Well, that didn’t go as expected. Heading into the Labor Day holiday weekend, off-premise dollar sales of beer, cider and FMBs increased 12.2%, and once again topped $1 billion, for the one-week period ending September 5, according to market research firm Nielsen.

The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly hurt a lot of businesses in the craft brewing industry. But a theme starting to emerge from some brewers: August was their “best month ever.” Count Night Shift among them.

Two of the largest beer manufacturers in the U.S. are linking up. Molson Coors Beverage Company and D.G. Yuengling & Son announced today a joint venture and long-term brewing partnership to expand distribution of the Pottsville, Pennsylvania-headquartered brewery’s beer beyond East Coast markets.

Massachusetts-headquartered Night Shift Distributing is moving into Connecticut in mid-October. Michael Oxton and Rob Burns, who co-founded the brewery in 2012 and the wholesaler in 2016 with Michael O’Mara, told Brewbound today that they plan to build the distribution business in the neighboring New England state from the ground up, similar to how they did in Massachusetts.

Deschutes founder Gary Fish was up-front with wholesalers during the Bend, Oregon-headquartered craft brewery’s virtual distributor summit held earlier this week.

Some Florida bars and breweries that don’t serve food will be able to reopen for service at 50% capacity on Monday. Halsey Beshears, Florida’s secretary of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, tweeted Thursday evening that Gov. Ron DeSantis had rescinded the executive order that forced them to close in June.

Fresh Squeezed IPA and Fresh Haze IPA, side-by-side on the shelf. Deschutes VP of sales and marketing Neal Stewart made the ask no fewer than 22 times on Wednesday during the Bend, Oregon-headquartered craft brewery’s distributor summit.

What does Boston Beer Company founder Jim Koch have in common with Oprah Winfrey, an heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune, an heiress to Estée Lauder, the co-founder of Uber, and the owner of the NFL’s Washington Football Team?

Atlantic — a Holliston, Massachusetts-based craft beer, wine and spirits importer and wholesaler — announced today the acquisition of the operations of Bayside Distributors, which is also based in Holliston. The transaction will add 400,000 cases and $10 million in additional revenue to Atlantic’s business. Atlantic currently distributes 1.5 million cases of product.

Canadian non-alcoholic beer maker Partake Brewing has raised $4 million in the company’s first institutional funding round, which was led by San Francisco-based CircleUp Growth Partners.

Another craft brewery is entering the growing craft non-alcoholic beer market. Boston Beer Company will launch a Samuel Adams branded non-alcoholic hazy IPA, Just the Haze, nationally in early 2021.

Anheuser-Busch InBev has begun the search process for replacing long-time CEO Carlos Brito, according to a report Monday in the Financial Times. The Financial Times, citing three sources with knowledge of the search, reported that A-B is “seriously considering” external candidates.

A new generation of leaders is taking the reins at New Ulm, Minnesota-based Schell’s Brewery, as Ted Marti steps down from overseeing operations at the 160-year-old brewery and hands the reins to his sons, according to the Mankato Free Press.

Just ahead of the Labor Day holiday weekend, Anheuser-Busch today launched its next hard seltzer, Bud Light Platinum Seltzer, nationwide.