Boston Beer Company - Samuel Adams

In this week’s edition of press clips: Sierra Nevada Brewing Company agrees to a 10-year partnership with the Sacramento Kings; Scottish craft beer maker BrewDog raises $1 million from more than 1,200 investors in just three days; the St. Louis Brewery moves forward with its efforts to trademark the name “Schlafly” for use in beer and Boston Beer Company launches a national television and radio ad campaign for its newest product line — Truly Spiked & Sparkling.

Here’s a full stein of reality, courtesy of Craft Brew Alliance’s chief executive, Andy Thomas. “If we become irrelevant to consumers, we’re all doomed,” he told a crowd of 250 beer business executives and entrepreneurs who attended the June 9 Brewbound Session conference in Brooklyn.

Angry Orchard today announced the release of its new year-round specialty hard cider, Walden Hollow. This is the first cider from Angry Orchard to be made exclusively with apple varieties from New York State, including varieties from last year’s harvest at the Angry Orchard in New York’s Hudson Valley, and heirloom apples from other local orchards.

Boston Beer Company last week named former Moet Hennessy executive Jonathan Potter as its chief marketing officer, a newly created position for the country’s second-largest craft beer producer. Potter, who will officially join Boston Beer in August, most recently worked as the managing director for Moet Hennessy’s Chandon California division and had previously served as that company’s CMO and executive vice president between 2012 and 2015.

Less than two months after Boston Beer introduced its Truly Spiked & Sparkling line of hard seltzers in select markets, the company this week announced plans to expand distribution nationwide. Truly, a 5 percent ABV, 100-calorie sparkling water made from fermented cane sugar, comes in three flavors and will hit national retail shelves in June.

The brewers at Samuel Adams proudly announce a call for entries for the 2016 LongShot American Homebrew contest, and the release of the LongShot Variety six-pack featuring the winning homebrews from last year. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the national contest, which Sam Adams founder and brewer Jim Koch first started in 1996, when there were barely 1,000 breweries operating in the U.S. Today, there are more than 4,000 American breweries in operation and more than 1.2 million people who brew their own beer at home.

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Shares of Boston Beer (SAM) hit a 52-week low today, with stocks plummeting more than 8 percent after the company reported subpar first quarter earnings following yesterday’s market close. As a result, the nation’s second largest craft beer company lowered its expectations for 2016 during a formal earnings call with investors and analysts last evening — reporting sales well below previously projected targets for the first quarter of the year.

The Brewers Association (BA) today released its annual rankings of the top 50 U.S. breweries based on 2015 sales volumes, and once again Ballast Point Brewing emerged as the biggest mover amongst the industry’s largest craft producers. Climbing 20 places from 31 on the “Top Craft Brewing Companies” list, Ballast Point is now ranked as the 11th largest U.S. craft brewery, according to the BA. Although the organization’s official production figures will not be made available until next month, the San Diego-based brewery had projected 2015 volumes to be about 290,000 barrels.

Truly Spiked & Sparkling, a new clean, crisp and refreshing spiked sparkling water is hitting shelves today. With just 100 calories and 2 grams of carbs per serving, Truly Spiked & Sparkling (5% ABV) is the lowest-calorie and lowest-carb spiked sparkling water available, and it’s gluten-free.

Truly Spiked & Sparkling, a new hard seltzer label produced by craft beer maker Boston Beer Company, has hit liquor store shelves. The company, best known for its Samuel Adams, Angry Orchard, Twisted Tea and Coney Island brands, is expected to make a formal product announcement next Tuesday. Rollouts in 15 additional states — New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New York, Colorado, New Jersey, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Kansas and Maryland — are also planned or underway, according to the brand’s Facebook page.

Boston Beer Company, the country’s second-largest craft beer producer, recently helped Carnival, the world’s largest cruise ship operator, build a floating microbrewery on-board its new Carnival Vista vessel. In a press statement, Carnival said it worked with Alchemy & Science, Boston Beer’s wholly-owned subsidiary incubator, to launch version 2.0 of its Key West-inspired bar, the Red Frog Pub, which will now also feature a small brewery.

The cider makers at Angry Orchard today announced national availability of their latest project, the Orchard’s Edge series. The first two hard ciders in the series – Knotty Pear and The Old Fashioned – hit shelves this month. This new series is inspired by unexpected ingredients and aging processes the cider makers have been working on at Angry Orchard’s new Innovation Cider House on its orchard in Walden, New York.

Though Boston Beer’s total shipments increased four percent, to 4.2 million barrels in 2015, the company struggled to grow in the fourth quarter as depletions dipped three percent compared to 2014. Net revenues also dipped one percent during the quarter, to $215.1 million, the company said in an earnings announcement. Citing declines across its Samuel Adams and Angry Orchard brands, Boston Beer shipments also decreased 3 percent during the fourth quarter, to 958,000 barrels. Those declines were partially offset by growth across its Coney Island, Twisted Tea, and Traveler brands, the company said.