magic Hat beer at their Genesee Brewing Company plant in Rochester, New York. The Vermont brewery continued to operate until June 2020, when FIFCO announced that it intended to consolidate the rest of Magic Hat's brewing operations to the Rochester location.{{cite web |last1=Blumenthal |first1=Rachel Leah |title=Boozy updates from Boston and beyond |url=https://boston.eater.com/2020/7/2/21302071/boston-beer-news-summer-2020 |publisher=Eater Boston |accessdate=5 July 2020 |date=2 July 2020}} Another Burlington based brewery, Zero Gravity, assumed the lease on Magic Hat's physical plant, along with the brewing and retail assets within the space.{{cite web|url=https://www.sevendaysvt.com/BiteClub/archives/2020/06/16/magic-hat-brewing-is-leaving-vermont-zero-gravity-will-expand|title=Magic Hat Brewing Is Leaving Vermont; Zero Gravity Will Expand|website=www.sevendaysvt.com |date= June 16, 2020 |accessdate= July 1, 2020}} 43 of Magic Hat's 46 Vermont employees were laid off, although Zero Gravity was in talks to rehire some of them.{{cite web|url=https://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/magic-hat-leaves-behind-a-transformed-craft-beer-industry-in-vermont/Content?oid=30705701|title=Magic Hat Leaves Behind a Transformed Craft Beer Industry in Vermont|website=www.sevendaysvt.com |date= July 1, 2020 |accessdate= July 1, 2020}} Zero Gravity moved into the space and began producing beer there in July 2020.{{cite web |last1=Bendavid |first1=Ike |title=Zero Gravity expands into old Magic Hat facility |url=https://www.wcax.com/2021/04/05/zero-gravity-expands-into-old-magic-hat-facility/ |website=WCAX |access-date=18 March 2023 |language=en |date=5 April 2021}}
Brands
File:Magic hat no 9 beer and mug.jpg
Magic Hat brews five year-round beers: #9 "Not Quite Pale Ale", Taken for Granite, Mother Lager, Citrus Box, Ob-La-Di, What's on Stage, Nirav, Elder Betty and Single Chair. It also produces up to four seasonal beers, seasonal variety packs and several limited release products.{{cite web |url= http://www.magichat.net/elixirs/ |title= Elixers |author= |year= 2013 |website= www.magichat.net |publisher= Magic Hat Brewing Company |accessdate=May 22, 2013}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- [http://www.magichat.net Company website]