Quaff On! Brewing Announces Acquisition of Three Pints Brewing, Opening of Three Pints Taproom

In a Saturday morning announcement met with sweeping approval from the Indiana craft beer community, Quaff On! Brewing Company announced that they had acquired the recently-closed down Three Pints Brewing out of Martinsville, IN.

On Monday, January 18th in a Facebook post that shocked fans of the brewery and brewpub, Three Pints announced that it would be closing its doors for good. Quaff On! owner Jeff McCabe, however, had been in discussions with the Three Pints team days prior as news began to spread within the industry of the closing, hoping to acquire Three Pints’ facility and production equipment.

“It all happened really fast,” McCabe told me Sunday morning at Quaff On! in Nashville, IN. “We heard rumors, contacted (general manager) Danita Timmons and asked her to hold off on selling any equipment until we could get there and figure out a deal.

“I told her, ‘Keep the boiler hot.’”

For McCabe, the acquisition was an easy decision to make. Days prior, Quaff On! was prepared to put in an order for a 30 bbl brewing system, as the brewing company’s new Speedway location, which will feature 84 craft beer taps in total, will increase the need for more beer.

In the craft beer world, the word “acquisition” has become a four-letter word after AB InBev turned its sights on major craft breweries in 2015, but McCabe fully believes this move fits the spirit of Indiana craft beer perfectly.

“The first thing Tom and Pam (Hynes, Three Pints owners) said is Martinsville has been more than great to them, but if we’re going to be in Martinsville, we have to be a part of the community,” McCabe said, speaking on the importance of Indiana craft breweries being more than just local bars in their hometowns. McCabe assured that they will continue to distribute both delicious Three Pints and Quaff On! beers throughout the area.

When asked about how this deal might appear to the anti-consolidation crowd, especially in light of Budweiser’s anti-craft Super Bowl ads, McCabe echoed other sentiments. 

“We wanted to show that there’s other models besides growing large then selling off, that a craft brewery could make a smart decision about expanding while also supporting the local breweries around them,” he said. “We wanted to maintain our integrity as craft brewers while showing the next step isn’t always inevitable consolidation. The timing was good for us with Speeday coming, the risk was low, and we could keep alive a craft brand important to the people of Indiana.”

“The feedback from the people of Martinsville has been great. They’ve all been thanking us and asking for us to bring our pizza with us!” 

The group has hit the ground running, with Tom Hynes leading the first brewday this past Saturday morning.

“It all just kind of worked out the way you expect things in the craft beer community would,” McCabe adds. ​​