Salt Lake City’s Epic Brewing Co. is once again expanding beyond its Utah roots, purchasing Telegraph Brewing Co. in Santa Barbara, Calif.
“We have been actively looking for great breweries to purchase for the past 18 months and bringing Telegraph Brewing into the Epic family is exciting,” co-founder David Cole announced Wednesday on the brewery’s website. “This couldn’t be a better fit — including some advantageous distribution overlaps that create opportunities to expand both brands across California and beyond.”
Brian Thompson, who founded Telegraph Brewing Co. in 2006, said that, with increased competition in the craft beer business, he needed a way to strengthen his company. The infusion of money from Epic will allow Telegraph to increase production capacity and offer new packaging options, including several new 12-ounce cans.
It’s not the first time Epic has expanded beyond Utah. In 2013, the microbrewery opened a second location in Denver.
As part of the Telegraph purchase, Epic will move seven of its foeders — large wooden vessels for aging sour beer — from its Denver brewery to Santa Barbara, enabling Telegraph to produce more sour beers.
