Lagunitas Promotes Tony Amaral to Head of Sales
Heineken-owned Lagunitas Brewing has named Tony Amaral head of sales, following the departure of Tom McReavy, who formerly led the Petaluma, California-based craft brewery’s sales division before taking the top sales role at Stone Brewing last month.
“Tony has been with Lagunitas for over five years and has been selling Lagunitas since 2001 as a distributor,” a Lagunitas spokesperson told Brewbound. “His deep understanding of our customers’ needs and passion for Lagunitas makes him an ideal leader for our sales team.”
Amaral joined Lagunitas in July 2016 as the director of western national accounts, and was promoted in June 2017 to the director of the company’s western zone, according to his LinkedIn profile. He was promoted again in August 2020 to vice president of distributors management.
Off-premise dollar sales of Lagunitas IPA have increased 12.7%, to $104.3 million, for the 52 weeks ending March 21, according to market research firm IRI. It is the third best-selling craft IPA and the fifth best-selling brand in the craft segment. As the calendar cycles past the elevated selling weeks from March 2020 when consumers filled their fridges amid on-premise closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Lagunitas IPA’s sales have declined 0.1% year-to-date through March 21.
Lagunitas IPA accounts for 2.04% of craft segment dollars, which has declined 0.22 sharepoints year-to-date compared to the same period last year according to IRI. The brewery’s A Little Sumpin Sumpin Ale accounts for 0.87% of craft dollars; its share has increased 0.07 sharepoints year-to-date, compared to the same period last year.
Allagash Launches Recycling Co-op
Portland, Maine-headquartered Allagash Brewing has formed a co-op for nearby breweries to combine materials for recycling.
“We recognize that brewing is a resource-intensive process,” Allagash brewmaster and VP of brewing operations Jason Perkins said in a press release. “So, it’s our responsibility to constantly evolve our practices to reduce our environmental impact and offset where we can. By working with our local brewery friends and accumulating these necessary, yet hard-to-recycle, items in one place, we’re streamlining a critical part of the sustainability process.”
The program aims to collect beer-specific materials that are difficult to recycle by normal methods, such as shrink wrap, grain bags, PakTech carriers, metal caps, cages and corks. Participating breweries include Maine Beer Company, Bissell Brothers and Foundation Brewing Company.
Additionally, Allagash launched a consumer-facing recycling program last month that invites drinkers to return recyclable beer-related items — such as PakTech carriers, corks, bottle caps and packing materials — to the taproom. Consumers will receive one punch on a punch card for each bag returned; six punches entitles a guest to 20% off their purchase.
Other Half Begins Brewing Operations at Newest Brooklyn Location; Plans to Launch Hard Seltzer
Other Half Brewing Company has begun brewing at its newest location in the Domino Park development of Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood, the company announced in a press release.
“As a Brooklyn-born brand, we’re humbled by the opportunity to open in such an iconic waterfront location like Domino Park,” co-founder and CEO Matt Monahan said in the release. “Williamsburg is home to incredible local restaurants and artisans and we’re thrilled to be part of such a dynamic and vibrant neighborhood.”
The new location houses a five-barrel pilot brewing system that will allow Other Half to experiment beyond the IPAs, stouts and sours the company built its reputation on. Among those innovation products will be hard seltzers, which will first be offered on tap this month, with cans expected to follow this summer.
“The intimate brewing system at Domino Park allows us to try new techniques and brew with new hops and yeast strains to create new innovative beers as well as continue to improve our existing ones,” co-founder and brewmaster Sam Richardson said in the release.
Other Half’s new 3,600 sq. ft. location is the seven-year-old company’s fourth, in addition to breweries in Washington, D.C.; Bloomfield, New York, in the state’s Finger Lakes region; and its original in Brooklyn’s Gowanus neighborhood. At Domino Park, Other Half joins several restaurants and other retail shops occupying 15,000 sq. ft. at the street-level of a 42-story mixed-use building redeveloped on the site of a former Domino Sugar factory.
California Craft Brewers Association Drops Lawsuit Against State
The California Craft Brewers Association (CCBA) has filed to dismiss its lawsuit against Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Department of Public Health, executive director Lori Ajax told Brewbound.
“With the State ultimately relenting and placing breweries in the same sector as wineries and removing the meal requirement for our brewery tasting rooms, we have filed to dismiss the lawsuit without prejudice,” she said. “The major goal of our lawsuit was to be treated equally to wineries and this has been achieved by the reversal of the state and the changes in the rules. This is a significant win for our membership and to protect the rights of California brewers.”
