The New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) issued a revised special ruling earlier this week aimed at limiting the number of annual events breweries can host in their taprooms. Under the ruling issued Tuesday, the ABC said the state’s craft breweries can hold up to 25 “special events,” 25 “social affairs,” and 52 “private parties” annually inside their taprooms. Additionally, breweries are now allowed to sell their beer at 12 events a year outside of their taprooms.
In episode 38 of the Brewbound Podcast, Fechheimer discusses the internal tug-of-war between creating new brand identities and leveraging New Belgium’s already well-established name. He also explains how New Belgium plans to rebound from a difficult 2018 and discusses the company’s plan for working more closely with underrepresented communities.
Massachusetts’ Wormtown Brewery today announced plans to open a second taproom, adjacent to the New England Patriots’ stadium, before the end of the summer. Speaking to Brewbound, Wormtown managing partner David Fields said the Worcester-based craft brewery took control of a 4,000 sq. ft. space at Patriot Place — a shopping, dining and entertainment center near Gillette Stadium in Foxborough — from Battle Road Brewing Company, which had operated a taproom there during the latter half of 2018.
John Manfreda, the administrator of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), died Saturday, May 25, from a heart attack. He was 73. Manfreda had led the alcohol and tobacco industries’ regulatory agency since January 4, 2005.
Following a federal judge’s ruling Friday evening, Anheuser-Busch InBev will be required to pull some Bud Light advertisements that suggest MillerCoors’ flagship light lagers, Miller Lite and Coors Light, contain corn syrup. Western District of Wisconsin Judge William Conley granted MillerCoors a “narrow in scope” preliminary injunction, blocking A-B from displaying billboards that say Bud Light contains “100% less corn syrup” than its rival’s lagers, as well as broadcasting a pair of television ads that he deemed “misleading.” The judge also denied A-B’s motion to dismiss the case.
The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) this month announced the acceptance of a $420,000 offer in compromise from Constellation Brands’ Crown Imports LLC subsidiary. According to the TTB, between January 1, 2016, and April 25, 2019, Constellation used a third party to make illegal payments to retailers in an effort to secure draft beer placements.
In this week’s edition of Last Call: There Colorado breweries are set to close; Sierra Nevada asks breweries to honor their Camp Fire pledges; U.S. beer shipments decline in April; Boston Beer delays its downtown Boston taproom opening; and more news.
Texas craft brewers’ efforts to legalize beer-to-go sales is closer to passage than ever before. On Wednesday, Texas Senators unanimously passed sweeping legislation to maintain operations of the state’s alcohol regulatory body, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC), along with several changes to the state’s alcoholic beverage code, including an amendment that would permit a majority of the state’s manufacturing breweries to sell their offerings for off-premise consumption.
In episode 37 of the Brewbound Podcast, Villa discusses his days of brewing and selling the iconic Blue Moon brand, and shares his outlook for the future of cannabis-infused drinks.
A number of small brewery transactions have emerged this month, as craft breweries across the country fight to remain competitive in an increasingly more crowded industry.
Despite months of rumors to the contrary, Stone Distributing Company (SDC) is not for sale. In a memo to employees last week, Stone Brewing CEO Dominic Engels sought to quash talk that the San Diego craft brewing company was attempting to offload its distribution business.
After 12 years of debating North Carolina’s self-distribution and franchise laws, brewers and wholesalers are one step away from their compromise being written into law. On Monday, the North Carolina Senate voted 38-3 to approve the Craft Beer Distribution and Modernization Act (House Bill 363), which the House approved in mid-April. The legislation now advances to Gov. Roy Cooper.
The U.S. beer industry was responsible for creating more than 2.19 million jobs that paid more than $101 billion in wages and benefits in 2018, according to a joint study released today by industry trade organizations the Beer Institute (BI) and the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA).
