With Boston Beer Company shares up ten-fold since 2009, Bloomberg Business reports that Jim Koch, the company’s founder and chairman, has officially joined the billionaire ranks. Koch was 35 when he started Boston Beer in 1984. Now 64, Koch’s net worth is now more than $1 billion, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
It’s not uncommon to hear craft brewery owners gripe about the stiff competition for tap handles and cooler space on-premise. Now they’ll have some new data from GuestMetrics LLC to cite while they carp. Craft’s on-premise dollar sales are up 7.5 percent and volume is up 4 percent year-to-date, but according to Peter Reidhead, the… Read more »
Laughing Dog Brewing founder Fred Colby is the first to admit that his company’s canine-focused imagery feels a little ‘crafty.’ “I was always focused on ensuring the quality of our beer and never really paid much attention to the branding of the actual package,” he said. “We’ve heard from some customers that it feels like ‘joke beer,’ or that one of the ‘big guys’ was making it.”
It’s been 16 months since craft brewery veteran John Bryant joined the Spokane, Wash.-based No-Li Brewhouse operation, formally known as Northern Lights Brewing Company, helping to rebrand the 19-year old company as one that offers “fib-free ales.”
The craft beer category may be poised for its eighth consecutive year of double-digit dollar sales growth in U.S. supermarkets — recent IRI data pegs it up 15.3 percent through July 14 — but the figure is just one small brush stroke in a larger portrait of craft’s ongoing, upward surge.
In an effort to modernize the look and feel of its brand, New Belgium Brewing will give its entire portfolio of offerings a makeover. The Fort Collins, Colo.-based company announced today that it will introduce the refreshed look and feel to when it launches in Ohio this December.
Ongoing legislative changes in California would make it easier for craft beer consumers to pick up a jug of suds.
AB-647 clarifies the language used in the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Act to allow the state’s beer manufacturers to refill resealable “growlers” brought by consumers to the brewery, regardless of that growler’s origination.
Alchemy & Science, the craft brew incubation project and wholly-owned subsidiary of Boston Beer Company, today announced that it acquired all rights to the Coney Island craft beer brand for an undisclosed amount. Alan Newman, the president of Alchemy & Science told Brewbound.com that conversations over Coney Island, a sub-line of Shmaltz Brewing, began last… Read more »
A Stone Brewing Co. employee was killed while operating a forklift at the Escondido, Calif.-based brewery on Saturday, reports NBCSanDiego.com. The victim, who was later identified as 27-year-old Matthew Courtright, worked as a senior brewer for the company. According to reports, Courtright was driving a forklift around 5 P.M. when it unexpectedly rolled over.
Craft beer continued its strong showing in U.S. supermarkets through the first half of 2013, according to new data from IRI, a Chicago-based market research group. Dan Wandel, senior vice president of beverage alcohol client relations for IRI, shared recent statistics on craft beer sales in U.S. supermarkets during yesterday’s “Power Hour,” an online seminar… Read more »
Dan Wandel, the senior vice president of IRI’s beverage alcohol team, believes that craft beer’s impressive growth over the last decade no longer needs to be referred to as a “revolution.” “I think we are at a point now where I am ready to drop the ‘R,’” he said during today’s Brewers Association (BA) Power… Read more »
There’s new legislation brewing in Michigan that would make it easier for small brewers and brewpub owners to expand their business operations. House Bills 4709, 4710, and 4711 would reform current Michigan liquor control codes, allowing the state’s brewers, ‘micro brewers’ and brewpub owners to continue growing in both size and scale.
Bell’s Brewery today confirmed plans to begin distributing in upstate and Western New York on October 1. Bell’s inked distribution agreements with three L. Knife & Son companies — T.J. Sheehan Distributing, Tri-Valley Beverage and Craft Guild of New York — to sell the company’s year-round and seasonal offerings on draft and in bottles.
Chicago-based wine, spirits and newly minted craft beer wholesaler, Wirtz Beverage Illinois, yesterday announced a new distribution agreement with BuckleDown Brewing. BuckleDown Brewing, which is located 20 minutes west of Chicago in Lyons, IL., is the fifth craft brand to sign on with Wirtz.
