NOON UPDATE — Nothing will change at Bend-based 10 Barrel Brewing Co. once it becomes the property of Anheuser-Busch and part of a multinational beverage company, the brewery’s partners said this morning.

Anheuser-Busch, the beverage giant based in St. Louis, announced this morning it would acquire 10 Barrel in a deal expected to close by year’s end.

“The most important thing is this is business as usual,” said 10 Barrel co-founder Jeremy Cox. Chris Cox, Jeremy’s brother, will continue to oversee the brewery. Garrett Wales will still run the restaurant, Jeremy Cox said. “The only thing that changes is that we will have bosses in Chicago,” he said.

(Watch the video announcement of sale to brewery employees.)

Sale price for the local brewery, which expects to sell 40,000 barrels of its products this year, was not disclosed. The agreement covers the Bend production brewery and brewpubs in Bend, Boise and one in Portland, expected to open early next year.

“We are excited to stay focused on brewing cool beers, get our beers in more hands, and make the most of the operational and distribution expertise of Anheuser-Busch,” Jeremy Cox said in a news release.

Anheuser-Busch owns two other craft breweries in the U.S.: Goose Island Beer Co. of Chicago and Blue Point Brewing Co., of Patchogue, New York, said Andy Goeler, CEO of Anheuser-Busch’s craft division.

“Anheuser-Busch has been more active in the world of craft beers because of the way consumers are enjoying those kinds of beers,” Goeler said. “From Anheuser-Busch’s perspective, the first thing that drew us to these guys (10 Barrel) is the portfolio of beers. Their beers are amazing.”

10 Barrel benefits from the sale by tapping into Anheuser-Busch expertise in areas such as brewing efficiencies and distribution, Jeremy Cox said.

The approximately 200 employees of 10 Barrel, about 150 of them in Bend, received the news this morning, with an “overall very positive” response, Wales said. “They’re really excited,” he said. “Nobody loses a job. If anything, we’ll add more jobs.”

10 Barrel will not be adding Anheuser-Busch beverages at its pubs in Boise and Bend or the one soon to open in Portland, the partners said. Jimmy Seifrit will remain head of brewing operations at 10 Barrel.

The brewery has no immediate plans to expand or widen its product distribution beyond Oregon, Washington and Idaho.

News of the sale dominated the local conversation on Twitter, for example. Reaction was mixed.

“Not sure how to feel about this,” tweeted Matt Fike.

The Coxes and Wales said the bottom line is the operation stays in Bend, run by the same people.

“The brewery is staying right here,” Wales said. “It’s a big company but we’re dealing with it on a local level just like we have been.”

Anheuser-Busch, maker of Budweiser, is the U.S. arm of Anheuser-Busch InBev, a multi-national company with headquarters in Belgium, according to its website. It controls 42 percent of the U.S. beer market.

10 Barrel started in business as Wildfire Brewing Co., first producing beer for sale in 2007, according to data from the Oregon Liquor Control Commission.

But in 2008 it changed its name after being contacted by an attorney representing the owner of Wildfire Grill in Chicago about trademark infringement.

Through August, 10 Barrel ranked fourth in the state in taxable barrels reported sold in Oregon, with 17,090 barrels, according to the latest data from the OLCC. It was right behind Portland Brewing, which had reported 21,253 barrels through August.

Both trailed the state’s top two beer makers, the Craft Brew Alliance — composed of Redhook Ale, Widmer Brothers, Kona Brewing and Omission Beer — which ranked first, at 61,598 barrels, and Deschutes Brewery which had produced 59,268 through August, according to the OLCC.

For all of last year, 10 Barrel ranked seventh, reporting 16,100 barrels sold in Oregon, according to the OLCC.

— Reporter: 541-617-7815, jditzler@bendbulletin.com