Justin Kendall provides daily coverage of the beer industry on Brewbound.com, conducts live-streamed interviews during Brewbound’s events and co-produces the Brewbound podcast. Kendall is a nearly 20-year career journalist who led alt-weekly newspapers in Kansas City, Missouri, and Des Moines, Iowa.
Seaboard Craft Beer Holdings, the parent company of Tampa Bay’s Big Storm Brewing Co., has acquired the assets of Cape Coral Brewing Co., a Florida brewery that shuttered in October after two years in business.
Fat Head’s Brewery will close its Portland, Oregon, brewpub in early 2018 following the termination of a licensing agreement between the Ohio-based company and its local franchisee.
After selling 65,000 barrels of beer in 2016, Cigar City Brewing is on pace for a major bump in sales as the Florida craft brewery plans to cross the 100,000-barrel threshold by the end of the year. In an interview with Brewbound, Cigar City brand ambassador Neil Callaghan attributed the growth to expanded production of its flagship brand, Jai Alai IPA, at the start of the year.
After contract producing a line of beer for the last year, Ohio’s Rivals Brewing Company has reached an agreement to take over the current Fat Head’s Brewery space in Middleburg Heights. Last week, Nick Lowe, the owner of Rivals Sports Grille, a decade-old Middleburg Heights sports bar and restaurant, announced that he had signed a five-year lease on the 35,000 sq. ft. turnkey brewery where Fat Head’s has operated since 2012.
The United States Senate passed a sweeping tax reform bill early Saturday morning that includes a number of changes to the tax code and benefits alcohol producers. With a vote of 51-49 today, the Senate passed H.R. 1, the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” which is the largest tax overhaul in 31 years and includes the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act (CBMTRA).
In this week’s edition of Last Call: A-B InBev acquires another Australian craft brewery; excise tax cuts inch closer to passage in the U.S. Senate; A-B defends pay-to-play allegations in Massachusetts; and much more.
The beer category’s high end segment could add about a 500 million more cases in the next decade, Constellation Brands chief marketing officer Jim Sabia said during Wednesday’s Brewbound Session.
Ninkasi Brewing Company leaders Nikos Ridge and Cheryl Collins shared their company’s evolving approach to innovation during Tuesday’s Brewbound Session in Santa Monica.
In this week’s edition of press clips: Arby’s has agreed to purchase Buy Buffalo Wild Wings in a deal valued at $2.9 billion; Heineken has acquired a minority stake in London’s Brixton Brewery and Texas’ Legacy Hall is set to open.
Sixpoint Brewery founder Shane Welch is making innovation the “primary focus” of the Brooklyn craft brewery heading into 2018. In order to foster that spirit of innovation, Sixpoint formed a new product development team in August, and hired Eric Bachli as the “chief product officer.”
In this week’s Last Call: The United States Association of Cider Makers reports growth for regional cider brands, Golden Road gets the green light to build a brewpub in Oakland, and the Brewers Association’s campaign to “buy” A-B InBev hits $3.6 million.
In this week’s edition of press clips: Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot’s “Reform on Tap Act of 2018” would create a friendlier business climate for the state’s craft breweries, the Senate tax bill gains steam as alcohol industry watchdogs cry foul, and two industry trade groups provide a snapshot of beer industry health through October.
The entrepreneurs behind the once-caffeinated and controversial flavored malt beverage, Four Loko, are diversifying. Following the April launch of Four Loko Shots, a line of flavored spirits checking in at 35 percent ABV, Four Loko parent Phusion Projects, via its Innovative Wine & Spirits subsidiary, last week struck a deal with Pabst Brewing Company to market, sell and distribute its first bourbon brand under the Not Your Father’s label.
Colorado-based Left Hand Brewing Company has filed a lawsuit against yeast supplier White Labs alleging that the San Diego-based fermentation specialists sold the brewery contaminated brewers yeast, which led to a $2 million recall in 2016.