In this week’s, Legislative Update: Texas lawmakers consider bill that could force big breweries to close taprooms; North Carolina fails to increase cap for self-distribution; and much more.

After just seven weeks at the helm, newly-appointed Colorado Brewers Guild executive director Andres Gil Zaldana is helping the state’s now-unified brewers inch closer to being able to open multiple tasting rooms.

Deschutes Brewery is beginning to build its presence Roanoke, Virginia, where the company is still two years away from breaking ground on a $90 million production brewery. The Bend, Oregon-headquartered brewery yesterday announced plans to open a tasting room in downtown Roanoke in late August.

Do not upset the restaurateurs, warned Left Hand Brewing Company COO Chris Lennert during a wide-ranging Brew Talks panel discussion that examined an evolving three-tier system. Acknowledging that brewery owners have shown a keen ability to build brand awareness via direct-to-consumer sales, Lennert cautioned that higher margins and multiple taproom outposts might not always be the best approach to growth.

Rhinegeist Brewing co-founder Bryant Goulding, Firestone Walker co-founder David Walker and Dogfish Head founder Sam Calagione discuss the Maturing Craft Beer Market at Brewbound’s Brew Talks meetup in Washington, D.C.

In this week’s legislative update, Maryland and Montana move forward on raising the production caps, and Kansas is a signature away from stronger beer in grocery and convenience stores.

The Brewers Association is attempting to curb some brewers’ propensity toward offensive beer labels. At a press briefing held during the Craft Brewers Conference on Wednesday, the trade organization announced steps to prevent breweries that use offensive or sexist names and labels from marketing their businesses with the industry trade organization’s intellectual property in regards… Read more »

The days of double-digit growth in craft beer category might be a thing of the past, but that doesn’t mean small and independent brewers won’t continue to thrive in an increasingly more crowded environment, Brewers Association executives told thousands of brewers attending the second general session of the 2017 Craft Brewers Conference on Wednesday morning.

In the latest attempt to garner support for the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act (CBMTRA), more than 200 beer industry stakeholders climbed Capitol Hill on Monday to get a seat at the table with members of Congress and their staffers. “If you don’t have a seat at the table, then you are probably on the menu,” Brewers Association president and CEO Bob Pease cautioned during today’s opening remarks at the annual Craft Brewers Conference in Washington, D.C.

Denver’s River North Art District is about to get a little more crowded. On Monday, Fort Collins, Colo.-headquartered Odell Brewing announced plans to open a new brewery and taproom in that burgeoning neighborhood later this year.

Last Friday was National Beer Day and to mark the occasion, Boston Beer Company founder Jim Koch penned an op-ed for The New York Times hyperbolically titled “Is It Last Call For Craft Beer?” Koch, a craft beer pioneer and the man behind Samuel Adams, painted a bleak future for the industry despite it being what he called “the greatest time in history to be a beer drinker in America.”

In this week’s edition of Last Call: Texas lawmakers move to curtail TABC travel on taxpayers’ dime; the Chicago White Sox cut deals with Goose Island, Bell’s, Pabst and Founders; and a Nevada lawmaker aims to limit number of brewpubs and beer being sold to consumers.

Beer continues to be the big growth driver for Constellation Brands. On Thursday, the wine, spirits and beer maker reported its annual earnings, which were boosted by $4.2 billion in net beer revenues for the fiscal year ending February 28, a 17 percent increase over the prior year.

More signs of a slowdown are showing as Bridgeport lays off 13 brewing staff workers, Branchline files for bankruptcy protection and Tin Man looks for a buyer.