Rahr Corporation, a producer and distributor of malt and industry-related brewing supplies, has detailed plans to construct four new facilities in its hometown of Shakopee, Minn. as part of a massive $68 million expansion.
Last month, a pair of craft-friendly bills in North Carolina that would have dramatically raised the self-distribution cap and legalized contract brewing in the state failed to make it out of committee. However, Creative Loafing Charlotte reports some of the less contentious language from one of those bills has reemerged as part of a broader alcohol regulation initiative that has been making headway.
The final numbers are in. After announcing the top 50 craft breweries in March, the Brewers Association today released its 2014 sales figures, painting a much more definitive picture of last year’s winners and losers.
The Beer Institute has announced the hiring of Joy Dubost, a food scientist and registered dietitian who will help lead the group’s lobbying efforts and develop regulatory positions. Dubost will serve as the organization’s new senior director of science and external affairs, working closely with those on Capitol Hill to help shape scientific policies that impact brewers.
The Brewers Association has issued the following warning to its members regarding pending federal requirements to disclose the caloric value and other health criteria of beer being sold at on-premise chains: “Be ready or lose sales.”
99 Bottles of beer on the wall? For craft, it’s actually about 11,727 — and that’s not a great thing. The bigger number is the total amount of craft brands being sold at bars and restaurants, according to on-premise data supplier GuestMetrics, which tracked those SKUs through the first quarter of 2015. In two years, the number has increased by nearly 50 percent, from 8,027 in the first quarter of 2013.
SABMiller, the world’s second largest beer company, today announced it has acquired Meantime Brewing, one of the fastest growing craft breweries in the UK. Though specific financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, the acquisition will include all of Meantime’s retail sites — the brewer currently operates a number of bars and taprooms.
IBM once rather hilariously summed up society’s perception of millennials thusly: “If the buzz is to be believed, they’re either lazy narcissists or energized optimists bent on saving the world.” Well, if a recent survey conducted by online ticketing service Eventbrite is to be believed, they’re also hedonists at the altar of the beer festival.
Here’s a bold prediction: 25 craft brewery transactions in the next 12 months. At least, that’s what Bill Anderson, the founder and CEO of investment and advisory firm First Beverage Group, believes is the inevitable short-term future for craft.
New Belgium is still in the process of building out its new brewery, packaging hall and tasting room in Asheville, N.C., but one critical component of the expansion project is now complete.
Attention craft beer drinkers in Western Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic U.S.: say “hi” to your new neighbor. Narragansett Beer, the 125-year-old heritage brand out of Rhode Island, has announced plans to expand distribution throughout Maryland, Delaware and previously untapped markets in Pennsylvania, including Pittsburgh, Erie, and Reading.
California’s craft beer industry still has a way to go before it can hold a candle to its celebrated wine trade, but it’s certainly trending in the right direction. In 2014, the market for craft beer in the state continued to flourish, contributing more than $6.5 billion to the economy, according to a newly released report from the California Craft Brewers Association (CCBA).
It took just six months for Anheuser-Busch InBev to expand distribution for 10 Barrel Brewing, the Bend, Ore. craft brewery it purchased last November. The company today announced it would launch in Colorado this month, the fourth state where its beers are currently sold.
A half-million dollars ought to be enough. That’s the point that brewing giant Anheuser-Busch is trying to make in a lawsuit against a New Jersey beer wholesaler over the transfer of Elysian Brewing products to A-B’s own network of distributors in the state.
