The acquisition of Backpocket Brewing Co. by SingleSpeed Brewing Co. has been in the works for over a year and should be finalized around Jan. 1. In the meantime, SingleSpeed is busy making upgrades to its facility in Waterloo to handle the increased brewing capacity that will be needed when production of Single Speed, Backpocket and Peace Tree products come under one roof.

Dave Morgan, brewer and founder of SingleSpeed, said the company has been working over a year as part of the parallel brewery collective, a collaboration of brewers to make production of their beer more efficient. Things like sales teams sharing the same “route to market,” and sourcing materials such as aluminum and cardboard, all run through the collective. 

Other members of the collective include Five City Brewing in the Quad Cities and Mississippi River Distilling in Le Claire.

“That all set the stage for us to take a look at a bunch of efficiencies here and we’re getting better at what we’re doing working together as opposed to having independent teams out in the market trying to accomplish the same goals,” Morgan said. “We just kept on examining the situation and talking to our accounting team and working with our brewery consultants and it quickly became apparent there are more efficiencies out there and there was a better way to operate these businesses and really work together as a united front.”

Backpocket Managing Partner Aaron Vargas and his wife, Jenny, will buy into the company and be equal partners in the business, Morgan said.

Backpocket, which acquired the intellectual property rights of Peace Tree Brewing Co. two years ago, will close its Coralville site, with the brewing of Backpocket and Peace Tree products moving to SingleSpeed’s Waterloo facility, Morgan said.

Morgan said equipment at the downtown Waterloo brewery, in a former Wonder Bread factory on Commercial Street, needs to be upgraded and additional tanks brought in to accommodate the increased production.

SingleSpeed will also be converting part of one of its delivery docks into a commercial chiller, adding to the brewery’s refrigeration, he said.

Morgan estimated the cost of the improvements at $750,000, which will be covered by a grant approved by the Waterloo City Council.

“We have to make some building modifications, which we’re starting here in the fourth quarter of 2025, and hope to wrap them up before the end of the year, depending on how construction goes,” he said. “There’s a chance it could leak into 2026 and we’re preparing for that to make sure there’s no lapse of any of our products in the market.”

Morgan said it’s the first phase of the project and he’s not sure how many phases will come.

There will be no change in the products made under the different brands, and the head brewer at Backpocket will be joining SingleSpeed as part of the acquisition, Morgan said.

“So, it will be the same person making the beer, the same recipe,” he said. “If you love Slingshot, you’re going to get Slingshot. But it will say brewed in Waterloo on the can instead of brewed in Coralville. That will probably be the only change customers will notice.”

Peace Tree brands, including Blond Fatale, Red Rambler and Little Hazy, are among those that will continue production, Morgan said.

Other than signage, customers to SingleSpeed’s Waterloo taproom shouldn’t notice a difference other than addition of the Backpocket and Peace Tree brands, he said.

As part of the change, the building will change from SingleSpeed to the Brewery at Wonder Bread, Morgan said.

“The building, as it is now, is just SingleSpeed Brewing Company, and that doesn’t really work for the project that we’re doing here,” he said. “So, it’s going to stay the same entity, but front facing will be the brewery at Wonder Bread. We’re in an old Wonder Bread building. And when we’re talking about the tap room, that will be the tap room at Wonder Bread, but they’re one business entity.”

Morgan said the city’s support was critical to moving the acquisition forward.

“Without their support, these facility upgrades and the acquisition weren’t going to come to fruition,” he said.

SingleSpeed moved into the former Wonder Bread building in 2017. They worked with state and federal officials to get approval to renovate and restore the historical integrity of the building, which Morgan said is on the National Register of Historic Places.

“The community and the city of Waterloo really rallied hard around us coming down and preserving it,” Morgan said. “We worked hard with the National Park Service and the state historical preservation office in Des Moines to make sure it wasn’t just functioning but that it looked the way they wanted it to look historically as well.”

SingleSpeed also has taprooms in Cedar Falls and on Scott Street in Des Moines. Morgan said there are no plans to add locations as part of the Backpocket acquisition.

“What we’re focused on is the heartbeat at 325 Commercial St. and making it as good as it can possibly be and maximizing what we can do here,” Morgan said. “That’s our focus right now. This location is going to be more important now post-acquisition and we’re doing everything we can here. This is our No. 1 focus. Not growth.”

He said key members of Backpocket Brewing, including the director of sales and marketing, are coming along in the acquisition. Other members of the taproom may be joining, too.

“We’re working through all those pieces right now and trying to make sure that we get the teams to fully integrate,” Morgan said. “Some of their team members will be coming over and we’ll be making some new hires, too.”