By: Dylan Sikes - AllPennyStocks.com News

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

People like beer. It’s been that way for thousands of years as one of the first beverages produced by humans and there is not much signaling that the trend won’t continue for thousands more. Mega-brewers like Anheuser-Busch are still doing well, but the popularity of microbrewed beers is ever growing. Through 2012, the U.S. was home to about 2,400 craft breweries, according to data from the Brewers Association. The small brewers have gotten to be so popular that they comprised nearly one-third of all beer sales at grocery giant Costco Wholesale Corp. (Nasdaq:COST). Armada Data Corp. (TSX-Venture:ARD) is a Mississauga, Ontario-based diversified information and marketing services company that saw an opportunity in the craft beer business in 2011. The company struck a $857,000-deal late in the year to acquire 90 percent of the issued and outstanding shares of The Big & Easy Bottle Brewing Company, the sole owner of Mister Beer, Inc. Mister Beer invented and patented a unique “microbrewery in a bottle,” a technology that allows consumers to make their own beer at about half the cost of typical beer.

The move further diversified Armada’s portfolio, which already includes cloud data storage and supplying and commercializing data for institutional and retail clients, with a primary focus on the automobile industry.

Called MB Bottle Brew, the product is dubbed “the world’s easiest beer making kit,” taking only seconds to make and turning into an all-natural 4%-5% (alcohol volume) that’s ready to drink in 10 days. The process is set apart from commercial beers because the fermentation process occurs under pressure in the bottle, creating a unique unfiltered beer with natural fine carbonation. The brew comes in two varieties currently: Mexican Cerveza and Bohemian Blonde Ale.

Because the product contains no alcohol at the point of sale, it is not limited to specific retail locations for sale. It is currently sold at more than 250 retail outlets across Canada. Of course, the company also sells the beer already brewed as well.

That retail base is going to get a large boost in coming months, according to a deal announced today. Armada reported that MB Bottle Brew is hitting the shelves at Home Hardware stores across Canada in the coming weeks. Home Hardware’s network of stores includes more than 1,000 stores across its namesake brand, Home Building Centre, Home Hardware Building Centre and Home Furniture. Further, the product has become an inventory warehouse item, meaning that dealers will be able to order the product from Home Hardware’s central office.

"Our customers will now be able to access our Bottle-Brew product easier and more conveniently given the sheer number of Home Hardware dealers that have agreed to stock our product from Vancouver, British Columbia to St. John's, Newfoundland," said Steven Best, MB Bottle-Brew’s Vice President and General Sales Manager, in a statement today.

Best said that the new agreement stemmed from the company attending Home Hardware’s dealer tradeshow in September, where the product received “rave reviews.”

With only 17.7 million shares outstanding, the stock is super thinly traded, but interesting as the valuation of the company was under $1 million entering trading on Wednesday. Shares have popped-up 33 percent to 6 cents as the day is winding towards a close, finally pushing the market capitalization just over the $1 million mark. The stock has been in a slow and steady downtrend since hitting 70 cents in late 2009, but looks to be trying to climb off a bottom at 2.5 cents in October and this new agreement could be just the shot that it needed. Proper due diligence is, as always, encouraged.

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