USA, PA: Well Crafted Beer Co. to take over Ambler Beer Co.’s space

Lansdale brewery Well Crafted Beer Co. will expand to a second location next year, taking over the space currently occupied by Ambler Beer Co., which plans to close, the Philadelphia Business Journal reported on December 23.

Well Crafted Beer, which opened in summer 2018, is acquiring Ambler Beer's brewery and taproom assets at 300 Brookside Ave, Building 19, Suite E, located at the mixed-use campus Ambler Yards. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The move will more than double Well Crafted Beer’s production, said Nica Bellenger, who handles the company’s marketing and sales. Its existing Lansdale location at 310 Madison St. has a seven-barrel brewing system. The new Ambler outpost comes equipped with an additional 10-barrel brewing system.

Well Crafted Beer looks to use the expanded brewing capacity to ramp up its retail sales to restaurants, bars and bottle shops in the surrounding area, and potentially widen its geographic reach as well, Bellenger said. The company declined to share its annual production.

The space at Ambler Yards also has a loading dock and provides additional room for Well Crafted Beer to further ramp up production later on if desired, Bellenger noted. The Lansdale brewery has been looking for a second production facility for a while, and had a couple of previous deals fall through.

“We can’t keep up with the demand,” Bellenger said, noting that customers are particularly vying for more of the brewery’s staple beers including the Hop Monger IPA and Blonde Americano coffee blonde ale.

The Ambler location is 4,500 square feet and includes 100 seats in the taproom. It also has a patio that Well Crafted Beer plans to renovate for additional outdoor seating.

Ambler Beer Co. currently offers food at the brewery via food trucks, and Well Crafted Beer will initially utilize that same concept. As operations get underway at the new outpost, the Lansdale company plans to build out a kitchen on site, aiming to have it open by the end of 2022.

No changes will be made to Well Crafted Beer Co.'s Lansdale outpost, which features 160 seats, a restaurant, 20 taps, and entertainment like open mic nights, trivia and live music.

Ambler Beer plans to operate at the Brookside Avenue location into early 2022 before closing, the company announced on Instagram. Founder and Head Brewer Doug Buddle opened the independent craft brewery in 2019. The Ambler company called the transition "happy news."

“While we have loved meeting every single one of you, talking all things beer and getting to know you, we also came out of the pandemic experience thinking about how we want to spend our future,” Ambler Beer Co. wrote. “We have worked so hard and have had so much success. But we have also missed out on key family and friends time, and so we have decided to prioritize ourselves again.”

Ambler Beer did not return a request for comment.

The cost of taking over the space is roughly equivalent to building out a new space due to the current price hike on building materials, Bellenger said. However, the move has accelerated the expansion by about a year.

An opening date will be announced pending receipt of necessary licensing, Bellenger said. Well Crafted Beer Co. will offer jobs to existing Ambler Beer Co. employees, and from there will add about 10 new positions as operating hours ramp up.

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