The Brewers Association board of directors today informed members of proposed changes to its bylaws that would significantly alter the trade organization’s official craft brewer definition, and create a new voting member class, Brewbound has learned. The board also intends to form a political action committee that is aimed at more aggressively lobbying for permanent federal excise tax cuts that currently save craft brewers upwards of $80 million annually.
A month after an unauthorized press release cost Scofflaw Brewing an exporting opportunity with BrewDog in the United Kingdom, the Atlanta-based craft brewery is taking steps to repair its reputation abroad. Scofflaw recently hired Scotland-based Media House International, a PR firm that specializes in crisis management and public affairs to help rehab its image abroad. Speaking to Brewbound from the U.K. on Tuesday, Scofflaw co-founder Matt Shirah said he was meeting with various “beer people” in an attempt to secure a new export deal.
Samuel Adams might be the official beer of the Boston Red Sox, but it was cross-town competitor Harpoon Brewery that scored a prominent World Series commercial, a first for the company, just days before the start of Game 4. In between the singing of the National Anthem and the first pitch on Saturday night, Harpoon Brewery co-founder and CEO Dan Kenary could be heard on televisions across the greater Boston area.
In the latest edition of People Moves: Heineken USA sales chief set to depart in 2019; Melvin Brewing sales director trades beer for cannabis; Matt Brewing Company hires a new brewmaster; and O’Connor Distributing names a new president.
In this week’s edition of Last Call: Constellation Brands seeks $3 billion for U.S. wine brands; the New York Prohibition Party seeks alcohol ban; BrewDog takes to the skies; and another wave of brewery closures hits.
Boston Beer Company’s growth continued in the third quarter, as the company’s revenue increased 24.2 percent, while shipments (+23.5 percent) and depletions (+18 percent) also grew. During a call with investors and analysts Thursday evening, Boston Beer founder Jim Koch credited the company’s “key innovations” — Angry Orchard Rosé, Truly Berry variety pack, Truly Wild Berry, Samuel Adams Sam ’76 and Samuel Adams New England IPA — with driving the growth.
Boston Beer Company today reported its 2018 third-quarter earnings results, which were highlighted by a 24.2 percent increase in net revenue, to $306.9 million. The company — which makes the Samuel Adams, Angry Orchard, Twisted Tea, and Truly Spiked & Sparkling products — credited the revenue growth to a 23.5 percent increase in shipments during the quarter, which ended September 29.
In episode seven of the Brewbound Podcast, Hare takes a deep dive into his company’s complicated four-year process of becoming a licensed Texas brewpub, and why he feels the state’s confusing direct-to-consumer sales laws need modernizing. Hare also discusses how he’s financed Hops & Grain’s growth, why he feels Texas beer wholesalers wield too much power and why current Texas alcohol laws make it difficult for upstart breweries to breakout.
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has signed a “Modified Final Judgment” that officially clears Anheuser-Busch InBev’s $100 billion purchase of rival SABMiller more than two years after the Department of Justice initially green-lit the acquisition. U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan on Monday ruled that A-B InBev complied with requirements of the Antitrust Procedures and Penalties Act, and he approved a number of new conditions that he said are “in the public interest.”
Cincinnati’s Fifty West Brewing Company has quickly established itself as brand to watch. The Ohio-based craft brewery, which opened its doors in 2012, topped market research firm IRI’s list of new vendors in supermarkets, with off-premise dollar sales of nearly $214,000, for the 27 weeks ending July 8, IRI director of client insights Patrick Livingston shared during last month’s Brewers Association Power Hour.
Craft beer wholesaler Cavalier Distributing has acquired the distribution rights to “all suppliers” within the portfolio of Florida-based Micro Man Distributors. According to a letter sent by Cavalier founder and president George Fisher, that was addressed to its Florida beer suppliers, the transaction closed on Monday, October 22. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Constellation Brands has succeeded in forcing two more Southern California beer wholesalers to sell the rights to distribute the company’s beer offerings to the Reyes Beverage Group. In separate deals, Reyes acquired the rights to sell Constellation’s offerings — including popular imported Mexican beer labels Corona, Modelo and Pacifico as well as craft offerings from Ballast Point — from Triangle Beverage in Santa Fe Springs and Beauchamp Distributing Company in Compton. The long-rumored deals officially closed on Friday, October 19, according to Constellation spokeswoman Jamie Stein.
In this week’s Last Call: Canada lifts its tariff on U.S. aluminum cans; farmers and brewers downplay climate change’s effect on beer production and pricing; the Brewers Association lands Iron Maiden’s singer as CBC keynote speaker; and more news from the week.
The former leaders of Saint Archer Brewing Company are back in the booze business after raising nearly $4 million to launch three separate beer, wine and distribution ventures. Anchored under Ocotillo Holdings LLC, the first of the three businesses — Scout Distribution, a craft-focused beer and wine wholesaler — officially launched Wednesday in San Diego. Led by Saint Archer co-founder Josh Landan, ex-VP Jeff Hansson and ex-market manager Anthony Levas, Scout Distribution will act as both a boutique wholesaler and a marketing consultancy.
