The assets of Firehouse Brewing Company, which filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy protection on March 27th, were sold at auction today [5/24/2011]. The sale was broken down into about 150 lots with the largest grossing lots containing the brewing and bottling equipment bringing in over $300,000 in combined sales. Competition for the equipment was steep, the lots containing the brewing system and bottling line both had over ten bids. The Firehouse brand on the other hand, the name, phone number, website, and the recipes, netted far less than the brewing equipment, selling for a mere $1,500 with no competition among bidders according to the online auction software used.
According to auctioneer Jeff Bloom of Fischer Auction Company which handled the auction the total sales came to about $400,000. Other brewing and beer equipment, general office supplies and most everything else one would expect to find at a brewery we auctioned off in addition to the main brew house equipment. While a lot of jockey boxes, hoses and various parts sold for only $400, it received the most bids with 30 people hoping to take them home. A lot of 84 kegs sold for $60 each for a total of $5,040 with 17 bids.
At this time it’s unclear who picked up what equipment at the auction or if the old Firehouse equipment will end up helping start a new brewery or a current brewery expand. According to his Twitter account, Matt Spencer co-owner of Firehouse American Eatery & Lounge in Pacific Beach was at the auction and purchased the Firehouse brand and may start contract brewing under the Firehouse Brewing Co. name.
The full list of equipment auctioned, final prices and total bids can be seen at http://bit.ly/FirehouseAuction
Update: Doug Constantiner and Travis Smith (who are working on opening Societe Brewing Co.) tell us they purchased quite a bit of equipment including the fleet of kegs. They’re looking for any of Firehouse’s kegs that are still out in the market and ask that anyone with info contact kegs@societebrewing.com or call and leave a message at 858.461.1677.
We’ve also learned that the brewhouse equipment went to Olde Main Brewing Co. in Ames, Iowa and some of the smaller homebrew size equipment and conical fermenters went to Joseph James Brewing Co. in Henderson, Nevada. Locally, Mission Brewery may have picked up a small amount of equipment as well (although we have not been able to confirm any purchases as of this time).
For further reading, check out my post on San Diego Beer Blog