The 2026 Craft Brewers Conference (CBC) is just days away. This year’s CBC may be shorter than previous incarnations, but it’s still a packed three days of education, networking and deal seeking. Beyond the main stage presentation, there are plenty of education sessions that should be on your radar. Here are 10 sessions that caught our attention.

Philadelphia’s Evil Genius Beer Co. has acquired the 21st Amendment (21A) brand, reviving its offerings after the 25-year-old San Francisco brewery shut down last year.

Over the last two years, 1,072 craft breweries have shuttered, while 817 new breweries opened. Speaking to Brewbound following Tuesday’s release of the Brewers Association’s (BA) Industry Production Report, staff economist Matt Gacioch zeroed in on the brewery opening number.

Beneath the surface of craft beer’s 2025 production decline (-5.1%, to nearly 21.86 million barrels) were power moves, usurpings and stumbles among the industry’s top 50 breweries, which the Brewers Association (BA) released today.

Brooklyn Brewery’s non-alcoholic beer line is getting a rebrand and dropping the Special Effects moniker used since the line’s 2019 launch. Moving forward, the NA beer brand family will be Brooklyn Brewery Non-Alcoholic.

New Belgium Brewing’s portfolio is craft’s top share gainer through Q1, CEO Shaun Belongie shared recently. The Kirin-owned New Belgium craft portfolio, which includes New Belgium’s offerings (Voodoo Ranger, Fat Tire and more), and Bell’s Brewery (Two Hearted, Oberon and more) snagged share by growing volume 3.2% year-to-date.

A jury entered a $175.5 million verdict in favor of Ardagh Metal Packaging USA against Boston Beer Company for allegedly failing “to purchase contractual minimum volumes of certain aluminum beverage can containers from 2021 to 2025,” according to an 8K filed by Boston Beer Friday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

All 514 Eagle Rock Distributing employees in Colorado will be permanently laid off in June following the completion of the sale of the independent Anheuser-Busch InBev wholesaler to Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits.

PepsiCo’s Blue Cloud is leaning into a new model: developing crossover alcohol brands and licensing them to producers such as Boston Beer and FIFCO USA with Lipton Hard Iced Tea.

The brewmaster who helped shape Stone Brewing’s portfolio during the mid-2000s craft ascension and established New Realm Brewing has joined Abita Brewing Company. Mitch Steele, known for helping popularize hop-forward beers, is Abita’s new director of brewing operations.

Dogfish Head is looking to extend its long, strange trip back to growth in 2026. Following the launch of Grateful Dead Juicy Pale Ale last year – which helped return Dogfish Head to growth – the Boston Beer Company-owned craft brewery is leaning even further into its partnership with the Grateful Dead and releasing a “Volume 2” collaboration: Citrus Daydream Lager.

Dallas-based Four Corners Brewing Company and Oklahoma City-based Coop Ale Works “have combined operations” in a “strategic merger” to create the Frontier Beverage Collective, according to an April 1 note shared with distributor partners and obtained by Brewbound.

The luck of the Irish carried on for the beer category in the week after St. Patrick’s Day. Off-premise dollar sales of beer increased 3.1% week-over-week, to $863.3 million, for the week ending March 21, in NIQ-tracked retail channels. That marked a $33.7 million boost from the $829.6 million in sales the prior week.

Abita Brewing Company’s 40th year could be its biggest since the mid-2010s craft beer boom. The Louisiana craft brewery’s forecast for 2026 is 170,000 barrels – nearly double its previous annual output, Abita president Troy Ashley told Brewbound.