Marty Butler is is the co-founder of The Butler Bros, an Austin-based branding, consulting and graphic design studio that has executed rebrands for craft breweries such as Maui Brewing Co. and Real Ale Brewing. In his column for Brewbound Voices, Butler, who also co-founded the Austin Home Brew Festival, describes his firm’s creative process while sharing lessons learned during recent branding projects with companies across the beer, spirits and food industries.
In this week’s edition of Last Call: Wicked Weed postpones the Funkatorium Invitational; Speakeasy’s sale price is report; Massachusetts and Maryland alcohol task forces set meeting dates; and much more.
Hundreds of U.S. craft brewers that had been experimenting with a selection of South African-grown hops will no longer have access to the proprietary supply after Anheuser-Busch InBev, which owns the farm, said it would reserve 100 percent of the latest yield for its own brands.
Wachusett Brewing Company today announced that Christian McMahan, who most recently served as a managing partner of creative agency Smartfish, would join the Massachusetts-based craft brewery as its new president. McMahan, who previously spent 2 1/2 years as the CMO of Heineken USA (2008 – 2010) and worked for six years as the vice president of marketing for Diageo (2002 – 2008), will officially join Wachusett in mid-June.
New allegations of illegal pay-to-play activities within the beer industry have resurfaced in Boston. A 14-month investigation by the Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission (ABCC) into a wholly owned Anheuser-Busch wholesaler has resulted in charges that the beer distribution company illegally provided nearly $1 million in free equipment to retailers, according to the Boston Globe, who first reported the story.
More than four years ago, Anchor Brewing announced plans to open a second brewery on San Francisco’s Pier 48 as part of the $1.6 billion Mission Rock Development project. But plans for the new facility have seemingly gone adrift and Anchor’s involvement in the redevelopment initiative is now in question.
Speakeasy Ales & Lagers has officially staved off extinction. Two months after announcing plans to cease brewing operations and ready for a sale, the San Francisco-based brewery today said former Horizon Beverage Company owner Cestra Butner, via the newly launched “Hunters Point Brewery” holding company, had acquired its brewing equipment assets and brands.
The fallout from Wicked Weed’s sale to Anheuser-Busch InBev is still being felt days after the transaction was announced. In the wake of the deal — which will require approval from the U.S. Department of Justice — at least 44 breweries announced they would no longer participate in Wicked Weed’s annual Funkatorium Invitational in Asheville on July 8.
In Monday’s edition of Press Clips: The Texas House advances taproom bill; Georgia governor signs direct sales bill into law; Miller Lite, Samuel Adams begin work with new ad agencies; and much more.
In this week’s Last Call, the Texas Craft Brewers Guild petitions against taproom bill; Sierra Nevada looks to breakaway from Nevada wholesaler; CBA responds to Kona lawsuit; and much more.
Stone Brewing Company got off to a self-proclaimed “epic” start in the first quarter of 2017, reporting growth of 18 percent through the first three months of the year.
Less than two years after purchasing a 50 percent stake in California and Chicago-based craft beer maker Lagunitas, Heineken International today announced it was coming back for the other half of the fast-growing U.S. craft brewery. Specific financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, however the remaining 50 percent stake could be worth about $500 million, based on a previous valuation of the Lagunitas business.
Just days before U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) enforcement of new menu-labeling regulations was set to begin, the government agency has once again postponed imposition of the rules — this time until 2018. The new rules — which would require restaurants and foodservice establishments with more than 20 locations to disclose the caloric value and supplementary health criteria of beer, as well as other food and drinks, sold on-premise — were supposed to take effect on May 5, 2017.
Nearly 18 months after inking a deal to produce beer on behalf of Pabst Brewing, Craft Brew Alliance today announced that the two companies had terminated their agreement.
