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.
Molson Coors Beverage Company will begin distributing offerings from Eugene, Oregon-based Hop Valley Brewing east in 2021, as the company’s Tenth and Blake craft division takes the brand national in the new year.
With two months left in 2020, beer category sales at off-premise retailers remain elevated, as on-premise establishments continue to grapple with capacity restrictions and, in some states and cities, on-site service shutdowns. Year-to-date through November 1, beer category dollar sales are up 15.5%, to $37.4 billion, at off-premise multi-outlet grocery stores, mass retailers and convenience stores, according to market research firm IRI.
2020 has been transformational for Beer Kulture. In July, the St. Petersburg, Florida-based lifestyle brand reinvented itself as a nonprofit with a mission to introduce craft beer to communities of color. In September, it launched a job board to introduce breweries to job seekers outside the stereotypical craft beer realm of young white men. By November, the board featured more than 85 jobs.
Pennsylvanians looking to reunite with former classmates at their hometown bars on the night before Thanksgiving will have to do so over Zoom, as the commonwealth has banned on-premise alcohol sales from 5 p.m. on Wednesday until 8 a.m. on Thursday. The ban applies to “bars, restaurants, and private catered events,” according to a press release. It intends to keep large groups of people from gathering.
As craft breweries continue to struggle under on-premise restrictions and closures during the fall surge of the COVID-19 pandemic, the nation’s largest trade association representing craft breweries is encouraging consumers to include visits to local breweries as they kickstart their holiday shopping.
Contrary to an anonymously sourced report in Bloomberg News, contract brewer City Brewing is not for sale, according to a La Crosse Tribune story. Bloomberg reported last week that City Brewing leadership had not reached a decision on whether or not to sell, but could go for as much as $1 billion.
There won’t be a pilgrimage to Sonoma County for Russian River’s Pliny the Younger in 2021. Russian River Brewing Company announced Sunday that the onsite portion of its annual Pliny the Younger release in 2021 would be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The National Restaurant Association is pushing back against further restrictions being imposed on restaurants and bars by state governors as they attempt to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Boston area brew-your-own beer and brewpub Hopsters lost its bid to prevent a court-appointed trustee from converting its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing to Chapter 7 liquidation during a hearing Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the District of Massachusetts.
The Tampa, Florida area will soon have another tourism destination with ties to an American beer dynasty when D.G. Yuengling & Son, Inc. expands its Tampa campus.
The Brewers Association has postponed registration for next year’s Craft Brewers Conference and BrewExpo America until early 2021, according to an update on the conference website. “We are working hard, having ongoing conversations with the host city of San Diego and paying close attention to information regarding the evolving nature of this pandemic, and how it affects live events such as ours,” the BA wrote.
As the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic surges in the U.S., governors continue enacting restrictions to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Over the weekend, the governors of Washington, Oregon, Michigan and New Mexico banned on-site dining at bars and restaurants for the next few weeks.
Consumers are still buying alcohol to drink at home, and with impending on-premise shutdowns as the COVID-19 pandemic surges, they could be buying even more soon, according to market research firm Nielsen.
Three months after Breakthru Beverage Group agreed to sell its beer and cider portfolio in Illinois, Odell Brewing Company announced new distribution partners in the state. The building that houses 81Bay Brewing in Tampa, Florida, may have a date with a wrecking ball, as a developer has filed plans with the city to redevelop the property, according to the Tampa Bay Business Journal.
