Craft Brew Alliance announced today announced that it has formed a strategic partnership with Cisco Brewers, based on Nantucket Island in Massachusetts.
The two companies are entering into a distribution and production agreement that will provide Cisco with access to the CBA Portsmouth, N.H brewing facility and plug the brands into the CBA distribution network. CBA is partially owned by Anheuser-Busch, and the CBA distribution channel is mostly AB wholesalers. Although CBA is buying “less than 25%” of Cisco, the deal provides the AB distribution network with yet another “allied brand” for AB wholesalers
CBA also provides sales, marketing and distribution for Kona, Widmer, Redhook, Omission and the Square Mile cider brands.
Cisco Brewers has become somewhat of a cult beer with a rapid growth rate to match and was founded 20 years ago.