Building on its efforts to promote a more inclusive brewing industry, the Brewers Association (BA) today announced the appointment of Dr. J. Nikol Jackson-Beckham as its first diversity ambassador.

Leaders from the beer industry’s three largest trade associations are vowing once again to unite brewers and distributors in an effort to return the category to growth. Speaking to a group of nearly 700 U.S. beer distributors attending the annual National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) legislative conference on Monday in Washington, D.C., Beer Institute CEO Jim McGreevy called on industry members to work together to curb volume losses.

Draft beer now accounts for nearly two-thirds of all on-premise beer volume, according to the Beer Institute’s (BI) annual State-Level Packaging Report, released today. Last year, 61.7 percent of all beer sold on-premise was poured on draft — a 1.8 point share gain — which the BI said is the highest on-premise draft share ever recorded.

In this week’s edition of Last Call: A Massachusetts A-B wholesaler is cleared in a pay-for-play case; New Holland buys a building in Battle Creek for a third Michigan brewery; Sony sues Knee Deep Brewing over Breaking Bud; and more.

Felipe Szpigel, president of A-B’s High End, told Brewbound that more of his division’s craft breweries will be releasing 15- and 18-packs in the next couple of months.

Atlanta’s New Realm Brewing has won a bid to acquire the brewing equipment assets currently located inside Green Flash Brewing’s former production facility in Virginia Beach, sources told Brewbound.

In recent years, Anheuser-Busch InBev’s “global growth and innovation team” ZX Ventures has invested in at least nine international breweries, and now the company is pushing into spirits. ZX Ventures today announced the acquisition of Atom Group, a United Kingdom-based spirits, eCommerce and import business. Specific financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Two years after announcing plans to build a $95 million secondary brewing facility in Roanoke, Virginia, Oregon’s Deschutes Brewery has hit the pause button. The company, which was set to purchase 49 acres of land by May 1, is in the process of renegotiating an incentive package in order to maintain “flexibility” on the timeline, size and scope of the project, Deschutes CEO Michael LaLonde told Brewbound.

In this edition of People Moves: Uinta Brewing hires a new CEO; Deschutes names a new director of brewery ops; NAB announces plans to grow its sales team; and A-B expands its North American executive leadership team.

In this week’s edition of Press Clips: Stone Brewing fires back at MillerCoors; BrewDog buys a UK cider maker and eyes an IPO; Reuben’s Brews identifies a new production space; and Tow Yard Brewing closes.

It took two months, but MillerCoors has finally responded to Stone Brewing’s trademark lawsuit. In February, the San Diego craft brewery filed a lawsuit against the multinational beer company alleging that its rebranded packaging and advertisements for the Keystone brand infringed upon Stone Brewing’s own “Stone” trademark. Early this morning, MillerCoors answered back with several counterclaims.

Starting this summer, Bell’s Brewery will begin selling beer throughout New England and New Jersey, expanding its footprint to 39 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico in the process. The Michigan-based craft brewery will partner with 11 beer distributors across Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New Jersey.

Less than one month after announcing plans to purchase Smuttynose Brewing Company from Provident Bank, New Hampshire’s Runnymede Investments has finalized its deal for the struggling Portsmouth-area craft brewery and launched a 90-day plan aimed at helping it return to growth.

In this week’s edition of Last Call: Allagash begins canning; a Louisiana lawmaker yanks a bill to allow younger adults access to alcohol; and more.