The CCBA filed the lawsuit in December 2020, alleging that the state’s requirement of breweries to serve meals to patrons in order to open their tasting rooms for on-site service infringed on brewers’ constitutional rights because the same rules were not applied to California’s wineries.
New York Legalizes Recreational Cannabis
New York has become the 16th state to legalize cannabis for recreational use after Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill into law on Wednesday, March 31. New Mexico will become the 17th, pending the governor’s signature in that state.
The legislation funnels 40% of tax revenue from the sale of cannabis products to communities whose members have been disproportionately arrested on cannabis charges, and people who have been convicted of actions that are no longer criminal will have their records expunged, according to a report in the New York Times.
Some provisions of the law went into effect immediately. New Yorkers may now possess up to 3 oz. of cannabis or 24 grams of the drug in concentrated forms, such as oils. Cannabis is now permitted wherever the smoking of tobacco is, but municipalities have the authority to create stricter laws about its use in public.
NBWA’s Beer Purchasers’ Index Expands in March
The National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) Beer Purchasers’ Index (BPI) — which measures wholesaler buying behavior — expanded in March 2021, with a reading of 63, a 13 point increase over March 2020.
An index over 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below 50 denotes contraction.
Inventory at risk of going out of cover within the next 30 days posted a 37 reading in March 2021, which the NBWA noted is a “significant decrease” from March 2020’s 57 reading.
“In this month’s BPI, we see the comparison to data from March 2020, completed right before the widespread shutdown of the U.S. economy because of the COVID-19 pandemic,” NBWA chief economist Lester Jones said in a press release. “Looking at the ‘at-risk’ inventory, we see the impact of two significant recent events: the severe winter weather during week 8 that slowed many distributor operations and the recent cyber-attack that disrupted supply chain operations throughout the Molson Coors network.”
FMBs and hard seltzers posted the highest reading (85, up five points compared to March 2020) of any beer category segment in March 2021. This also marked the third time that the FMB/seltzer index dropped below a reading of 90 since May 2020.
The only other segment in expansion mode was imports (60). Contracting segments included craft beer (46, but up from a 33 reading in March 2020), premium lights (44), regular domestic beer (39), below premium (39) and cider (37).
The NBWA noted that the craft segment “continues to struggle to gain momentum with the slow reopening of on-premise activity.”
Drizly Data Breach Could Net Consumers $14 and a $1.99 Credit
E-commerce marketplace Drizly and consumers caught up in a data breach received initial approval on a $7.1 million settlement, according to Law360. As part of the settlement, Drizly users whose credit card information was accessed in the breach will be able to file claims for at least $14, as well as receive a $1.99 credit on the alcohol delivery app.
Drizly agreed to pay at least $1.05 million, but capped its output at $3.15 million in cash to users, as well as $447,750 in credits, while also putting in place security measures for two years, the outlet reported.
In August 2020, Drizly users filed a class-action lawsuit against the company on behalf of the 2.5 million compromised accounts involved in the data breach.
Uber struck a $1.1 billion cash and stock deal to acquire Drizly in February.
Revolution Brewing Announces Taproom Reopening
Revolution Brewing announced its taproom in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood will reopen for service five days per week beginning Wednesday, April 7.
“Our capacity at opening will be 50 people, and the maximum party size will be six people,” the company wrote on its website. “We won’t be taking reservations, but you can check the waitlist and put yourself on it through our Yelp page.”
Revolution shuttered the taproom for on-site service in October 2020, anticipating that the Chicago winter would make outdoor service impossible.
Monkish to Open in Former Anaheim Brewery Space
Torrance, California-based Monkish Brewing announced it will open a second location in the former Anaheim Brewery space in Anaheim, California.
“This summer we’re opening a second location — a quaint little brewery and beer garden in Anaheim,” Monkish wrote on its Facebook page. “We’re stoked to bring our beers and vibes to our monk fam down south.”
Anaheim Brewery founders Greg and Barbara Gerovac decided to retire as their brewery reached its 10th anniversary.
“We’ve both spent 24 years in the Army, and 20+ years as brewers,” they wrote on Anaheim’s Facebook page. “It’s time to retire for a second time.”
The Anaheim location is 30 miles east of Monkish’s Torrance brewery.