Surging freight costs, a shortage of long-haul truck drivers and new laws restricting the number of hours that drivers can be on the road are cutting into profits of beer companies and other major corporations throughout the United States. Although increased transportation costs are affecting all consumer goods industries, Beer Institute chief economist Michael Uhrich told Brewbound that they’re disproportionately affecting the beer industry because the vast majority of beer sold domestically is shipped. Last year, beer companies shipped 2.9 billion cases of beer, according to the National Beer Wholesalers Association.

Thousands of California beer industry professionals met in Sacramento last week for the California Craft Brewers Association annual three-day Craft Beer Summit, Expo and Beer Festival. As an official media partner of the event, Brewbound hosted 10 hours of live streamed interviews, and sat in on a variety of seminars during the show. Here’s what we learned.

Get ready to embark on a genre-bending journey as seven breweries from around the world unveil The Terroir Project—an experimental crossover between beer and wine.

U.S. beer dollar sales increased 4.1 percent as volume sales grew 2.1 percent through the four weeks ending May 20, according to retail data provider IRI Worldwide.

Over the last two years, brewery-owned taprooms and satellite retail outposts have emerged as both lucrative profit centers for emerging craft beer makers and an opportunities to deliver unique experiences to thirsty consumers. But as the number of taprooms has grown, so too have concerns about their impact on the three-tier system.

The Brewers Association has officially recognized hazy New England-style IPAs as a bona fide beer style. In a press release, the trade group today announced changes to its “Beer Style Guidelines,” a reference for brewers and beer competition organizers that includes style descriptions and product specifications. Among the new styles of beer featured in the 2018 guidebook are three cloudier offerings – “Juicy or Hazy Pale Ale,” “Juicy or Hazy IPA” and “Juicy or Hazy Double IPA” — which over the years have become known as New England-style or Northeast IPAs.

The Brewers Association today released its annual rankings of the top 50 U.S. beer companies based on 2017 sales volume estimates. Here’s how things shook out:

After two consecutive years of single-digit sales declines, Sierra Nevada Brewing is refocusing its efforts on selling its flagship Pale Ale while also telling its story to consumers.

Following a year of flat sales at off-premise retail in 2017, U.S. beer dollar sales increased 3 percent through the first four weeks of 2018, according to retail data provider IRI Worldwide. IRI, a Chicago-based market research firm that tracks category-wide sales trends at off-premise retailers, reported total U.S. dollar sales of about $2.2 billion through January 28 in its multi-outlet and convenience (MULC) universe of stores (grocery, drug, club, dollar, mass-merchandiser and military).

North American Breweries this week announced that Kris Sirchio, who has served as CEO since 2013, would step down. Adrian Lachowski, the general manager of Florida Ice and Farm Co.’s (FIFCO) Central American beer and FMB business, will take over as CEO in early February, the company said via a press release.

U.S. beer volume sales were roughly flat in 2017, according to retail data provider IRI Worldwide. The market research firm, which tracks category-wide sales trends at off-premise retailers, reported that total U.S. beer dollar sales topped $34 billion in the firm’s multi-outlet and convenience (MULC) universe of stores (grocery, drug, club, dollar, mass-merchandiser and military).