WICKED PLEASURE: BIG-BEER BACKLASH HASN'T SLOWED A THRIVING ASHEVILLE BREWERY'S EAST COAST GROWTH.

• Author: Leggett, Page
• Position: NCTREND: Food & beverage

When Asheville's Wicked Weed Brewing opened in 2012, it was the "1,760th-something" craft brewery in the U.S., says co-founder Walt Dickinson. Now, there are about 7,000, creating what he calls a "very grassroots, rough-and-tumble space." But Wicked Weed has stood out because of its willingness to experiment, its comfortable pub in downtown Asheville and, for better or worse, its May 2017 sale to the world's biggest brewer.

Anheuser-Busch InBev SA's purchase caused a national furor among craft-beer purists. The Washington Post cited angry Facebook messages such as: "Your cowardly embrace of the enemy of craft brewing has made my birthday dinner ... the last time I will be patronizing your business."

Big Beer's pursuit of small brewers presents an inherent Catch-22, says Daniel Hartis, a Charlotte journalist who tracks the beer industry. "People are devoted to a craft-beer brand partly because of its independence. The second they're acquired, they lose that."

Not so fast, says Dickinson, who is Wicked Weed's chief brand officer. "I think craft beer is a style. It's not defined by if you're independent or not." Wicked Weed is following the same processes and still employs most of the same people, he says. "We've grown our sales and our footprint, but we're still the same brand."

By selling to the maker of Bud Light and dozens of other brands that produce annual revenue topping $55 billion, Wicked Weed technically lost its claim to "craft beer" status. Boulder, Colo.-based nonprofit trade group Brewers Association defines craft brewers as having annual production of 6 million barrels of beer or less and independent ownership in which less than 25% of equity is held by an alcoholic-beverage company that isn't a craft brewer. Wicked Weed meets the first qualifier, but not the second. Its production grew from 21,000 barrels in 2016 to 37,500 last year and is projected to expand nearly 50% this year to 55,000 barrels. Distribution in New York started in September, followed by Florida on April 1.

Wicked Weed is one of 10 craft brands that AB InBev has acquired since 2011, when it bought Chicago's Goose Island Beer Co., says Benj Steinman, editor and publisher of Beer Marketer's Insights, a trade publication. The beverage giant created a stand-alone division that now leads the craft-beer industry in sales.

In the first 60 days after the acquisition, Wicked Weed didn't lose any employees. "We've had a little turnover since, but no mass exodus,"...