Tony Kiss

tkiss@gannett.com

Two established Asheville breweries are coming together as the Thirsty Monk pub chain buys French Broad Brewery near Biltmore Village.

It's the first combination of Asheville breweries in the history of local craft brewing, which dates to 1994. The French Broad brand and brewery will continue.

The deal should close this summer, said Thirsty Monk founder and owner Barry Bialik. Thirsty Monk brews at Open Brewing on Hendersonville Road, which is also owned by Bialik. It has been making Belgian-style beers sold at the three Monk pubs in Asheville.

French Broad, which dates to 1997, has been owned by Andy Dahm. French Broad is best known for such beers as Gateway Kolsch IPA and 13 Rebels ESB. Its beers are sold in bottles and cans and distributed across North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama and Louisiana.

The buyout will let Thirsty Monk expand its brewing production while continuing the French Broad beers, Bialik said.

Major brewery buyouts and combinations have been in the news this year, in particular the planned merger of AB-InBev, maker of Budweiser beers, and SABMiller, which produces Bud's longtime rival Miller. AB-InBev has also been acquiring U.S. craft brewers.

"This is the Asheville way to do it," Bialik said. "We are both strong Asheville brands."

French Broad has five full-time employees and six part-timers, and Bialik plans to keep them on the job. Thirsty Monk has one brewing employee, Norm Penn, Bialik said.

Thirsty Monk has long planned to open a bigger brewery, possibly at its warehouse site at 92 Thompson St. near Biltmore Village.

"It made sense to look at different options," he said. "We reached out to French Broad to see if they would be interested. Their production has been about 3,000 barrels. They were the right size [for Thirsty Monk's needs]. This way, we can build smarter. We will (eventually) need more capacity than what is at French Broad."

Dahm declined to comment on the French Broad sale other than to say: "I am sure that Barry will do a good job."

Kendra Penland, director of the Asheville Brewers Alliance nonprofit trade group, said, "We are excited to see the spirit of collaboration between member breweries."

Thirsty Monk and French Broad will pour their beers at the Monk's Not So Big BIG Beer Festival June 1 at the Thompson Street Monk warehouse.

There are 24 breweries open in Asheville and Buncombe County with more than 50 around the mountains. The biggest area breweries are New Belgium in West Asheville, Sierra Nevada in Mills River and Oskar Blues in Brevard, The Asheville area is recognized as the nation's East Coast craft beer capital.