Ryan Sentz has handed over the Funky Buddha Lounge & Brewery in Boca Raton, Florida, to family friend and homebrewer Allen Steen, who is transforming the space into the Robot Brewing Company & Quixotic Lounge. Sentz, the founder of Funky Buddha, told Brewbound that the transaction, which was finalized about a month ago, gives Robot Brewing the lounge’s 1-barrel brewery and neighboring homebrew supply shop for “zero dollars.”

Jim Sabia, chief marketing officer of Constellation Brands’ beer division, has been promoted to a newly created role of executive vice president and CMO of the New York-based alcohol company. In a press release, Constellation Brands said Sabia, who joined the organization in 2007 as the vice president of the spirits division, would oversee all aspects of marketing across the company’s beer, wine, and liquor portfolios.

Constellation Brands reported its fiscal-year 2018 earnings on Thursday, which were highlighted by a 3 percent increase in total net sales, to more than $7.6 billion. Net sales of Constellation Brands’ beer brands — including Mexican import labels Corona, Modelo and Pacifico as well as craft breweries Ballast Point and Funky Buddha — increased 10.1 percent, to about $4.7 billion.

Just five months after selling to Constellation Brands, Funky Buddha Brewery is seeing the benefits of its new partnership. The South Florida craft brewery will take advantage of brewing and canning capacity at Ballast Point, another Constellation-owned company, and launch its product in cans for the first time.

It’s been a month since Hurricane Irma ravaged the Florida peninsula, and its effects are still being felt, particularly in the Florida Keys. It’s for that reason that South Florida’s own Funky Buddha is proud to announce that it is partnering with Children of Restaurant Employees (CORE) to release Florida Rebuilds, a pale blonde ale brewed with key lime juice that will generate much-needed funds for Hurricane Irma victims in the service industry and their children.

Constellation Brands announced its second quarter fiscal 2018 earnings Thursday morning, which were highlighted by a 12.8 percent increase in net sales over the same three-month period the year before.

Florida beer wholesalers and brewers are attempting to return to work in the wake of Hurricane Irma, which wreaked havoc on the state and has left millions of residents without power.

As recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Harvey continue in the Houston area, Florida is bracing for category 5 Hurricane Irma, which is slated to hit this weekend. The storm is expected to be more powerful than Hurricane Andrew, a category 5 hurricane that devastated the Bahamas and Florida 25 years ago and is considered the most destructive hurricane in the state’s history. Several Florida breweries are already preparing to hunker down.

In our latest edition of People Moves: Caitlin Braam, the president of Seattle Cider Company and Two Beers Brewing, will depart the organization at the end of the month. Constellation Brands also confirmed that Dave Mills, chief sales officer of the company’s Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits brand, will depart the organization at the end of August.

Constellation Brands has acquired fast-growing Florida-based craft beer producer Funky Buddha and, in the process, formed a new “High End Craft and Specialty” business group specifically tasked with overseeing the company’s present and future craft brewery purchases. Financial terms of the deal, which closed yesterday, were not disclosed. The structure is similar to Constellation’s 2015 purchase of San Diego’s Ballast Point Brewing, which was worth $1 billion, Brewbound understands. A sale price was not disclosed, but the all-cash deal is for 100 percent of the company, according to KC Sentz, who co-founded the brewery with his brother Ryan Sentz.

Farlie Turner & Co., a leading investment bank serving middle market clients, is pleased to announce the sale of Funky Buddha Brewery to Constellation Brands, Inc., a leading beverage alcohol company.

Constellation Brands today announced the acquisition of Florida-based Funky Buddha Brewery. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Funky Buddha is proud to announce The Living Barrel Series, its latest line of specialty beers with a new, enlightened look.