Last Call: Monday Night to Open Nashville Location; Gilde Heads to Charlotte; BrewDog Signs Las Vegas Lease

Monday Night Brewing to Open Nashville Taproom

Atlanta-headquartered Monday Night Brewing announced plans today to open a 3,000 sq. ft. taproom in Nashville’s Germantown neighborhood, according to the Nashville Business Journal.

The location is slated to open this summer, with the craft brewery working with local vendors on the menu.

Monday Night’s Nashville taproom will be the company’s fourth location. The company currently operates two locations in Atlanta, as well as one in Birmingham, Alabama.

Monday Night’s beer has been sold in Nashville for four years.

Gilde To Open First Brewery Outside of Germany

German beer maker Gilde announced plans to open a brewery in Charlotte, its first brewery outside of Hannover.

The Embassy at Gilde Brewery will be located in a 9,000 sq. ft. space in Charlotte’s Lower South End. The brewery will open this fall, and offer Gilde’s six staple beers — Pilsener, Kellerbier, Urbock, Red Rooster, Lemon Radler, and Pale Wheat — brewed on-site. Gilde also plans to experiment with American craft beer styles at the location.

“We carefully selected Charlotte as our first brewery site outside of Hannover based on the community’s level of interest in high quality beer and the connection between our two cities through Queen Charlotte, who was Queen of Hannover,” Gilde president Mike Gaertner said in the release.

“We’ve been watching Charlotte’s beer scene grow and thrive for almost a decade now, and we’d be remiss if we didn’t introduce an authentic German beer to Charlotte’s lineup,” Gilde CEO Kasten Uhlmann added. “As the original craft beer innovators, we will immerse guests in centuries of German brewing heritage combined with the creativity of the American beer movement.”

Willi Wallstab will serve as brewmaster, relocating from Germany to Charlotte this summer. Two Michelin Star chef Stefan Hermann will run the culinary side, which will feature German cuisine.

Gilde’s parent company TCB Beverages purchased the site for $3.1 million last month. Uhlmann originally announced plans for U.S. expansion in July 2019. At the time, he said the company planned to open a 100,000 sq. ft. facility capable of being scaled to 500,000 barrels annually.

Asked if Gilde still plans to construct a facility capable of producing 500,000 barrels annually, a Gilde spokesperson told Brewbound “it remains to be Gilde’s goal to one day open a brewery of that size, but that will not be the capacity of this location.”

BrewDog Signs Lease For Las Vegas Rooftop

BrewDog has signed a lease for a rooftop brewery in Las Vegas, which co-founder James Watt claims will be the first carbon negative bar in the city.

The 30,000 sq. ft. space is located above the Showcase Mall along the Vegas Strip, and will feature an urban forest, an on-site brewery, a “secret event space” and a retro game zone. A special edition version of BrewDog’s Elvis Juice IPA will be available on tap.

Watt officially announced the lease signing April 24 on Twitter. He has not announced an opening date for the bar, but BrewDog “hopes to welcome customers in 9-12 months,” according to a release.

“Still can’t believe we are opening this amazing site in Las Vegas,” Watts tweeted this week. “It feels a long way away from the tiny derelict shed on a godforsaken industrial estate in north east Scotland where we started BrewDog with two humans and one dog in 2007.”

In January, Watts teased the Vegas location and said BrewDog was also close to agreeing on deals for locations in London, Cleveland, Amsterdam, Delhi, Sydney and Milan. Last month, Watts announced plans for DogHouse Edinburg, a “beer themed” hotel and bar, with beer on tap in all the rooms, mini-bars filled with beer, and fridge in the shower “for shower beers.” The hotel will open Q3 2021.

BrewDog currently operates nearly 100 bar locations around the globe.

Lion CEO Stuart Irvine To Step Down

Stuart Irvine, CEO of the beverage company Lion, announced he would be stepping down after eight years on the job, according to Brew News.

Lion, which owns beer brands New Belgium, Tooheys, XXXX Gold, West End, and James Boag, is in the middle of a transition and slim down, following its $560 million sale of Lion Dairy & Drinks to Bega Cheese earlier this year.

“After eight years, now is the right time for me to hand the baton to a new leader,” Irvine said in a statement. “I’m proud of the Lion I will leave behind — a focused business well placed for growth at home and abroad. It is a business focused on the consumer, with the foundation of new data and technology capability and purpose at the heart of its decision-making.”

Lion was acquired by Japanese brewing conglomerate Kirin Corp in 2009. Irvine will continue to lead to business until his replacement is found.

Constellation Brands Invests In Rosé Brand Geared Toward Multicultural Consumers

Constellation Brands announced the acquisition of rosé label La Fête du Rosé this week.

The investment is the first partnership following Constellation’s June 2020 announcement of their Focus on Minority Founders initiative, which plans to invest $100 million in Black, Latino, and minority-owned businesses by 2030.

“We’re thrilled to jumpstart our Focus on Minority Founders initiative with an investment in a fantastic consumer-oriented brand and with a dynamic and proven industry leader behind it in Donae Burston,” CEO Bill Newlands said. “Minority-owned businesses are under-represented in our industry and there is a real need to make it more equitable for those businesses to receive access to capital. This initiative enables us to play a role in creating greater equity within our industry and provides an opportunity for us to work with bold leaders and brands with unique value propositions that align with our premiumization strategy.”

Burston founded La Fête du Rosé — which translates to “the rosé party — in 2019, following 15 years of work in the luxury spirits industry with brands such as Dom Perignon, Hennessy and Moet & Chandon. He built the company with the intent of creating a fresh, modern, and inclusive brand, inspired by the popularity of rosé in the French peninsula of Saint Tropez.

“People like to see themselves in anything, and that’s what we’re trying to do with La Fête du Rosé — create an exceptional liquid and brand that’s focused on reaching a wider audience,” Burston said. “Constellation Brands is the right partner to allow us to scale the brand in a way that stays true to its ethos.”

Constellation launched a similar initiative in 2018 — the Focus on Female Founders program — which committed to investing $100 million in female-owned and founded companies. Since the launch, Constellation’s ventures portfolio has increased its mix from 20% female-owned to 50% female-owned.

ALDI Launches Vista Bay Hard Seltzer Lemonade

ALDI is rolling out a new store branded hard seltzer line extension: Vista Bay Hard Seltzer Lemonade. The 12-can variety pack will be available through the summer for $11.99, and feature four flavors — original, mango, strawberry, and black cherry.

ALDI launched its first hard seltzer line in 2019, releasing $5.89 six packs available in Ruby Grapefruit, Lime, Black Cherry, and ALDI-exclusive Coconut Mango.

Both the Vista Bay original hard seltzers and lemonade hard seltzers check in at 5% ABV and 100 calories.