Fish Brewing Co. sold to husband-wife team with ties to Seattle and Yelm
Olympia’s Fish Brewing Co., which entered a bankruptcy-like process called receivership earlier this year after its debts significantly outweighed its assets, has been sold, the business announced Tuesday.
The new owners are the husband-and-wife team of Josh Carrigan and Kate Craig.
Carrigan owns a bar in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood called Still Liquor, which turns 10 in January, and Craig has a background in retail, she said Tuesday.
Craig grew up in Yelm and still has family there, she said. The couple now lives in Seattle, but plans to spend a lot of time in Olympia.
The couple learned about Fish Brewing entering receivership over the summer. They did their own research, including reaching out to Craig’s father in Yelm to gauge awareness about Fish Brewing, and they were pleased with what they learned.
The sale closed Monday night, she said. Among their priorities is to get together with the staff of about 40 and make the transition with them as low impact as possible, Craig said.
“We have a lot of work to do,” she said. “We’re committed to the employees and working with them as a team to plan and grow the business again.”
The couple paid $970,000 for the business, Thurston County Superior Court records show. In July, Ken Reister, a former Fish Brewing board member who was overseeing the day-to-day operations after it entered receivership in spring, told The Olympian the business was entertaining offers then of $1.5 million.
Craig said they didn’t purchase all of the Fish Brewing assets. They took a pass on a Fish Brewing-related business in Woodinville. Craig called it a “competing priority that didn’t create value for us.”
In a news release, the couple says they will initially ramp up production of beer and cider. They also want to work with South Puget Sound Community College’s Craft Brewing and Distillery program. In addition, they are exploring the idea of brewery tours and a lecture series based in the Fish Brew Pub.
Craig said those plans are in the idea stage, but they do want to find a way to have a celebration with the community.
This story was originally published December 17, 2019 at 11:05 AM.
