Photos provided.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga Brewing Co. formerly located at 131 Excelsior Ave., which closed in January of this year, is auctioning off pieces of the brewery or as a turnkey operations option which means selling the entire set of equipment as is. The auction is taking place on Aug. 28 and is being facilitated by the Tiger Group. The Tiger Group deals with asset appraisals, liquidations, dispositions and capital investments. They have been working with the parent company of Saratoga Brewing Co., Mendocino Brewing located in Hopland, California, for a month.
“We have an online platform that we use and it’s a live auction, so people actually see the items and the lots are closing out as people bid on them... People will register for the auction, they log in (to the website) and there’ll be each item up for bid and they can place individual bids on it,” said Alyssa Van Hinte, a marketing manager at the Tiger Group.
On the Aug. 28 at 11 a.m. EST will start start closing in succession. Bidders can see bids being placed in real time and once the countdown clock runs out, the highest bidder will win. Items for sale include the tasting room furniture, a 2012 keg, the complete bottle filling conveyor line, steam boilers, equipment in the fermentation area, memorabilia and more. According to Van Hinte, a lot of existing breweries are interested in these types of items. “We’ve had a lot of people who are already in operation and they’re just looking to upgrade their current equipment,” she says.
“The pieces start at $1 but the lots do have a minimum that we will require once people start bidding on these because they go up pretty high... People can get really amazing prices on certain pieces but it depends on how in demand they are,” Van Hinte said.
“Auctions just keep things a little bit more exciting and keep people a little bit more into the sale. There’s potential for the sellers to get a lot more than they initially thought or the other way around; the buyers are getting a really good deal on prices,” she added.
According to Van Hinte, bidding did open up a little early on Aug. 16 and on Aug. 27 the brewery will be open for preview, so bidders can look at the items before bidding on them. Checkout is Aug. 30 through Sept. 17 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Small items must be removed by Sept. 7 and checkout is by appointment only.
