In this week’s edition of press clips: Sodastream Launches Homemade Beer System; Boston’s Night Shift Brewing to Expand; Alltech Brewing Eyes Expansion in Mexico, Asia; Majority of U.S. House Supports Beer Tax Reform; Wynne Odell Elected to BA Board

One the verge of an important Memorial Day weekend for beer sales, a number of the country’s top-selling brands aren’t on shelves at two of the country’s largest retailers. According to new information from Quri, a San Francisco-based retail intelligence company providing insight into merchandising conditions at major U.S. retailers, many of the country’s largest brands are out of stock at Walmart and Target.

Sales of craft beer are officially slowing, according to new data from market research firm IRI Worldwide, but a closer look shows an important distinction: the biggest brewers and their craft brands are the ones facing the slowdown. While category-wide beer volume sales remain flat across IRI’s measured multi-outlet and convenience channels (MULC — which comprise grocery, drug, club, dollar, mass-merchandiser, Walmart and military stores), up just 0.7 percent through May 15, growth in the craft beer category, which was growing double-digits at this time last year, has slowed considerably.

Officials from the United States Department of Justice are investigating Anheuser-Busch InBev over a controversial incentive plan aimed at rewarding beer wholesalers who focus on selling products from the world’s largest beer maker, according to the Reuters news agency. At the crux of the DOJ probe are anticompetitive concerns over A-B InBev’s Voluntary Anheuser-Busch Incentive For Performance (VAIP) program.

Ballast Point today confirmed plans to purchase a massive 259,000 sq. ft. building in Botetourt County, Virginia, where it will build its first East Coast production facility. According to a press release from the office of Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, the company plans to spend $48 million to build the new outpost.

Summit Brewing today announced it has hired former J.J. Taylor Minnesota president Mike Bamonti as its new chief sales officer. Prior to joining Summit, Bamonti served as J.J. Taylor’s general manager for 12 years and helped oversee that company’s acquisitions of Day Distributing Co. in 2015 and Chisago Lakes Distributing in 2012.

During a state of the industry address earlier this month at the Craft Brewers Conference in Philadelphia, Brewers Association director Paul Gatza said something that should have caused every brewery owner in the room to pause. “A rising tide does not float all boats anymore,” he said. So what’s keeping craft brewers up at night as they look out at volatile and rapidly evolving craft beer landscape? Watch the video above to hear what was on the mind of some CBC attendees.

Stone Brewing Co. today announced plans to expand its taproom footprint in California, adding a 10,000 sq. ft. pilot brewery and tasting room in downtown Napa. The company plans to install a 10-barrel pilot brew system, which will be used to produce unique small-batch creations and will complement the company’s core beer lineup.

Less than two months after Boston Beer introduced its Truly Spiked & Sparkling line of hard seltzers in select markets, the company this week announced plans to expand distribution nationwide. Truly, a 5 percent ABV, 100-calorie sparkling water made from fermented cane sugar, comes in three flavors and will hit national retail shelves in June.

In an effort to preserve its independence and help combat what Beau’s All Natural Brewing Company co-founder Steve Beauchesne believes will be the inevitable consolidation of small Canadian craft breweries, the Ontario-based beer company today announced plans to establish an employee stock ownership plan. Under the terms of the agreement, Beau’s, the largest producer of organic beer in Canada, said it plans to sell approximately 4 percent of the company’s class B common shares to its 150 employees for purchase at fair market value.

Fresh off an importer transition in the United States and the acquisition of fellow Scottish craft beer maker Inveralmond Brewing, Innis & Gunn is preparing to expand its global presence. Best known for its oak-infused line of beers, Innis & Gunn is one of the few globally distributed craft brands with a deliberate focus on growing sales in international markets. Although it is the second largest craft supplier in the U.K., behind BrewDog, approximately 65 percent of Innis & Gunn’s sales come from more than 20 countries where it sells beer.

Currently slated for an early July opening, The Alchemist’s new brewery and visitor center in Stowe, Vermont will once again give thirsty beer travelers an opportunity to purchase the popular Heady Topper double IPA directly from the source. San Diego’s Ballast Point is heading north and will move into an 11,000 sq. ft. restaurant in Long Beach, according to the LA Times.

In this week’s distribution roundup: New Belgium enters Connecticut, Deschutes signs with Blue Ridge Beverage in Virginia and Short’s Brewing rolls out in Wisconsin.

Alaskan Brewing Company yesterday announced that longtime chief operating officer Linda Thomas would take over as the company’s CEO. Citing their desire to continue building the “pioneering legacy” of Alaskan Brewing, company founders Geoff and Marcy Larson said promoting Thomas to CEO would enable the pair to spend more time “focusing on innovation and the spirit of craft brewing.”