USA, IN: The Bloomington Brewing Company sold to new owners
The Bloomington Brewing Company, founded by Jeff Mease and Lennie Busch in 1994 welcomes new owners this week, Amanda and Jarrod Franklin of Bloomington. The brewery was the first craft brewery to open in Southern Indiana, and is the 3rd oldest craft brewery in the state, The Bloomingtonian reported on January 5.
Mease and Busch built the brewery adjacent to their restaurant Lennies, originally part of the Crosstown II shopping Center on E. 10th street. The restaurant debuted in 1989 and remained in that locationas Bloomingtons first brewpubuntil Lennies moved to its present Kirkwood Avenue location in 2019. At that time, brewing operations were consolidated at the BBC production house on Bloomingtons west side.
Mease and Busch began considering new owners about 6 months ago, and they feel lucky to have connected with the Franklins, who learned about the brewery being availability from mutual friends. The Franklins approached a friend, Chris Welsh, along with Brian Graham and Mitch Ackerman of Indianapolis brewery Four Day Ray, and together formed an entity to purchase the Bloomington Brewing Company. Brewer Zech Algood, a longtime friend of the Franklins who has been a lead brewer at Upland Brewing for the last 7 years, will lead brewing operations for the new team.
Jeff Mease commented, Were excited for a new era for the Bloomington Brewing Company. Lennie and I have operated BBC for more than 27 years now, and its been a good run. Weve built a lot of brand equity, created a lot of friendships in the pub, and made a lot of great beerthanks to the focus and commitment of a talented chain of brewers over that 27 yearsbeginning with Russ Levitt, who was the very first brewer back in the 90s (Russ went on to help found the Upland Brewing Co.), Floyd Rosenbaum who still works with us in various capacities, and finally Nick Banks, who led the brewery for the last 6 year. These guys (and several others) had a tremendous passion for their craft, and together I think we created something remarkable. We built this thing to last. Weve long admired those European beverage purveyors who built multi-generational brands. Some are hundreds of years old. Were excited to have Amanda, Jarrod, Zech and the team from Four Day Ray continue the fun, and well be helping along with a way to contribute to this ongoing and delicious Bloomington Brewing adventure.
Amanda Franklin said, We have big plans for making great beer! Jarrod and I are beyond excited to be able to continue to serve our local, craft beer-loving community the BBC beer they know and love. We appreciate Jeff and Lennie for entrusting us with the care and growth of Bloomington Brewing Company, we are honored to carry on the BBC name and promise to brew the very best beers.
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