It’s been a turbulent year for Green Flash Brewing, but the San Diego-based craft brewery is hoping the opening of a new satellite brewpub will help turn things around. After closing two production facilities, laying off 76 employees, pulling distribution from 42 states and being sold by its bank to a new investor group, Green Flash has finally commenced operations at the Green Flash Brewhouse & Eatery in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Nearly a full year has elapsed since the Brewers Association (BA) introduced its independence seal, and the not-for-profit trade group that represents the interests of small and independent craft breweries has been keeping tabs on adoption rates across the U.S. A graphical representation of seal adoption across states and U.S.-owned territories, through June 6, which was produced by the BA and obtained by Brewbound, breaks down which regions are using the seal.

Craft Brew Alliance (CBA) this week announced a pair of key leadership changes, including the departure of chief financial officer Joseph Vanderstelt and the appointment of João Paulo Falcão Vieira, vice president of Anheuser-Busch’s (A-B) North American Zone, to its board of directors.

A bipartisan group of Congressional members have called on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate potential irregularities in the aluminum market, which they say are causing the price of the metal used in beverage cans to surge. In the letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, U.S. Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) and 31 additional congressional members pointed to “sharp increases” in the Midwest Premium — which represents the full logistics costs of shipping and storing metal in the U.S. — as the potential cause of aluminum pricing irregularities.

As Rhinegeist Brewing prepares to celebrate its fifth anniversary this weekend, the Cincinnati-based beer company is closing in on another milestone: surpassing the 100,000-barrel mark. Rhinegeist co-founder Bryant Goulding told Brewbound that the brewery is on pace to reach 100,000 barrels by the end of 2018, adding that year-to-date sales are up 30 percent even though the company hasn’t released any new innovation beers or expanded its distribution footprint.

In this week’s edition of Last Call: MillerCoors says the Trump tariffs will cost it $40 million; Magnolia founder Dave McLean leaves the company; Jester King takes on employee owners; brewery closures in Chicago, Washington and Virginia; and more news.

Beer companies haven’t effectively marketed to women, and they’re leaving a lot of opportunity for increased sales on the table, according to Bridget Brennan, CEO of Chicago-based consulting group the Female Factor. “We can’t underestimate that there has been, from a beer industry standpoint, a 150-year head start in marketing the product to guys as a guy’s product,” she told industry stakeholders who attended the Beer Institute’s annual meeting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, this week.

North American sales of cannabis are expected to grow to $24 billion by 2021, Jessica Lukas, vice president of consumer insights at BDS Analytics, shared during the final day of the Beer Institute’s annual meeting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. That figure, she added, doesn’t account for a potential end to the federal ban on marijuana in the United States.

The Beer Institute (BI) unveiled a pair of surveys during the first day of the trade group’s annual meeting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, indicating public support for many industry issues as well as apathy from young drinkers. In his opening remarks, BI president and CEO Jim McGreevy shared the results of a poll on several hot button industry issues, including excise tax reform, President Donald Trump’s tariffs on aluminum and FDA menu labeling. Following McGreevy’s presentation, BI chief economist Michael Uhrich offered the results of a survey on the attitudes of 21- to 24-year-old consumers toward beer, wine and liquor.

Less than a year after opening a $50 million U.S. production facility, Scottish craft beer makers BrewDog have embarked on a $10 million crowdfunding campaign to fund its U.S. expansion plans. BrewDog announced the campaign last week in a video in which founders James Watt and Martin Dickie drop stuffed cats from a helicopter on Wall Street in order to “openly mock the caricature of the Wall Street fat cat banker.”

In this week’s edition of Last Call: President Trump says he may support bill to end the federal marijuana ban; new brewery trademark lawsuits emerge; breweries close in Colorado and New Hampshire; and more.

At the urging of Constellation Brands, California’s Markstein Beverage Co. has sold the beer company’s distribution rights in northern San Diego County to Reyes Beverage Group for an undisclosed sum. In a memo to employees issued on Wednesday, Markstein Beverage president Travis Markstein announced that Constellation Brands had informed the San Marcos-based wholesaler in late April of plans to terminate their 23-year partnership.

An electrical contractor was severely burned Tuesday afternoon while trying to repair equipment at Trillium Brewing Company’s production facility in Canton, Massachusetts. According to Canton Fire Department Chief Charles Doody, the independent contractor was exposed to “boiling liquid and suffered significant burn injuries on a large portion of his body” just before 5 p.m. on Tuesday. The man was flown by medical helicopter to Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Denver-based Tivoli Brewing has announced plans to shutter its 6-year-old distribution business over the course of the next 60 days.