Irish cider and beer maker C&C Group has sold Woodchuck Cider maker Vermont Cider Company (VCC) to Northeast Drinks Group, a privately owned holding company.

Stone Brewing Company has agreed to pay a more than $1.8 million offer in compromise to the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau for alleged violations related to tax reporting and payments.

BrewDog has apologized to the four LGBTQ employees it terminated last week from its Indianapolis taproom, but said an external HR investigation found “no evidence of discrimination” in their firings, according to a statment from BrewDog USA CEO Jason Block.

Spindrift is going hard. The Newton, Massachusetts-based premium sparkling water brand announced today the launch of Spindrift Spiked, a hard seltzer line rolling out to stores next month. Similar to the brand’s core non-alcoholic products, the new line is made with real fruit juice and contains alcohol fermented from cane sugar with a 4% ABV.

The launch of Dogfish Head’s ready-to-drink canned cocktails into near national distribution marks the culmination of what brewery founder Sam Calagione described as “the single longest R&D project” of his career.

Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers is attempting to sever its relationship with Atlantic Beverage Distributors, its Massachusetts wholesaler. The Framingham, Massachusetts-based craft brewery provided Atlantic with notice on January 14, two days after franchise law reform was enacted in the state.

Boulevard Brewing Company has terminated three additional employees following the conclusion of a month-long independent external investigation into the Kansas City, Missouri-headquartered craft brewery’s operations following allegations that its culture was poisoned by harassment.

3 Tier Beverages founders Donn Bichsel Jr. and Joe Sepka and Brager Beverage Alcohol Consulting owner Danny Brager discuss the forthcoming “March Mountain” that the industry will begin cycling as the anniversary of the COVID-19 stock-up phase approaches. They also share advice on portfolio management, how to remain in the good graces of retailers and wholesalers that are cutting back on their product selections, product pricing and much more.

After terminating four workers from its Indianapolis taproom earlier this week, BrewDog has also let go of the employee who approved the firings and hired an external human relations firm to investigate. All four of the workers who were terminated on Monday, March 8, are members of the LGBTQ community; two are women and two are non-binary.

Congress passed the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, which now advances to President Joe Biden for an expected signature.

“We obviously had grown so quickly that I just knew there was going to be an extent at how much we could realistically scale the business on our own, just due to our existing infrastructure, our own resources, and, quite frankly, even our kind of experience,” Far West Spirits founder Katie Beal Brown told Brewbound.

The May 1 launch of a line of hard seltzers branded with fast-food chain Sonic’s name and proprietary beverage flavors has the potential to make Oklahoma City craft brewery COOP Ale Works a player in the $4 billion hard seltzer segment, president Sean Mossman told Brewbound.

Eight in 10 regular craft beer drinkers believe breweries should be allowed to ship beer directly to consumers in more states than the 13 where the practice is legal, according to a study published by the Brewers Association (BA) and Sovos ShipCompliant.

Stone Brewing has hired former wine, spirits and cannabis executive Erin Smith as its next vice president of marketing. Smith’s arrival comes several weeks after the Escondido, California-headquartered craft brewery announced a reorganization of its sales and marketing teams.