After completing a nearly two-year long brewery expansion project last month, Sweetwater Brewery yesterday announced three new hires to help strengthen the company’s increased selling efforts and manage the larger production runs. Seth Herman, a 15-year executive with DIAGEO Guinness USA, joins the Atlanta-based craft brewery as its new sales director.

Jimi Hendrix sang “If a six, turned out to be a nine, I don’t mind.” And while it’s easy to imagine a brewer at hippie-dippy Magic Hat blasting Hendrix’ 1967 psychedelic rock classic “If 6 was 9” while mashing in, apparently the executives at North American Breweries (NAB) don’t follow Hendrix’s laissez-faire approach, at least when it comes to trademark law.

Make no mistake, Gary Fish, the founder and CEO of Deschutes Brewery, envisions his brand being sold in all 50 states one day. “We know we are going to get there, we just can’t tell you when we are going to get there,” he told Brewbound.com during a video interview at the 2013 Craft Brewers Conference.

A dispute over which tax relief measure they ultimately support has led to tension between the Beer Institute (BI) and some Brewers Association (BA) board members.

In celebration of American Craft Beer Week (yes it’s a real thing), market research firm Mintel released a few boozy insights that shed a bit of light on today’s beer drinker. According to a recent Mintel survey, craft beer drinkers know what they’re shopping for: 73 percent say that they know what brand they are going to buy before stepping into a retail outlet.

By going against the old “stack ’em high and watch ’em fly” adage, Duvel USA has managed to double its volume and triple its revenue over a three-year period. Simon Thorpe, the president of Duvel USA/Ommegang explained how the company has turned that neat trick during the May 2 Brewbound Session in Boston, presenting a… Read more »

Michael Binstein, the CEO of Binny’s Beverage Depot, has what he calls a battle cry: “If you can’t find it at Binny’s, it’s probably not worth drinking.” That cry is also his company’s motto and a reflection of just how successful the Midwest’s largest, independent beer wine and liquor retailer was last year.

While the large domestic beer companies blamed sluggish first quarter sales on bad weather, the country’s 13th largest craft brewery saw positive volume gains, regardless of the climate. Adam Lambert, the company’s vice president of sales shared earnings details through its first four months of 2013 with Brewbound.com.

A pair of bipartisan, beer-related bills that would reduce federal excise taxes on both small and large brewers were introduced in Congress this week. The Brewers Association (BA) — which represents the interest of America’s small and independent brewers — and the Beer Institute (BI) — which represents brewers and beer importers of varying sizes… Read more »

Remember when the Brewers Association (BA) sparked the “Craft versus Crafty” debate last December? It’s not dead yet. At a gathering of beer companies this week in Chicago, in fact, it seemed pretty alive, as some high-profile craft and mainstream beer company executives tried to hash out the issue.

Drinkers looking for the world’s freshest craft beer might want to start frequenting Eataly. In just six years, the company — which purports to be the world’s largest artisanal Italian food and wine marketplace — has expanded globally, with 11 locations in Italy and another four in Japan.

As craft brewers continue chipping away at a U.S. beer landscape primarily dominated by two international mega-brewers, a few rapidly expanding craft beer companies are beginning to consider national distribution models. But building out that national footprint isn’t as simple as just flipping a switch.

When asked to explain the secret to craft brewing innovation, Jim Koch, head of the country’s largest craft brewery, had a rather simple response at yesterday’s Brewbound Session, held in Boston. “I get bored easily,” he said.

Craft Brew Alliance — which markets the Kona Brewing, Redhook Brewery, Widmer Brothers Brewing and Omission beer brands — has partnered with Buffalo Wild Wings to create a new, draft-only beer called Game Changer. Brewed as a new label under the Redhook brand, Game Changer is a 4.6 percent ABV pale ale that will begin… Read more »