After investing more than $5 million on brewery infrastructure over the last five years, Wachusett Brewing is turning more attention to the contract portion of its business. But in order for the company to fully capitalize on all of the opportunities coming its way, it says, it needs a little help from Massachusetts state regulators.
The Harpoon Brewery’s motto is “Love Beer. Love Life,” and on Sunday, May 17th, 2015 4,500 runners will do just that at the 14th Annual Harpoon 5-Miler, a road race to benefit The Angel Fund and ALS Research. Since the Harpoon 5-Miler started 14 years ago, it has raised more than $960,000 for the Angel Fund and ALS Research through the Brewery’s charitable program called Harpoon Helps. This year’s fundraising total will push the Harpoon Helps donation to the Angel Fund over the $1,000,000 mark.
Chris Thorne, the Beer Institute’s vice president of communications, has announced his resignation from the organization effective May 29. Thorne plans to open his own “media and issue advocacy” group in Washington D.C. and continue working with the Beer Institute as an independent consultant. He will represent the lobbying group as its communications counselor until the organization fills his vacant position, BI president Jim McGreevy told Brewbound.
Craft Brew Alliance today announced its first quarter financial results, highlighting depletion volume growth of just 1 percent and a net sales decrease of 5 percent across its core family of brands, including Widmer Brothers, Redhook, Kona and Omission. Total beer shipments decreased 8 percent during the quarter. In a release, CBA attributed the sluggish first quarter results to “higher-than-average” sales during the first quarter of 2014 as it “adjusted” for out-of-stocks that hampered the company toward the end of 2013.
CHICAGO — Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream, a micro-lending and coaching program for small business owners working in food, beverage and craft brewing, announced it will host its regional Pitch Room competition and small business Speed Coaching event in Chicago on Monday, May 4th. The Brewing the American Dream Pitch Room, a national competition… Read more »
Massachusetts state regulators have accused Craft Beer Guild LLC, one of the state’s most prominent craft wholesalers, of unfair trade practices and illegal pay-to-play activities. The Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission (ABCC) said Wednesday that Craft Beer Guild — a subsidiary of the Sheehan Family Companies, which owns multiple alcoholic beverage distributorships across more than a dozen states – violated state laws that prohibit wholesalers from offering inducements and unfair discounts.
After years of debate over what constitutes a “craft brewer,” MillerCoors – which produces and markets the Blue Moon line of craft-style beers – has been hit with a class action lawsuit over the use of the word “craft” on both its website as well as various marketing and point-of-sale materials. The suit, filed last week in the California superior court of San Diego County, alleges that MillerCoors deceptively brews, markets and distributes Blue Moon Brewing products in an effort to intentionally mislead customers into purchasing a “craft beer.”
Brooklyn Brewery today announced plans to open a second joint brewery venture with Carlsberg, teaming up to help rebuild the EC Dahls Brewery in Trondheim, Norway. Specific financial terms of the latest project were not disclosed, though last November Carlsberg announced it would invest more than $14 million to build a new brewery, pub and restaurant in EC Dahls’ existing Trondheim production facility.
Boston Beer Company, which produces and markets the Angry Orchard line of hard ciders, today officially announced it acquired a 60-acre orchard located in upstate Montgomery, New York. The company also plans to build a new innovation cidery and taproom, a space that will be used primarily for experimentation and consumer education.
Craft Brew Alliance is doubling down on brewery expansions. The company today announced it would spend $15 million to build a new 100,000-barrel brewery in Hawaii. A list of potential locations is being reviewed and CBA said it expects the facility to be fully operational by 2017.
New Belgium Brewing is pushing farther east. The Colorado-based craft brewery today announced it would expand distribution to Pennsylvania, signing agreements with a mixed group of Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors wholesalers alike. “Pennsylvania has been on the horizon for a while now and we are thrilled to secure our distributing partners and hit the ground running this fall,” New Belgium Brewing’s East Coast Division Sales Director, Rich Rush said in a press statement.
Another day, another deal. New York’s The Bronx Brewery today announced it has sold a minority interest to Tenth Avenue Holdings (TAH), a family office based in New York City that will provide guidance and funding to the small 6,000-barrel brewing operation.
Craft Brew Alliance today announced it would increase brewing capacity at its Widmer Brothers brewing facility in Portland, Ore. as part of a $10 million expansion project. In addition to adding 200,000 barrels of capacity and increasing total output to 750,000 barrels at its North Russell Street brewery, CBA said it would also complete a “significant brew house enhancement” and construct a new 10-barrel innovation brewery.
Just three months after the brewery he helped start was acquired, Dick Cantwell has resigned from Elysian Brewing and Anheuser-Busch InBev, Brewbound has learned. It makes for a quick end to a union that had been shaky from the start: when the acquisition of the 20-year-old Seattle based brewery was announced in January, Cantwell expressed his opposition to striking a deal with the world’s largest brewer.
