Logan-Shaw Brewing company is seeking regional brewers to continue making the discontinued 21-year-old beer brand Wild Goose.
The Waldorf-based company bought the brand in December from Flying Dog Ales for an undisclosed amount.
But the so-called nano-brewery won't be up and running for another 18 months, president Jeff Harrison said.
In the meantime, the company is seeking brewers in Maryland, Delaware or Virginia to continue making the brand's Amber Ale and its IPA starting as early as February or March, when the beer's last batches are expected to run out.
"It's a local beer so it would make no sense to brew it in upstate New York," he said.
Flying Dog, the brand's previous owner, began discussions to sell Wild Goose last summer, earlier than previously thought, according to Harrison.
His company is in conversations with a few regional brewers to take over production, Harrison said, but isn't ready to disclose names.
"An announcement has to come soon because we want to keep the beer flowing," he said.
Flying Dog inherited Wild Goose when it bought its brewery in Frederick. But the company ran out of space to produce it along its more popular Flying Dog product, according to vice president of marketing Ben Savage.
Harrison said Logan-Shaw began negotiations to buy Wild Goose in July, earlier than previously thought. Flying Dog didn't confirm it would discontinue Wild Goose until November.Then, Savage insisted it was seeking ways to keep the brand alive.
Harrison said Logan-Shaw still can't disclose the terms of the sale, as per their agreement with Flying Dog.
He said his company bought Wild Goose in the interest of keeping "a great brand" alive.
Logan-Shaw, named after the DC neighborhood, is referred to by its owners as a nano-brewery.
"We like that term because it's more manageable," he said. "These days microbreweries are huge. We're not in that ballpark."
Right now, though, it's still a larval nanobrewery.
The company won't even sign a lease on its home brewery in Waldorf, Maryland until later this week (The space is 4,000 square feet and will likely produce 7,200 barrels* a year, Harrison said).
And that location won't be up and running for another 18 months, or more, depending on construction delays.
The contract brewery the company hires temporarily for Wild Goose would produce the amber and the IPA. The popular Snow Goose would come online later on.
"We would like to produce all the recipes but we'd like to start small," Harrison said.
(*Post updated: Harrison had mistakenly said the brewery would produce 30 gallons a year.)