K2 Brothers Brewing acquires Young Lion Brewing recipes and brands

Canandaigua-based Young Lion already announced it was selling its tasting room and production space to Other Half.

In its initial release about its sale of its tasting room and production space to Other Half, Canandaigua-based Young Lion left open the door for more news on the horizon.

Stating, “Young Lion has retained ownership of the brand and is exploring creative solutions for its exciting future,” the nearly seven-year-old Ontario County brewery hinted at more maneuvering. And now we know what those maneuvers are.

Brewery CEO/co-founder Jennifer Newman announced Monday that Young Lion would be selling its beer recipes and brands to K2 Brothers Brewing. It’s a move that makes a lot of sense as the breweries have long maintained a contract brewing partnership at the Canandaigua facility. It dates back to October 2019. Both breweries opened in 2017.

“It was a great fit and it happened so organically,” Newman said. She said these talks were initiated after Young Lion announced the sale of its taproom and production facility at 24 Lakeshore Drive in the Pinnacle North development to Other Half Brewing back in November.

“We’ve had such a great relationship with K2 and we share a lot of the same values,” Newman added. “We have the same vision for craft and I have so much respect for them. I think that the environment and they beers they make, they’re really fun and magical. I admire that. It’s not easy to do. When they approached me, it was a good fit.”

Newman said that the OH-Young Lion deal is close to being finalized and is just awaiting regulatory approval from the state, including a new liquor license for OH to operate there. Until both deals close, Young Lion will continue to brew in Canandaigua and its taproom will remain open, Newman said. The K2 agreement will not close until the OH one does.

When asked how long the K2 partnership took to iron out, Newman joked, “Seconds. It didn’t take any time at all.”

So under the newest announced deal, K2 will produce Young Lion’s most well-known brands, including its Pilsner, IPA, fruited sours (long the brewery’s strength imo), and rotating seasonals. And when you consider the brands already share a local distributor, Wright Beverage, it makes a lot more sense.

“It was a natural fit for K2 to become Young Lion's new home,” K2 co-founder Brad Kennedy said in a release.

According to a release, K2 outgrew its brewing capacity at its original Empire Boulevard location within two years and shifted to contract brewing some recipes at Young Lion to meet demand.

Newman said the deal is expected to close in February. That should align with K2’s move to Wayne County and the opening of its expanded production space at the former Freewill Elementary School in Walworth. The new brewhouse, featuring a 20-barrel system and tons of new fermentation capacity, should be operational in the next few weeks, while K2’s second taproom is already open at that location.

The Freewill location occupies about 20,000 square feet. The entire property is more than 70,000 square feet and sits on 40-plus acres. Owners Kyle and Brad Kennedy have previously said renovations will be completed at the school in a number of different phases. They’ve also received approval from the town of Penfield to massively upgrade the original Empire Boulevard location, though those plans remain on hold.

K2 and Young Lion plan to release a commemorative collaboration beer, a hazy IPA called The Lion’s New Den, in early February to trumpet the next chapter and the new partnership. Newman said she would transition to a new role with K2. Details of that role still need to be ironed out.

“We still really haven’t talked about it much, but they were very interested in having me come over in some type of capacity along with the brand,” Newman said. “I really like working with those guys, so I’m excited. And obviously the brand means a lot to me, so I’m excited to transition with it.”

All parties promised a smooth transition.