Nine months after urging retailers to adopt its independence seal, the Brewers Association (BA) today launched an extension of that campaign, encouraging state guilds, beer festivals, homebrew shops and other craft beer supporters to adopt a modified version of its original badge.

Sales of beer, cider and flavored malt beverages topped $38.2 billion in 2018, according to market research firm Nielsen, which tracks category-wide sales at major off-premise retailers.

In this week’s edition of Last Call: Asahi announces plans to acquire London Pride maker; U.S. beer shipments decline in 2018; Charlie Papazian exits the Brewers Association; Clare Rose lays off 14 employees; and more industry news.

A potential buyer for troubled Canadian brewing equipment manufacturer Diversified Metal Engineering (DME) appears to have emerged. In a January 18 report, Alvarez & Marsal, the receiver appointed in November after DME defaulted on loan payments to the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), said it is negotiating with a potential buyer for the company’s primary business in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.

Amid growing interest in more “functional” alcoholic beverages, one of the country’s pioneering hard kombucha brands is undergoing a makeover in an effort to appeal to younger female consumers looking for boozier versions of the fermented tea beverage. Originally launched in 2013 as a more traditional non-alcoholic kombucha, Kombrewcha — which was co-founded by Honest Tea co-creator Barry Nalebuff and received investment from Anheuser-Busch’s ZX Ventures in 2016 — has upped its alcohol content and unveiled new packaging as an emerging hard kombucha category begins to develop.

Maine’s craft beer industry contributed more than $260 million to the state’s economy in 2017, according to a biennial economic impact study conducted by the University of Maine in conjunction with the Maine Brewers’ Guild. The report, which examined data from 2017, notes that in-state craft breweries generated more than $168 million in total revenue, while producing an estimated 319,590 barrels of beer.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Company has a new CEO. Brewery founder Ken Grossman named former chief operating officer Jeff White to the position last October, the California-headquartered brewery confirmed to Brewbound.

A century after the ratification of Prohibition, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that could have wide-ranging effects on the three-tier system. On Wednesday, the court heard arguments in Tennessee Wine & Spirits Retailers Association vs. Blair. At issue in the case is the constitutionality of the state of Tennessee’s two-year residency requirement for obtaining a liquor license. Additionally, the state requires a decade of residency for the renewal of liquor licenses, which expire after one year.

Less than a month after the signing of the 2018 Farm Bill, Canadian cannabis company Canopy Growth Corporation has announced plans to invest up to $150 million to establish its first U.S. production facility in New York state. Earlier this week, Canopy announced that the Empire State had granted it a license to begin processing and producing hemp. In a press release, Canopy said it would invest between $100 million and $150 million to build a U.S. operation in New York’s Southern Tier.

Pending approval from the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission, Flying Dog Brewery and Green Leaf Medical Cannabis plan to release Hop Chronic IPA, the state of Maryland’s first THC-infused non-alcoholic beer.

Sierra Nevada Brewing is committing at least $10 million to a new grant program aimed at providing relief to the Northern California communities affected by last November’s “Camp Fire” — the most destructive wildfire in the state’s history.

Total U.S. beer dollar sales grew to more than $35 billion in 2018, according to retail data provider IRI. The Chicago-based market research firm, which tracks category-wide sales at major off-premise retailers, reported a 1.8 percent increase in beer dollar sales, despite a 0.3 percent decline in volume sales at multi-outlet and convenience (MULC) stores (grocery, drug, club, dollar, mass-merchandiser and military) through December 30.

In this week’s edition of Last Call: The Brewers Association shares 2018 packaging trends; High Country Beverage reaches an agreement to acquire a share of a Kansas wholesaler; Allagash to can flagship White; Ballast Point sets opening date for downtown Disney taproom; and more industry news.

Aiming to establish a deeper connection in one of the key out-of-state markets where it distributes, fast-growing Ohio brewery Platform Beer Co. has announced plans open a brewery and taproom in Pittsburgh later this year.