More than 80% of craft breweries said they have received funding through the Paycheck Protection Program, and those loans are making many of them more confident about the future, according to the Brewers Association’ (BA) latest survey of how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting those businesses.

Braxton Brewing Company finished 2019 as one of the fastest-rising craft breweries in the nation. The Covington, Kentucky-based craft brewery grew its volumes by 96%, to 23,500 barrels, elevating the company to regional brewery status — those producing between 15,000 and 6 million barrels — according to production data released by the Brewers Association. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has dampened the company’s 2020 outlook.

As all 50 states have begun the reopening process, two more craft breweries are asking their customers how willing they are to return to brewery taprooms when on-premise sales return. Seattle’s Reuben’s Brews and New Orleans’ Urban South Brewery, which also operates a location in Houston, Texas, recently shared the results of their respective surveys.

More than half of the top 50 Brewers Association-defined craft brewing companies posted volume growth in 2019, according to data published in the May/June edition of the not-for-profit trade group’s New Brewer magazine.

Hard seltzers are continuing to attract new consumers, even during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study conducted by market research firm Nielsen. During the eight-week period during the COVID-19 outbreak, the number of consumers buying hard seltzer nearly doubled, as 44% of hard seltzer buyers were doing so for the first time, according to the study.

Just 11% of bar and restaurant operators have been able to generate sustainable profits by offering takeout and delivery, according to a survey conducted by Nielsen CGA, the market research firm’s on-premise channel data arm.

Iconic Portland, Maine craft brewery Allagash returns to Florida for a limited time; Carlsberg and Marston’s announce proposed JV; April domestic tax paid Shipments decline 4.9%; judge approves bid for bankrupt Craftworks; and more headlines from the week.

The largest beer festival in the U.S. will not take place in-person in 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak. For the first time in the festival’s nearly 40-year history, the Brewers Association (BA) has canceled the 2020 edition of Great American Beer Festival, which was slated to take place September 24-26, and will instead move the event “to an immersive online experience” from October 16-17.

Popular Indiana craft brewery Three Floyds has indefinitely closed its brewpub in Munster due to safety concerns caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, according to the Guys Drinking Beer website.

Two months into shutdown of on-premise establishments forced by the COVID-19 pandemic, 42 North Brewing Company’s drive-thru, beer-to-go business in East Aurora, New York — located about 24 miles east of Buffalo — has held steady.

The Cinco de Mayo holiday helped boost the beer category to its biggest sales week in 2020 so far for the week ending May 9, as dollar sales in off-premise retailers topped $983.6 million, according to market research firm Nielsen. In fact, the latest one-week period is the highest sales week since last year’s July 4 holiday week, the firm reported.

One in five consumers have returned to on-premise establishments in Georgia, Tennessee, Florida and Texas — states that have begun the reopening process following the shutdown forced by the novel coronavirus disease COVID-19 — according to a new survey conducted by Nielsen CGA.

Nearly nine months after announcing their plans for a new $12 million brewery and taproom in Philadelphia, the founders of Everett, Massachusetts-headquartered Night Shift Brewing today announced they have abandoned the plan and reached an agreement with their landlord to terminate the lease on the 130,000 sq. ft. facility.

Dr. Anthony Fauci today cautioned against reopening businesses and other public gathering spaces before states meet guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An investigation by the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) found that third-party delivery services are “routinely delivering alcoholic beverages to minors,” according to an industry advisory posted by the regulatory agency.