It took 18 months, but Port Brewing/The Lost Abbey has finally bought out its disgraced former CFO, James Comstock. Comstock, a founding partner in the Port Brewing/Lost Abbey business, was arrested on Dec. 18, 2013 on charges that he took more than $200,000 from a San Diego-area nonprofit, ArtSplash, where he served as treasurer. Following his arrest, Comstock was immediately let go from the beer company and eventually pleaded guilty to embezzlement charges last July. He was sentenced to three years probation.
Since its launch in mid-2013, Modern Times Beer has been in a constant and neverending state of growth. After opening the doors to its production facility in the Point Loma area of San Diego, the company quickly began making plans for a separate off-site taproom in the craft-centric neighborhood of North Park.
AleSmith Brewing Company, a 20-year-old, award-winning San Diego craft brewery, signed with Clear River Beverage Company to distribute in Minnesota. In Virginia, AleSmith contracted with Specialty Beverage.
Neil Byers, owner of Horse Thief Hollow Restaurant and Brewing Co. has been named winner of the 2015 Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce James Tyree Emerging Business Leadership Award. The restaurant and brewery was identified as a fast-growing business with a strong philanthropic connection.
Ayinger Oktober Fest-Märzen, one of the most highly-respected märzens available in the world (and the top-rated Oktoberfest/Märzen of 2014 at ratebeer.com) is arriving now at a store, bar or restaurant near you. This year, 4-packs of 330 mL bottles will join 500 mL bottles and 30 liter kegs!
Anheuser-Busch InBev just announced a pair of wholesaler transactions in Colorado that will give the world’s largest beer company direct access to a majority of the state’s population and a distribution foothold across nearly half of the state’s geography. In a statement, Bob Tallett, A-B InBev’s vice president of business and wholesaler development, said the company has agreed to purchase American Eagle Distributing in Loveland, Colo. for an undisclosed sum.
It seems there’s always another rumor of a top-50 craft brewery sale. Today, Lagunitas made a Reuters headline that suggested the country’s fastest-growing craft brewery is currently exploring “strategic options, including the sale of an equity stake.” Citing “people familiar with the matter,” the news outlet said the company is working with Wells Fargo &… Read more »
Brewing industry veterans Larry Sidor of Crux Fermentation Project and Ken Grossman of Sierra Nevada Brewing Company have been talking for years about getting together to collaborate on a great beer.
How do you stand out from the 94 different beer companies fighting for attention in San Diego’s crowded craft scene? You reach for the hard stuff. Living up to its unofficial “we make what we like to drink” motto, this month Ballast Point will introduce four new, ready-to-drink canned cocktails that feature the company’s distilled spirits, including Three Sheets Rum, Fugu Vodka and Old Grove Gin.
