The former Californian craft brewery – now with global distribution – has a new CEO after Maria Stipp stepped down after nearly five-years at the helm. Her replacement, Dennis Peek, was managing director of Heineken Canada and is a long-time Heineken employee, reports the Petaluma Press Democrat.

Heineken International had owned 50 percent of Lagunitas since 2015; it bought the remainder of the company in 2017. This move will leave Heineken firmly in charge of the brewery once seen as Californian eccentric and pioneering. Its flagship Indian Pale Ale has been its best seller for years and can now be found in around 200 countries.

Under Stipp the company has gone through two series of layoffs, although it still has around 650 at its Petaluma plant and in Chicago. No reason was given for her leaving the company except for: “Maria has decided a pursue a different challenge in her career,” said Marc Busian, president of Heineken Americas, in a statement.

Although details were not announced when Heineken bought its first 50 percent stake in Lagunitas Brewing in 2015, there is strong speculation that it paid around $1 billion. With Heineken owning half of the company, it was no longer considered a craft brewery by the US Brewers Association.

Tony Magee, the founder of Lagunitas, had criticized “big beer” companies in the past. During the initial sale in 2015, Magee justified this partnership by pointing to the large international market he hoped to tap into. 

“This is not the end of anything at all at Lagunitas, except maybe it is the end of the beginning, meaning that we are now standing at the threshold of an historic opportunity to export the excitement and vibe of American-born Craft Brewing and meet beer-lovers all over the Planet Earth, our true homeland. This could one day even be seen as a crucial victory for American Craft Brewing,” he wrote in a blog post announcing the deal, titled “The Future Will Not Be Like The Past”.