Casual burger chain Red Robin is beefing up its beer program, installing more tap lines and remodeling all locations with a new “gourmet burgers and brews” logo on the outside of its restaurants. To help bolster its reputation as a craft-savvy chain, Red Robin inked a three-year sponsorship of the Brewers Association-run Great American Beer… Read more »

Coca-Cola Company today signed a letter of intent with Great Lakes Coca-Cola Distribution L.L.C., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reyes Holdings, granting the company exclusive rights to sell and distribute Coca-Cola products in four new states.

Consolidation in the wholesaling business continued today when two prominent multi-state distributors of beer, wine and spirits — Chicago-based Wirtz Beverage Group and New York-based Charmer Sunbelt Group — announced a merger and the creation of a jointly owned venture, Breakthru Beverage Group. The two companies have signed an agreement that will combine their beverage alcohol operations into a new entity and simultaneously create the second-largest distributor of beer, wine and spirits in the U.S., with sales of more than $6 billion annually, behind Southern Wine & Spirits.

Boulevard Brewing today announced it would expand distribution to Arizona and Kentucky, inking deals with two wholesalers — Arizona’s Hensley Beverage Company and Kentucky’s Beer House Distributors.

Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits, Inc. today filed a form S-1 with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), indicating its intent to become a publicly traded company. The initial public offering (IPO) is valued at $172.5 million, according to filings, and underwriters include Goldman, Sachs & Co., Morgan Stanley, Baird, BMO Capital, Cowen and Company and Nomura. Ballast Point’s proposed NASDAQ Global Select Market symbol is “PINT.”

In the acquisition age, few craft brewery founders are “selling in.” But that’s exactly the route Charles and Rose Ann Finkel, the founders of Seattle-based Pike Place Brewing, have taken. The company today announced the sale of a “significant minority” stake to three key employees: Drew Gillespie, Vice President Operations; Patti Baker, Vice President Controller; and Gary Marx, Executive Chef.

In an effort to keep up with the growing consumer desire for local craft brands, executives from Craft Brew Alliance stressed the importance of their 2016 regional strategy during the company’s annual national CBA-Con meeting with Anheuser-Busch InBev wholesalers, held on Wednesday in Las Vegas.

Anheuser-Busch InBev and SABMiller are one step closer to making history after tentatively agreeing to a merger worth nearly $104 billion, a deal that would be the largest takeover in U.K. history. In a press statement, Anheuser-Busch InBev said Tuesday that it reached an agreement, in principle, to acquire a majority of the London-based SABMiller for 44 pounds a share.

Presentations from the 78th annual National Beer Wholesalers Convention, being held at the Caesers Palace in Las Vegas, concluded this afternoon with a panel of industry leaders who discussed, among other topics, the pending tie-up of the world’s two largest beer companies. Five prominent brewery executives (listed below) joined the panel, which was moderated by Mike Gretz, president of Gretz Beer Company, a wholesaler in Hatfield, Penn.

Craft Brew Alliance today announced that Kurt Widmer, the co-founder of Widmer Brothers Brewing and the current chair of the CBA board, would resign at the end of the year. In an effort to support the transition as CBA’s board of directors selects a new chairperson, Kurt Widmer — who started the brewery with his brother Rob Widmer in 1984 — will remain in his role through December 31, 2015 and assume the honorary title of Chairman Emeritus upon exiting, the company said.

Revolution Brewing has announced plans to officially expand distribution to Massachusetts, signing with Massachusetts Beverage Alliance (MBA) for statewide coverage beginning Nov. 2. The decision to begin selling beer on the east coast is more of a personal one for Revolution founder Josh Deth, who was born and raised in Newton, Mass., a Boston suburb.

Tweet Away, California Brewers At last, California-based beverage alcohol producers will be able to encourage purchasing via twitter and other social media platforms. Gov. Jerry Brown last week signed Assembly Bill 780, which enables brewers, distillers and vintners to identify retailers of their products on social media, according to the San Francisco Business Times. The… Read more »

The craft deals keep coming, this time north of the border. Labatt Breweries of Canada, a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev, today announced it has acquired Toronto’s Mill Street Brewery. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Constellation Brands is making its first foray into craft, this week introducing a new line of beers made in partnership with celebrity chef Rick Bayless and inspired by traditional Mexican ingredients. Operating under the identity “Tocayo,” which loosely translated means “of the same name,” Constellation’s first product, Tocayo Hominy White Ale, is a Belgian-style witbier brewed with hominy, a white corn popular in Central American and Mexican cuisine.