Newly named Massachusetts Brewers Guild’s president Sam Hendler wants to finally resolve the contentious franchise reform debate with the state’s wholesalers. Hendler, a co-founder and co-owner of Framingham, Massachusetts-based craft breweries Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers and the Springdale Beer Company, acknowledged that the franchise law reform effort has been dragging on long before he was of legal drinking age. “I was a high school senior when it started,” he told Brewbound.

The hard seltzer category could reach about 10% of the beer market in the next few years, according to research reports from two leading financial services firms. Meanwhile, FIFCO USA has stopped production of Pura Still, the 95-calorie, 4.5% ABV spiked still water brand after less than two years, according to a memo sent to wholesalers this week. Finally, Iron Heart Canning, the country’s largest mobile canning service provider, announced today an agreement to acquire Michigan Mobile Canning.

After more than three decades in the beer industry, Carol Stoudt plans to retire in the spring and cease brewing operations at her namesake brewery in Adamstown, Pennsylvania. “I got together with a few people from my team and just pointed to the calendar and said, ‘This is it,’” she explained. “It’s a very, very difficult decision.”

Molson Coors Beverage Company reported nearly $10.6 billion in net sales for 2019, a decline of 1.8% compared to 2018. In a press release, Molson Coors Beverage Company president and CEO Gavin Hattersley called 2019 “a challenging year” for the company.

Kings & Convicts, the Chicago-area craft brewery that reached an agreement to acquire Ballast Point and its multiple taprooms from Constellation Brands in December, has hired industry sales veteran Mike Giordano as vice president of sales for the San Diego craft brand.

Seven years after establishing Trillium Brewing Company, co-founder JC Tetreault said the Canton, Massachusetts-based craft brewery was not living up to his intention for the business to “being a very good reflection of the broader community around us.” Enter the Urban Farming Institute of Boston (UFI), an organization dedicated to promoting farming in urban neighborhoods.

The parent company of Brizzy Seltzer Cocktails has filed a lawsuit against Molson Coors Beverage Company in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, alleging that the second largest U.S. beer manufacturer’s Vizzy Hard Seltzer name “is nearly identical to Brizzy in sight, sound and appearance” and infringes upon its trademark.

The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking additional information and documentation from Anheuser-Busch InBev and Craft Brew Alliance (CBA) as the two companies work toward a planned merger that was announced last November, according to a filing this morning with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The long-rumored exit of Anheuser-Busch InBev CFO Felipe Dutra was officially announced today. The world’s largest beer manufacturer revealed that Dutra will step down from his role as chief financial and technology officer, effective April 29 following the company’s annual shareholder meeting.

With the help of technology from Austin, Texas-based Earthly Labs, the Denver Beer Company is launching a program to share the excess carbon dioxide produced during fermentation with the Clinic, a cannabis company, to stimulate marijuana plant growth.

Super Bowl draft beer consumption declined 1.3% in 2020 compared to last year’s game day, according to technology company BeerBoard, which tracks on-premise sales. At on-premise accounts Beer Board tracks, Michelob Ultra volume sales increased 28.7% over last year; total IPA volume was up 28%.

Stoudts Brewing Company will cease operations at the end of the winter, as founder Carol Stoudt retires after 33 years, according to a press release. The California Bureau of Alcoholic Beverage Control has suspended San Francisco-based Seven Stills Brewery and Distillery’s operating license for 90 days for violating the state’s tied house laws, according to a report from SFGate.com.

Cider category dollar share shrank in 2019, however, the growth of regional and local producers proved to be a bright spot, Danny Brager, senior VP of market research firm Nielsen’s beverage alcohol practice, shared Thursday during the American Cider Association’s (ACA) annual CiderCon conference in Oakland, California.

Sunday’s Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers in Miami marks the first major beer-drinking occasion of 2020. In 2019, U.S. consumers spent $1.2 billion on beer at off-premise retailers in the two weeks leading up to the game between the Los Angeles Rams and New England Patriots, according to market research firm Nielsen. Those sales were roughly flat, though, down 0.5%, compared to 2018.