Brewbound — Craft Beer News, Events & Jobs

In episode 28 of the Brewbound Podcast, Watson shares his early 2018 analysis and discusses the circumstances that have led to an increasing number of brewery closures in recent years. He also answers questions about the BA’s revised craft brewer definition, and the possible future impact of legal recreational cannabis on the alcohol segment.

The NCAA men’s basketball tournament officially tips off on Thursday, and several major beer manufacturers are already jockeying for fans’ attention. MillerCoors, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Craft Brew Alliance (CBA) and D.G. Yuengling are among the beer companies hoping consumers will want to catch a buzz with their products while watching for buzzer beaters this month.

Attendees of the Craft Brewers Conference are invited to engage with like-minded brewers, distributors and retailers at Brewbound’s Brew Talks CBC meetup presented by Dogfish Head. The event will take place on Tuesday, April 9th from 4-7:30PM MT at Cervantes’ Masterpiece in Denver, CO. Prior registration is required.

Anheuser-Busch InBev today said it planned to make a number of changes to its board of directors, including the appointment of former Altria CEO Martin Barrington as chairman and the addition of three more female board members. The changes are subject to shareholder approval and expected to become official on April 24, following the company’s annual shareholder meeting.

Uinta Brewing Company announced Monday its third notable leadership change in the last four years, promoting chief marketing officer Jeremy Ragonese to president. Ragonese assumes the role from long-time beer industry executive John Lennon, who took over as CEO in early 2018 following the departure of Steve Mills, who left the Utah-based craft brewery to become CEO of Maine Beer Company.

For just the third time in the 35-year history of the Boston Beer Company, a woman has been appointed to the brewery’s board of directors. The country’s second largest craft beer producer, as ranked by trade group the Brewers Association, today announced that Uber, Inc. regional general manager Meghan Joyce has been named to the company’s board.

Maryland’s craft brewers, wholesalers and retailers have reached an agreement on sweeping legislation that, if approved, would reform the state’s laws surrounding self-distribution, taproom sales and franchise agreements.

Brewbound today announced its speaker lineup for the upcoming Brew Talks meetup, taking place April 9, in Denver, Colorado, during the annual Craft Brewers Conference. Throughout the event, which begins at 4:00 PM MDT, panelists will discuss the ways the craft beer category can evolve and open itself to new demographics.

Next Green Wave Holdings, a vertically integrated California cannabis company, issued a press release Tuesday erroneously indicating that San Diego’s Thorn Brewing had been sold. Speaking to Brewbound, Thorn Brewing co-founder Dennis O’Connor confirmed the brewery was not a part of Next Green Wave’s $27 million transaction, which included the acquisition of more than 45 CBD and THC products.

In this week’s Last Call: Anchor workers vote to unionize; Texas beer distributor opposes to-go sales; Utah lawmakers agree on stronger beer bill; Instacart offers alcohol delivery service to 40 Million U.S. households; and more industry news.

North Carolina craft brewers and wholesalers have reached a compromise in a contentious years-long dispute over the state’s self-distribution and franchise laws. After filing a lawsuit two years ago challenging the constitutionality of a state law requiring brewers who sell more than 25,000 barrels to forfeit self-distribution rights and sign with a wholesaler, Craft Freedom LLC — a trade group consisting of Olde Mecklenburg Brewery and NoDa Brewing Co. — has struck a deal with the North Carolina Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association that could create an additional brewer classification for “mid-sized independent breweries” selling fewer than 100,000 barrels annually.

In episode 27 of the Brewbound Podcast, Catalana shares his plan to grow Fort Point’s revenue to as much as $22 million in 2019, while hiring another five dozen employees. He also discusses the pros and cons of self-distribution, why the company takes a debt-averse approach to financing growth, and how it builds strong core brands at a time when breweries and consumers alike are chasing new beer offerings.

After experiencing an 11 percent production decline in 2018, New Belgium Brewing has opened its Colorado brewing facility to an upstart lager brand that is aiming to eclipse the 100,000-barrel threshold within two years. New Belgium — the fourth largest craft brewery in the U.S. — and Charleston, South Carolina-based East Island Brewing Co., maker of the “Island Coastal Lager” brand, today announced the new brewing arrangement in a joint press release.

Colorado-headquartered Ceria Beverages plans to begin selling its THC-infused, non-alcoholic beers in Southern California within the next 90 days, according to co-founder Keith Villa.

Count Deschutes Brewery among the list of beer companies experimenting with no- and low-alcohol offerings. The Bend, Oregon-headquartered craft brewery — the 10th largest U.S. craft brewery, according to the Brewers Association — has begun testing prototypes of two non-alcoholic beers.