After two decades of steady growth, Upland Brewing is taking a two-pronged approach to expansion in 2018. The brewery, ranked by the Brewers Association as the third largest beer company in Indiana, not only plans to dig deeper in its home state, but also expand distribution of its wood-aged and sour beers to a handful of new U.S. markets this year.

In this week’s Last Call: Smuttynose’s owners comment on their brewery’s pending auction; the FBI investigates an Ohio equipment supplier accused of defrauding several breweries; Southern Tier announces plans for a downtown Cleveland brewery and taproom; and more.

California’s Mendocino Brewing Co. and New York’s Olde Saratoga Brewing Co. have shuttered, impacting the operations of several other small companies who also produced beer at those facilities. The shutdown comes as the Indian government moves to extradite billionaire Vijay Mallya, who owns the two breweries, from London on fraud and money laundering charges in excess of $1 billion.

New Hampshire’s Smuttynose Brewing, citing overleveraging of investments and missed growth projections amidst increased competition from fellow craft brewers, is scheduled to be sold March 9 at a bank auction.

U.S. beer volume sales were roughly flat in 2017, according to retail data provider IRI Worldwide. The market research firm, which tracks category-wide sales trends at off-premise retailers, reported that total U.S. beer dollar sales topped $34 billion in the firm’s multi-outlet and convenience (MULC) universe of stores (grocery, drug, club, dollar, mass-merchandiser and military).

Facing increased competition from more than 6,000 U.S. craft breweries, Green Flash Brewing today announced plans to pull distribution from 33 states in a move that will also include a 15 percent reduction of its workforce.

In this week’s edition of Last Call: Lyft collaborates on a Chicago beer release; Molson Coors acquires a U.K. cider maker; Modern Times begins production in Oregon; Crazy Mountain vacates its Edwards taproom; and more news.

Twenty-five years after Greg Kelly started Red Brick Brewing Company — then known as Atlanta Brewing Company — the company is looking re-establish its position in metro Atlanta by revamping its portfolio to include new core products and more taproom exclusive beers.

Just five months after selling to Constellation Brands, Funky Buddha Brewery is seeing the benefits of its new partnership. The South Florida craft brewery will take advantage of brewing and canning capacity at Ballast Point, another Constellation-owned company, and launch its product in cans for the first time.

After a year-long search, Dogfish Head has hired marketing veteran George Pastrana as the brewery’s new president and COO.

Three days after sales of recreational cannabis began in California, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memo calling for a stricter enforcement of federal marijuana laws and, in the process, rescinded Obama-era Department of Justice protections for legal cannabis that was included in the 2013 Cole Memorandum. Brewbound polled beer industry professionals from all three tiers, and most suggested that legalized recreational marijuana would have little impact on beer sales.

Constellation Brands reported its third-quarter fiscal 2018 earnings Friday, which were highlighted by 9.1 percent growth in beer depletions (sales-to-retailers) and a 5.9 percent increase in shipments over the comparable three-month period.

In this week’s edition of Press Clips: Maryland distributors vow to fight Comptroller’s changes; brewers hail tax reform savings; MillerCoors ends Coors Light NASCAR sponsorship; Mitch Steele’s Atlanta brewery sets an opening date; and Bell’s releases Hopslam.

Starting this month, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery will begin selling its beer in Louisiana, extending its footprint to 38 states and Washington, D.C.