Jessica Infante joined Brewbound in 2019 after nearly a decade in a variety of marketing roles in the craft beer industry. Prior to that, she was a daily newspaper reporter at the Jersey Shore. Jess holds a bachelor’s degree in magazine journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University and a master’s degree in integrated marketing communication from Emerson College. She is a certified Cicerone and lives in Salem, Massachusetts.
What appeared to be an April Fool’s Day joke about the creation of the Brewers Space Guild — “protecting breweries in the frontier without tiers” — was actually the announcement of the formation of the Association of Brewers Guild Professionals (ABGP), a trade organization for the employees of the nation’s state and local brewers guilds. Brewers guilds aren’t preparing for liftoff, but they are linking up to form an association of their own.
To break down the “significant roadblocks” facing the state’s 200 craft breweries, the Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild (MNCBG) has launched a political action committee, the MN Craft Beer PAC.
The Brewers Association (BA) released its annual top 50 rankings of craft breweries by beer sales volume in 2020. Although there was some jockeying for position, the top of the list remained largely unchanged, with D.G. Yuengling & Son, Boston Beer Company and Sierra Nevada holding down the top three spots again.
Under the new county order, breweries, wineries and craft distilleries may open for indoor service capped at 25% capacity if all alcohol sales are accompanied by bona fide meals, which can be provided in partnership with a food vendor. Businesses without food service may offer outdoor on-site service.
Sierra Nevada has announced it will reopen its breweries in Chico, California, and Mills River, North Carolina, to the public in May after what will be a 14-month hiatus from on-site service, according to a report in the Chico Enterprise-Record. Philadelphia-headquartered, on-demand delivery platform goPuff announced the completion of a $1.15 billion fundraising round earlier this week.
When the COVID-19 pandemic forced most Americans to stay home except for essential errands last spring, on-demand alcohol delivery e-commerce platform Drizly’s sales skyrocketed. “We saw years’ worth of growth — five years’ worth of growth — in just a three-month timeframe,” Drizly chief operating officer Cathy Lewenberg said.
Cape May, NJ — Cape May Brewing Company is thrilled to announce a collaboration with The Qualified Captain, an Instagram influencer and clothing brand in North Carolina. A new crisp and refreshing Helles lager called Boat Ramp Champ, this brew will be available in Cape May Brewing Company’s Tasting Room beginning Friday, April 2nd, with… Read more »
Stone Brewing continues to fill out its leadership team under new CEO Maria Stipp. The Escondido, California-headquartered craft brewery has named Tom McReavy its new senior vice president of sales, effective March 29, the company announced Thursday.
Some Kentucky craft brewers will soon be able to distribute their own products and terminate wholesaler contracts more easily after Gov. Andy Beshear signed Senate Bill 15 into law on March 18. The new law will allow breweries producing fewer than 50,000 barrels of beer annually to self-distribute up to 2,500 barrels per year.
Off-premise beverage alcohol dollar sales fell for the first time in more than a year, declining 1.9% for the week ending March 13 as the industry faces tough comparisons due to the shift in consumer purchasing a year ago, as shoppers stocked their fridges as on-premise shutdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic began, according to market research firm NielsenIQ.
St. Patrick’s Day draft beer volume was down 20.9% compared to the same day in 2019 at on-premise establishments tracked by BeerBoard. Declining by a fifth may not seem like positive news, but BeerBoard has clocked nationwide draft volume declines at 48-51% since bars and restaurants began reopening in limited capacity last summer.
Craft beer’s dollar sales growth continues to outpace the overall beer category at off-premise retailers tracked by market research firm IRI. Year-to-date through February 21, dollar sales of craft beer have increased 17.2% compared to the same period last year, while total beer dollar sales are up 13.5%, the firm reported.
Hard tea and wine-based spritzer producer Loverboy is attempting to split from its Massachusetts wholesaler, Chelsea-based Night Shift Distributing, according to documents filed with the Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission.
New Orleans-based Dixie Beer shocked the South last summer when it announced it would change its name amid the social justice protests that followed George Floyd’s murder. Nine months after that announcement and four months after the company revealed it would become Faubourg Brewing Company, the first Faubourg branded beer will begin rolling out of the 114-year-old company’s brewery.
