Boston Beer Company yesterday reported a shipment decline of 6.2 percent in 2017, driven by shrinking sales of its Samuel Adams and Angry Orchard brands. In an earnings report released Wednesday, the country’s sixth largest beer company — which makes Samuel Adams beer, Angry Orchard Hard Cider, Twisted Tea, and Truly Spiked & Sparkling seltzers, among other products — said it shipped about 3.8 million barrels of product in 2017, compared to 4 million barrels shipped in 2016.

In this roundup of legal news: MillerCoors is attempting to block a former top executive from joining Constellation Brands; Bell’s loses a nearly 3-year-old trademark fight; and a federal judge is allowing a lawsuit filed by the son of Thelonious Monk against North Coast Brewing Co. to proceed.

Irish cider company C&C Group plc., owner of the Vermont Hard Cider Company, today announced that it will end its 2-year-old U.S. marketing and distribution agreement with Pabst Brewing on April 1. In a letter to distributors and retailers, Vermont Hard Cider — whose brands include Woodchuck, Gumption, and Wyder’s, among others — said the two companies mutually agreed to terminate the strategic partnership forged in December 2015.

In today’s Legislative Update: Wisconsin Senate committee asks for more study of the “alcohol czar” proposal; Denizens owner picked as Maryland gubernatorial candidate’s running mate; the Virginia House and Senate pass at-rest provisions; and more.

Newly Appointed Boston Beer Company CEO Dave Burwick will earn a base salary of $750,000 and take home a hefty $1.6 million signing bonus, according to an SEC filing. Burwick, already a member of Boston Beer’s board of directors since 2005, was announced as the company’s new CEO on Wednesday. He is expected to replace outgoing CEO Martin Roper, who has been with the company for more than 17 years, on April 2, according to the filing.

In this week’s edition of Last Call: Plans for Three Floyds’ brewery expansion are revealed; Pretty Things founders resurface in England; Hanson Spirits acquires Carneros Brewing’s production facility and taproom; Deschutes and Bluejacket announce can packaging releases; and more.

Despite continued negative domestic volume trends for its flagship light lager brands, Molson Coors’ worldwide sales increased 0.2 percent to more than $11 billion in 2017, according to company earnings released today.

In this week’s Legislative Update: Maryland lawmakers propose a bill to reduce the amount of beer small brewers can sell in their taprooms; Virginia lawmakers grant Deschutes an exception to operate its Roanoke tasting room; and more.

Following a year of flat sales at off-premise retail in 2017, U.S. beer dollar sales increased 3 percent through the first four weeks of 2018, according to retail data provider IRI Worldwide. IRI, a Chicago-based market research firm that tracks category-wide sales trends at off-premise retailers, reported total U.S. dollar sales of about $2.2 billion through January 28 in its multi-outlet and convenience (MULC) universe of stores (grocery, drug, club, dollar, mass-merchandiser and military).

Despite calls from legislative leaders to reform Massachusetts’ controversial beer franchise laws, a state legislative committee failed to advance a trio of competing reform bills offered by brewers and wholesalers by the February 7 deadline. Now, those measures will go back to the House and Senate, setting back more than year of reform efforts.

After more than 14 years with Heineken, Nuno Teles is departing the company to become president of Diageo North America’s beer division. Teles, who has served as Heineken USA’s chief marketing officer since 2014, will take over the Diageo role from Todd Day on March 1 and report to Diageo North America president Deirdre Mahlan.

After the Pacific Northwest’s hop production reached a record 104 million pounds in 2017, the Hop Growers of America, a Yakima-based non-profit trade association, warned hop farmers that the industry has reached a saturation point and warned brewers to contract “cautiously and pragmatically.”

One week after announcing plans to acquire Oregon-based General Distributors, Portland’s Columbia Distributing today said it would purchase a majority of the assets of western Washington-based wholesaler Marine View Beverage. A purchase price was not disclosed. The deal, which is slated to close April 30, will add nearly 8 million cases to Columbia’s business, according to Marine View’s website.

New Dogfish Head COO and president George Pastrana has only been on the job for about three weeks, but he said brewery founders Sam and Mariah Calagione have already welcomed him into the business as a “co-leader.”