A group of five German craft breweries working with Brooklyn-based import manager Liquid Projects LLC plan to make their U.S. debut next week, launching in Philadelphia, Rhode Island and New York with a trio of wholesalers. Operating under the “Reinheits Boten” moniker, derived from “Reinheitsgebot,” the German beer purity law, the five German breweries include: Distelhäuser, Zoller-Hof, Friedenfelser Brauerei, Riedenburger Brauhaus and Himburgs Braukunst Keller.
It’s been a newsworthy couple of weeks for Austin, Texas-based Jester King Brewery. The company last week announced that it would take an ownership stake in Fair Isle Brewing, a yet-to-be-opened Seattle brewery. That news was followed by word that Jester King’s head brewer Garrett Crowell — whose last day was Wednesday — would depart to open his own brewery. And earlier this week, the company promoted brewery production manager Averie Swanson to head brewer.
The world’s biggest beer and soda makers struck a deal Wednesday, but the transaction wasn’t a long-rumored merger of the two companies. Anheuser-Busch InBev has agreed to sell its 54.5 percent equity stake in Coca-Cola Beverages Africa to the soda-making goliath for $3.15 billion. ABI had acquired the business in October as part of its $100 billion takeover of rival SABMiller.
As many craft brewers continued a shift toward brewing with more aroma hops in 2016, the average hop yield per acre declined even as total U.S. hop production hit a five-year high, according to a recent report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In 2016, farmers reported 87.1 million pounds of hops harvested, an 8.3 million pound increase over last year.
The gypsy brewers are finally settling down. Lured by increased revenue from taproom beer sales, a growing number of nomadic brewers are deciding to build their own brick-and-mortar operations.
Boulevard Brewing Company has hired former Zevia Zero Calorie Soda executive Natalie Gershon as the Kansas City brewery’s new vice president of marketing.
Craft Brew Alliance today announced it has signed a letter of intent to purchase a 24.5 percent stake in Miami upstart Wynwood Brewing Company. The deal, which is valued at less than $30 million, is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017.
Pabst Brewing Company has inked its first official U.S. craft partnership, announcing plans today to invest in the marketing, sales and distribution of products from New Holland Brewing. Specific financial terms of deal, which was signed this morning and is slated to begin during the first quarter of next year, were not disclosed.
Ska Brewing yesterday announced that Jason Armstrong, the former national sales director for Stone Brewing, would join the Colorado-headquartered craft brewery as a sales representative in Texas.
Chicago-based Finch Beer Co. will reportedly close its original brewery on Elston Avenue, leave the brewpub it launched in June and begin partner brewing with a yet-to-be-named Windy City brewery, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Beer taps hold the secret to what’s trending, according to BeerBoard, the company behind the digital beer menu displays at places like Buffalo Wild Wings and BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse. In a press release issued Tuesday, the Syracuse, New York-based company announced the launch of BeerBoard 1000, a monthly index that ranks top-selling beers across the country.
In an effort to establish itself as the country’s top beer curator, Craft Beer Cellar, a popular Massachusetts-based retail franchise, plans to alter how it purchases beer in 2017 by implementing a list of required and banned products from its stores. In a December 1 memo sent to franchisees and obtained by Brewbound, Craft Beer Cellar founders Kate Baker and Suzanne Schalow outlined changes they say will enable store owners to be viewed as “industry leading” retail operators and not just resellers of beer.
