The Reyes Beverage Group’s 50th year is its biggest yet. The nation’s largest beer distributor completed the biggest acquisition in company history last week for 11 RNDC markets, making it the No. 3 wine and spirits distributor in the U.S. And the company’s dealmaking ambitions aren’t close to done – in and out of beer.

Ready-to-drink canned cocktail brand Carbliss is open to potential acquirers, co-founder Adam Kroener made clear Wednesday at Beer Marketer’s Insights spring meeting. “Everything’s for sale,” Kroener said during a panel conversation that included SpikedAde co-founder and CEO Jason Cohen and Happy Dad co-founder and CEO Sam Shahidi.

A U.S. District Court has entered a $175.5 million amended final judgment – plus $15.5 million in pre-judgment interest – against Boston Beer Company for allegedly failing to purchase contracted minimums of aluminum cans from Ardagh Metal Packaging USA between 2021 and 2025, according to a June 1 8K filed by Boston Beer.

Columbia Distributing and Hayden Beverage are officially linking up in the Pacific Northwest. Columbia is making a “strategic investment” in Hayden, signing a letter of intent to acquire a stake in the family-owned Idaho distribution company.

A pair of independent red network distributors struck a deal in Central New York. Sheehan Family Companies subsidiary T.J. Sheehan Distributing is set to acquire Eagle Beverage Company, adding around 3 million cases to its business.

The parent company of Press Premium Alcohol Seltzer has entered receivership in Milwaukee County Circuit Court, with nearly $7 million owed to Constellation Brands’ venture capital arm, the Milwaukee Business Journal reported.

The first major piece of RNDC’s territory fire sale is now complete. Reyes’ mega deal for 11 RNDC markets closed at the end of business on Friday, adding 38 million cases to its more than 360-million-case business.

BrewDog co-founder James Watt’s second act in beer is Second Best – and he’s offering a percentage of the new venture to his original craft brewery’s investors, who were shut out of proceeds following BrewDog’s sale to Tilray Brands earlier this year.

Kirin-owned New Belgium Brewing – including the Voodoo Ranger-powered New Belgium brand and Bell’s Brewery – now ranks as the largest non-Brewers Association craft beer family, overtaking Molson Coors’ craft brands, according to data released in the trade organization’s May/June edition of the New Brewer magazine.

The summer selling season is upon us, signaling the start of the beer category’s most important stretch. Encouraging early trends this year have given way to a more cautious outlook. More recent trends “signal erosion from the stronger momentum seen in March and early April,” market research firm NIQ noted in a recent report. As the industry hopes the heat creates a summer thirst, here are eight storylines we’re tracking.

Sierra Nevada is taking a cautious approach to the rollout of its next new product launch. Shred Beer Soda will debut in early June at the brewery’s gift shops in Chico, California, and Mills River, North Carolina.

Sazerac-owned BuzzBallz is the dominant brand in the RTD segment. BuzzBallz’ dollar sales increased 65.6%, to more than $569.3 million, in Circana-tracked off-premise retailers for the 52-week period ending April 19.

Pabst Brewing Company is discontinuing 175-year-old legacy light beer Schlitz – for the foreseeable future.

Boston Beer Company founder and CEO Jim Koch believes “premiumization is still out there and possible” for bev-alc producers. Koch shared the sentiment Tuesday during a fireside chat with Goldman Sachs analyst Bonnie Herzog while touting the “magic” of ready-to-drink (RTD) offerings and the potential for Lytt, Boston Beer’s new 15% ABV BuzzBallz challenger.