Businesses may have to prepare for less frequent on-premise visits this fall, as consumers are becoming increasingly more wary of visiting bars and restaurants with rising COVID-19 cases, according to a study released yesterday by investment banking and financial services firm Jefferies.

An overwhelming majority of distributors say a shakeout is coming to the hard seltzer segment and retailer shelves in 2022, according to the most recent Beverage Bytes survey from Goldman Sachs’ equity research team.

Generation Z consumers are coming of age, and the next Brew Talks meet up will explore marketing strategies to speak to this new generation of drinkers. Brewbound’s Brew Talks meetup series will return with a live and in-person event from 1-4 p.m. MT on Thursday, September 9, at Herman’s Hideaway.

A false marketing suit against Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B) and its Miami-based Veza Sur brand was dismissed by a U.S. district court judge in Miami last week, which included a district court judge referring to the definition of a craft brewery as “a subjective term,” according to Law360.

Hard seltzer’s late summer slowdown has pushed several financial services firms to adjust their forecast for the sparkling segment’s performance. “We are incrementally more cautious on the beer and hard seltzer category based on feedback from our beer distributor contacts in our new proprietary ‘Beverage Bytes’ survey,” Goldman Sachs equity research analyst Bonnie Herzog wrote in a report published today.

Oklahoma City’s COOP Ale Works made a splash in March with the reveal of its partnership with fast-food chain Sonic Drive-In to create a hard seltzer brand based on popular flavors such as Cherry Limeade and Ocean Water.

In Deschutes’ home state, Fresh Squeezed is just its fourth best-selling brand, trailing Mirror Pond, Black Butte, and its seasonal program, according to VP of sales and marketing Neal Stewart. And that presents both a unique challenge and an opportunity.

Minneapolis-headquartered Indeed Brewing has struggled with internal bias against female employees and fostered an “‘us vs. them’ mentality” between leadership and rank-and-file staff, according to the findings of an external HR investigation the company published on its website last week.

Just in time for Saturday’s college football kickoff, Deschutes Brewery has signed a multi-year deal to become the “Official Craft Beer of the Pac-12 Conference.”

San Diego-based Mission Brewery was sold in late July to a California holding company led by Kenneth Little, a partner in Brandes Investment Partners, according to documents filed with the California Secretary of State’s Office.

New Glarus Brewing co-founder and CEO Deborah Carey called a lawsuit filed last week against her and her Wisconsin craft brewery by three minority investors “slanderous,” and she said she plans to file a counter complaint. The three original investors in New Glarus claim in their lawsuit, filed in Wisconsin’s Dane County Circuit Court, that Carey breached her fiduciary duties and the company has oppressed minority shareholders.

Los Angeles-based Nectar hard seltzer almost failed before it launched.

Madison, Wisconsin’s Ale Asylum plans to auction off its equipment and assets, as the company prepares to close its brewery and restaurant in October, according to New Mill Capital, the asset disposition firm handling the sale.

Former Stone Brewing executive Pat Tiernan joined Oregon’s Full Sail Brewing as CE) this past January, according to his LinkedIn profile.