Wicked Weed Brewing

Wicked Weed built its name in the craft brewing industry with sour beers, but in recent years under the ownership of Anheuser-Busch InBev, the Asheville, North Carolina-based brewery has found commercial success in craft beer’s most popular style space, IPAs.

Today Sheetz, a major Mid-Atlantic restaurant and convenience chain, announced the release of a new limited-edition craft beer brewed with one pound per barrel of the brand’s Shweetz Glazed Vanilla Donut holes. Dubbed “Project Happy Hole-idayz,” this first-ever beer was brewed in partnership with Wicked Weed Brewing Company.

Modern Times has furloughed employees at five of its seven taprooms, the San Diego-headquartered brewery wrote in an email Thursday night. Three breweries in Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Brewers Collective, the craft division of the world’s largest beer manufacturer, have temporarily closed their taprooms after employees tested positive for COVID-19. Sierra Nevada plans to keep its taprooms, gift shops and brewery tours closed for the foreseeable future.

Nearly 26 months after the merger of Canadian brewing equipment manufacturers Diversified Metal Engineering (DME) and Newlands Systems, the combined company has fallen into receivership after defaulting on loan payments to the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). DME Group’s financial troubles have left hundreds of of North American craft brewery owners who had already shelled out millions of dollars in equipment deposits in limbo.

In this week’s Press Clips: Anheuser-Busch plans to feature NBA and MLB athletes in ad campaigns; Celis Brewery assumes sales responsibilities for Uncle Billy’s and Pedernales brands; the Beer Institute releases domestic tax paid estimate for August; and more news.

Felipe Szpigel, president of A-B’s High End, told Brewbound that more of his division’s craft breweries will be releasing 15- and 18-packs in the next couple of months.

Following last year’s sale of Asheville’s Wicked Weed to Anheuser-Busch InBev, 23 North Carolina breweries have banded together to form the Charlotte Independent Brewers Alliance (CIBA), a non-profit membership group aimed at distinguishing local beer and cider makers from their competitors.

Production at 25 of the top 50 Brewers Association-defined craft breweries didn’t grow last year, according new data released today by the trade organization.

In this week’s edition of Last Call: Wicked Weed postpones the Funkatorium Invitational; Speakeasy’s sale price is report; Massachusetts and Maryland alcohol task forces set meeting dates; and much more.

The fallout from Wicked Weed’s sale to Anheuser-Busch InBev is still being felt days after the transaction was announced. In the wake of the deal — which will require approval from the U.S. Department of Justice — at least 44 breweries announced they would no longer participate in Wicked Weed’s annual Funkatorium Invitational in Asheville on July 8.

Anheuser-Busch InBev significantly bolstered its High End division’s craft and import portfolio today when it announced plans to purchase one of the most acclaimed producers of sour, barrel-aged and hoppy beers in the U.S. — North Carolina’s Wicked Weed Brewing. In the five years since it launched from a small brewpub in downtown Asheville, Wicked Weed has claimed numerous World Beer Cup and Great American Beer Festival medals, scaled production to roughly 20,000 barrels, built three additional brewing facilities spanning a cumulative 150,000 sq. ft., grown to 210 employees and expanded distribution into 10 states and Washington D.C.

Anheuser-Busch InBev is making its first U.S. craft brewery purchase of 2017, today announcing the acquisition of North Carolina’s Wicked Weed Brewing. Specific financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed and the deal is subject to regulatory approval.

In this week’s edition of Last Call: Finch Beer strikes a deal for a Chicago brewery; BrewDog hires a former Wicked Weed sour brewer and Starbucks ends its “evenings” program.

Colorado craft beer wholesaler Elite Brands has obtained the distribution rights to Wicked Weed Brewing, Maui Brewing Company and several import brands, Brewbound has learned. In a joint press release issued on December 23, Elite Brands and Wicked Weed, a popular Asheville, North Carolina-based craft brewery, announced the new distribution agreement.