Boston Beer Company reported second-quarter depletions (sales-to-retailers) and shipments (sales-to-wholesalers) growth of 17 percent, according to financial results issued after the end of trading today. Through the first 26 weeks of 2019, Boston Beer’s depletions (+15 percent) and shipments (+23 percent) are up due to its Truly Hard Seltzer and Twisted Tea brands.

Anheuser-Busch InBev today reported global revenue growth of 6.2 percent in the second quarter of 2019, despite ongoing volume declines in the U.S. A-B, the world’s largest beer manufacturer, recorded revenues of more than $13.9 billion during the quarter, and a gross profit of $8.7 billion. The company credited “healthy volume growth, global premiumization and revenue management initiatives” for its increased revenue worldwide.

It’s an age-old question: What does a “craft beer drinker” look like? According to market research firm Nielsen, which presented findings from its newest “Craft Beer Insights Poll” (CIP) during a Brewers Association-sponsored webinar last week, the average weekly craft beer drinker is primarily male, between the ages of 21 and 44, and makes between $75,000 and $99,000 annually. However, those demographics are beginning to shift among less frequent consumers of craft, with 79 percent of women considering themselves monthly drinkers.

During Episode 44 of the Brewbound Podcast, myself and Chris Furnari, in discussing a story on beer influencers of Instagram, had a conversation that was in poor judgment and poor taste. We missed the mark, and that discussion does not reflect the thought-provoking conversations that we strive to have at Brewbound.

The landscape in the Pacific Northwest has changed considerably since Josh Pfriem, Ken Whiteman and Rudy Kellner opened pFriem Family Brewers in Hood River, Oregon in 2012. Now on the verge of its seventh anniversary, pFriem is in the midst of a pair of expansion projects that will double its capacity in 2020.

Rumors of a large layoff at Massachusetts’ Lord Hobo Brewing Company began circulating Thursday evening on social media. Reality was much different. Lord Hobo founder Daniel Lanigan told Brewbound that the company cut eight jobs across sales, marketing, production and taproom staff this week, which he classified as part of the “normal course of business.”

A week after pulling back from a planned IPO of its Asia-Pacific operations, Anheuser-Busch InBev announced today an $11.3 billion deal to sell its Australian subsidiary, Carlton & United Breweries, to Asahi Group Holdings.

The New York State Liquor Authority (SLA) on Wednesday finalized a $1.25 million settlement agreement with Heineken USA (HUSA) for 42 alleged violations of the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) law. The New York fine comes three months after HUSA agreed to pay the largest offer in compromise ever — $2.5 million — to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau for alleged trade practice violations related to its proprietary “BrewLock” draft systems.

The critical summer selling season is underway, and total beer, cider and FMB sales are off to a strong start. According to market research firm Nielsen, dollar sales of beer/cider/FMBs grew 4.9 percent in off-premise retailers during the Fourth of July holiday week (ending July 6) compared to the same timeframe last year. Hard seltzer was largely responsible for driving the nearly 5 percent growth this Independence Day, accelerating sales 147 percent, Nielsen reported.

The nearly decade-long debate over Massachusetts’ controversial franchise laws resumed Monday, as the state’s craft brewers and beer wholesalers packed a meeting of the Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure. Brewers and wholesalers remain divided on how to reform strict franchise laws, which brewers claim lock their businesses into nearly unbreakable relationships with wholesalers. Each side presented revised proposals, which they argued would benefit each other.

Molson Coors has acquired financially troubled London craft brewery Hop Stuff. In a blog post, Hop Stuff founder James Yeomans said the company had been facing “financial difficulties in the recent months” that forced it to enter “administration,” a process similar to bankruptcy in the U.S., on July 12.

In this week’s Last Call: Budweiser becomes the ‘official beer’ of the National Women’s Soccer League; California revises the definition of ‘beer’; A-B back away from its Asia Pacific IPO; Founders Announces the end of CBS; and more news.

Lagunitas Brewing Company has named Kelly Murnaghan, the former vice president of marketing at Vans, as its new chief marketing officer. The Heineken-owned craft brewery announced Murnaghan’s hiring on Thursday afternoon. Murnaghan, who started earlier this week, will join the Petaluma, California-based craft brewery’s leadership team and report directly to CEO Maria Stipp.

The William K. Busch Brewing Co. is “ceasing all operations” eight years after after launching the Reinheitsgebot-adhering Kräftig lager brand in St. Louis. William “Billy” Busch, the great grandson of Anheuser-Busch co-founder Adolphus Busch, and son of Adolphus A. “Gussie” Busch Jr., founded the Kräftig brand in 2011 with visions of going national. However, those dreams never came to fruition as sales began to decline in recent years.