The Senate approved a multi-billion dollar relief bill to offer immediate aid in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic Wednesday afternoon.
This bill makes coronavirus testing free, provides paid sick leave, expands unemployment benefits and provides grants to states to process and pay claims.

As the hospitality industry grapples with the impact of mandated closures of restaurants, bars, brewery taprooms and tasting rooms, craft breweries and brewpubs are beginning to announce staff layoffs and furloughs.

With mandated shutdowns of bars, restaurants and taprooms in more than 20 states and voluntary closures in many others, the novel coronavirus has forced craft brewers to get creative in getting their beer to consumers.

Statewide shutdowns of on-premise consumption at bars and restaurants have been announced in Illinois, Ohio, Washington, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Michigan. Restaurants in these states can still sell food for takeout or delivery.

As the coronavirus disease known as COVID-19 spreads across the U.S., beer companies are adjusting their businesses for a reality in which being social is discouraged. Many companies are bracing for a downturn in on-premise business, including brewery taprooms.

The largest gathering of craft brewing industry professionals has been canceled due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19, the coronavirus disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. After days of speculation and major events across the country canceling and postponing, the Brewers Association today announced the decision to forgo holding the 2020 edition of the Craft Brewers… Read more »

Tampa, Florida-based Cigar City Brewing is canceling its popular Hunahpu’s Day festival, which was planned for Friday, due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19, the coronavirus disease.

Craft Brew Alliance (CBA) referred to the Kona brand as its “cornerstone” while reporting the company’s fourth quarter and full-year 2019 earnings report Wednesday afternoon. Last year, the Hawaiian-themed craft beer brand shipped 474,800 barrels, an increase of 4.1%.

The craft brewery where the brut IPA trend started in 2018 shuttered with little warning over the weekend. San Francisco brewpub Social Kitchen and Brewery announced it would close its doors last weekend, citing lease issues.

The Reyes Beer Division has reached an agreement to acquire certain distribution rights from Sacramento, California-based Saccani Distributing Company. The acquisition will add 1.5 million cases to Reyes’ Golden Brands subsidiary, which sells 26 million cases to 14,000 accounts in Northern California.

The crowd-sourced fund to support the families of victims of the shooting at Molson Coors Brewing Company’s Milwaukee campus last month has topped $1.1 million. The fund, which reached $1,178,770 as of press time, was set up on behalf of the National Compassion Fund, a program of the National Center for Victims of Crime. All funds collected will go directly to the families of the five victims.

Allagash Brewing founder Rob Tod counseled fellow Maine brewers on what he predicted will be choppy waters ahead during last week’s New England Craft Brew Summit in Portland, Maine.

Surprising to almost no one, beer dominated social media conversations about alcoholic beverages during Super Bowl LIV, according to consumer insights firm Social Standards.

Stone Brewing has shuttered its taproom in Shanghai, China, citing pressures from tariffs and COVID-19, the coronavirus disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. Rogue Ales & Spirits plans to close its nearly two-decade old brewpub in Issaquah, Washington, on Friday. Mikkeller’s Los Angeles taproom has closed its doors after three years, according to Eater LA.