Anheuser-Busch InBev plans to import a mass of its international craft brands, continuing an effort set in motion in April to make more of its international brands available in the United States, the world's second-largest beer market.
Draft beer labels from Camden Town Brewery of the U.K., Cervejaria Colorado of Brazil, Artesanas de Malta y Cebada of Mexico, Newlands Spring Brewing of South Africa, Archibald Microbrewery of Canada and Belle-Vue Brouwerij of Belgium cleared federal regulators over the last two weeks and appear to be headed to America.
Aside from Belle-Vue Brouwerij, which was acquired in 1991 by a predecessor to A-B InBev, the remainder of the brands joined the company within the last three years.
The global beers span the style spectrum. They include:
- A dry-hopped Belgian-style ale from Belle-Vue Brouwerij.
- A strawberry Helles-style lager and a pale ale from London's Camden Town Brewery, which A-B InBev acquired in 2015.
- A coffee oatmeal stout and a honey wheat ale from Cervejaria Colorado, a Brazilian brewer acquired by A-B InBev unit Ambev in 2015.
- A Belgian-style blond ale, a pale lager, an English-style pale ale and a Bavarian Hefeweizen from Newlands Spring Brewing of South Africa, a brand launched in 2015 by SABMiller, the giant global brewery purchased last year by A-B InBev.
- A red IPA and a tequila barrel-aged dry-hopped pale ale from Cucapa Brewing, a Mexican craft brand acquired by A-B InBev unit Grupo Modelo in 2016. Those beers will be contract brewed by sister brewery Artesanas de Malta y Cebada.
- A pale ale and a bock from Archibald Microbrasserie, a Canadian brewery bought by A-B InBev-owned Labatt Breweries of Canada in 2016.
For now, each of the beers will be imported via kegs, per regulatory filings. The two brews from Archibald of Canada also appear to be packaged in pints.
The company plans to pour each at an ABI-sponsored craft beer and music festival this fall in New York; it's unknown if there are plans to distribute and sell the beers beyond that. A company spokesman declined to comment.
The latest 13 beers to cross the desk of the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau join three other ABI-acquired international craft breweries to begin selling beer in the U.S. this year, joining the Australian brand 4 Pines, Spain-based Cervezas La Virgen and Mexican import Bocanegra.
While Anheuser-Busch's intentions for the portfolio of imports remains unclear, the recent round of new label approvals underscores the depth and breadth of its international portfolio, much of which has been cobbled together via acquisitions big and small over the past four years.
The breweries are among dozens amassed in recent years by ABI and its various divisions around the globe, including via ZX Ventures, which launched in 2015 and houses most of the company’s international craft and specialty beers.
Anheuser-Busch also holds a portfolio of U.S. craft brands organized under the banner, The High End, including Goose Island Beer Co., Blue Point Brewing Co., 10 Barrel Brewing Co., Wicked Weed Brewing and Elysian Brewing.