Brewbound — Craft Beer News, Events & Jobs

Boston Beer Company chief marketing officer Jon Potter will depart the country’s second-largest craft brewery at the end of the month, the company disclosed in an SEC filing issued yesterday. Potter, who joined the beer, cider and flavored malt beverage producer in August 2016, is credited with engineering the company’s “Fill Your Glass” advertising campaign that debuted during last year’s Major League Baseball World Series.

Canarchy Craft Brewery Collective has finalized its second deal in as many months, today announcing the acquisition of Los Angeles-based Three Weavers Brewing Company. Specific financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but Three Weavers co-founder Lynne Weaver described the deal with the Fireman Capital-backed brewery rollup as a “strategic partnership” that would put her company in a better position to “weather any possible economic storms.”

Oklahoma City-based COOP Ale Works today announced a $20 million project to revitalize the 23rd Street National Guard Armory and transform the vacated 87,000 sq. ft. space into a manufacturing brewery, restaurant, event space and boutique hotel. Following a 9-month request-for-proposal process, the state’s Office of Management and Enterprise Services awarded COOP the 80-year-old art deco building, which was once headquarters for the 45th Division Infantry but was shuttered in 2010.

As Colorado-headquartered Avery Brewing prepares to celebrate its 25th anniversary next month, internally the company has restructured its sales team and added several new departments. Speaking to Brewbound, Avery national sales and marketing director Brian “BK” Krueger said “less than 10 percent” of the company’s sales and marketing workforce was impacted, and that net job loss totaled two field sales positions.

Colorado’s New Belgium Brewing has inked another local partnership, this time with Denver Arts & Venues, the city agency responsible for operating the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheatre. As part of a 3-year deal, the Fort Collins-headquartered New Belgium will become “the official craft brewer of Red Rocks Amphitheatre,” and have an increased presence at the Colorado Convention Center, the Denver Performing Arts Complex and the Bellco Theatre.

As the majority of beer business stakeholders continue to examine what impact recreational cannabis could have on the industry, one alcohol trade association has officially come out in support of legalizing the psychedelic drug. The Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA), A Washington, D.C. trade group that works to advance the interests of distributors and brokers of wine and spirits, yesterday announced “an official policy position in favor of a state’s right to establish a legal, well-regulated, adult-use cannabis marketplace.”

In this week’s Last Call: A look at California beer production; Sen. Schumer backs permanent excise tax cuts; TTB accepts $20,000 offer in compromise from Cigar City; and more beer industry news.

Craft Brew Alliance (CBA) is making good on its promise to innovate in products other than beer, namely low- or no-alcohol drinks. The publicly traded Portland, Oregon-based craft beer company — which makes and markets the Kona Brewing, Widmer Brothers, Redhook, Omission and Square Mile Cider brands, and has partnerships with Appalachian Mountain Brewery, Wynwood Brewing, and Cisco Brewers – has launched what it has dubbed the “pH Experiment.”

Brewbound, a leading trade publication covering the beer industry, today announced the first group of speakers that will take the stage during its two-day November business conference, called Brewbound Live. Joining the event – which takes place on November 27th and 28th in Santa Monica, California, and brings stakeholders from all three tiers of the brewing industry together to discuss trends, challenges and the future of beer – is a star-studded group of industry experts who will share insights and strategies for moving the category forward.

If you’re in the beer industry, you’ve probably heard the name Rhonda Kallman. Credited with helping launch Boston Beer Company alongside Jim Koch in 1984, Kallman has experienced a lifetime’s worth of entrepreneurial successes and failures – and she’s lived to tell the tale. In the latest episode of Taste Radio, Kallman tells her story and discusses the defining moments of her personal and professional journey.

Constellation Brands will expand its reach in the craft beer segment with the acquisition of Texas’ Four Corners Brewing, the New York-based beverage alcohol company announced today. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

In an effort to “better align” its internal structure with its “long-term business strategy,” Anheuser-Busch has split its “High End” craft and import division into two separate business units. Announced to employees and distributors yesterday, the restructuring will include the creation of a standalone craft beer division, led by Felipe Szpigel, whose title will change to “president of craft.”

MillerCoors chief marketing officer David Kroll will leave the company on July 27, CEO Gavin Hattersley wrote in a memo to distributors and employees on Monday. Kroll, who joined MillerCoors in mid-2012 as a vice president in charge of U.S. marketing and took over as CMO in July 2015, is leaving to “pursue other independent business interests,” Hattersley said.

As sales of U.S. craft beer have begun to slow, so too has the appetite for domestic dealmaking. More recently, however, there’s been an uptick in the number of international craft acquisitions — including a pair of well-regarded London-based breweries. London’s Fourpure Brewing Co. announced today a 100 percent sale to Australia-headquartered and Kirin-owned Lion Pty Limited.