Brewbound — Craft Beer News, Events & Jobs

Tourists and a pandemic don’t mix. Salem, Massachusetts-based Notch Brewing announced Wednesday that it would close its biergarten for on-site service beginning Friday through November 1, as its hometown faces a deluge of tourists in the lead up to Halloween.

This week’s edition of the Brewbound Podcast brings together industry experts to share their perspectives on what wholesaler consolidation means for smaller craft breweries and if there’s an end in sight to the disruptions.

The third and final Brew Talks event of 2020 will feature representatives from the beer industry’s three tiers — supplier, wholesaler and retailer — sharing their views on new product introductions versus core offerings, and how they’re meeting customers’’ desires during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pabst Brewing general manager and president Matt Bruhn believes mainstream beer is facing a “Kodak moment,” Just not in the traditional sense. “We’re at a Kodak moment where the consumer demand is upending the industry,” he explained. “Now if you only have the ability to produce mainstream beer, you’re going to get caught short.”

After six years of contract brewing with partners in the far corners of Massachusetts, Springfield-based White Lion Brewing now has a space to call its own at the city’s Tower Square development. “It’s been a journey, but through perseverance, a good team and good support, we are where we are right now,” White Lion founder Raymond Berry told Brewbound.

Following the announcement yesterday that Danish brewer Mikkeller has shuttered its brewery at the New York Mets’ home Citi Field, Fountain Beverage and EBBS Brewing Company will take over the 10,000 sq. ft. space.

In its first analysis of the U.S. packaging industry, financial services firm Credit Suisse said its medium-term outlook of the industry is “bullish.” The can industry is being strained from several directions, as the COVID-19 pandemic’s restrictions on the on-premise channel has shifted a chunk of Americans’ beer consumption from draft to cans and new product introductions, including those in the $3.49 billion hard seltzer industry, lean heavily toward cans. Additionally, can production has slowed over several years.

Founders of three of Massachusetts’ oldest craft breweries shared insights and advice for the next generation of Bay State craft brewers during the virtual Mass Brewers Guild conference earlier this month. “Expect to work your ass off,” said Jim Koch, founder of Boston Beer.

The New York City outpost of Danish craft brewery Mikkeller has permanently closed after a little more than two years. In a Facebook post this morning, Mikkeller announced that it had made “the difficult decision” to shutter the location at Citi Field in Queens, home of the New York Mets.

Non-alcoholic brand Heineken 0.0 is pushing toward 2 million cases this year, Heineken USA chief marketing officer Jonnie Cahill shared during last week’s national sales meeting.

The Brewers Association (BA) announced the winners of the 2020 Great American Beer Festival medal winners Friday night. Overall, the BA awarded 272 medals to 240 breweries during the ceremony.

Hard seltzers, a Michelob Ultra challenger and a strong push for cans were among the key takeaways from Heineken USA’s national sales meeting held virtually Thursday across three regions.

Miami-based Biscayne Bay Brewing has filed a lawsuit against La Tropical Holdings B.V. and Cerveceria La Tropical USA LLC, alleging that they and their parent companies, Heineken N.V. and Heineken USA, have no basis for their claims of trademark infringement. Those claims, the company alleged, cost Biscayne Bay a commercial relationship with Major League Soccer franchise, team Inter Miami CF.

Boston Beer Company’s annual Great American Beer Festival brunch this year was, of course, physically distant. It was also less boozy than previous years. The latter point was on purpose. Among Boston Beer’s big innovations for 2021 are Samuel Adams Just the Haze IPA and Dogfish Head Lemon Quest, both non-alcoholic offerings.

Constellation Brands and WWE this week announced a partnership to make Mexican import brand Victoria the “Official Beer of SummerSlam,” the wrestling promotion’s second largest event of the year slated for August 2021.