Colorado craft beer wholesaler Elite Brands has obtained the distribution rights to Wicked Weed Brewing, Maui Brewing Company and several import brands, Brewbound has learned. In a joint press release issued on December 23, Elite Brands and Wicked Weed, a popular Asheville, North Carolina-based craft brewery, announced the new distribution agreement.

Anheuser-Busch InBev is making a number of sizable investments to grow its acquired craft beer brands both domestically and abroad, according to recent reports. The world’s largest beer company is planning a large-scale international expansion for its biggest craft offering, Goose Island, and making significant investments to scale production capabilities for its Blue Point and Karbach Brewing brands in their respective home markets of New York and Texas.

It’s been a newsworthy couple of weeks for Austin, Texas-based Jester King Brewery. The company last week announced that it would take an ownership stake in Fair Isle Brewing, a yet-to-be-opened Seattle brewery. That news was followed by word that Jester King’s head brewer Garrett Crowell — whose last day was Wednesday — would depart to open his own brewery. And earlier this week, the company promoted brewery production manager Averie Swanson to head brewer.

The world’s biggest beer and soda makers struck a deal Wednesday, but the transaction wasn’t a long-rumored merger of the two companies. Anheuser-Busch InBev has agreed to sell its 54.5 percent equity stake in Coca-Cola Beverages Africa to the soda-making goliath for $3.15 billion. ABI had acquired the business in October as part of its $100 billion takeover of rival SABMiller.

As many craft brewers continued a shift toward brewing with more aroma hops in 2016, the average hop yield per acre declined even as total U.S. hop production hit a five-year high, according to a recent report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In 2016, farmers reported 87.1 million pounds of hops harvested, an 8.3 million pound increase over last year.

The gypsy brewers are finally settling down. Lured by increased revenue from taproom beer sales, a growing number of nomadic brewers are deciding to build their own brick-and-mortar operations.

In this week’s Last Call roundup: Anheuser-Busch InBev sells its stake in Distell Group, evaluates ad-buying strategy and brings Camden Town beers to the U.S. Also, Heineken acquires Punch Taverns and MillerCoors CeO Gavin Hattersley talks to the Chicago Tribune.

Boulevard Brewing Company has hired former Zevia Zero Calorie Soda executive Natalie Gershon as the Kansas City brewery’s new vice president of marketing.

Ska Brewing yesterday announced that Jason Armstrong, the former national sales director for Stone Brewing, would join the Colorado-headquartered craft brewery as a sales representative in Texas.

Chicago-based Finch Beer Co. will reportedly close its original brewery on Elston Avenue, leave the brewpub it launched in June and begin partner brewing with a yet-to-be-named Windy City brewery, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Beer taps hold the secret to what’s trending, according to BeerBoard, the company behind the digital beer menu displays at places like Buffalo Wild Wings and BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse. In a press release issued Tuesday, the Syracuse, New York-based company announced the launch of BeerBoard 1000, a monthly index that ranks top-selling beers across the country.

Asahi Group to Purchase Pilsner Urquell and Other Beer Brands for $7.8 Billion