A dispute in one of the most prominent families in the beer industry — the Massachusetts-based Sheehans, owners of Sheehan Family Companies, which operates beer wholesalers in 13 states and Washington, D.C. — has spilled into the court system. Timothy G. Sheehan and George L. Cushing, a trustee who represents trusts that benefit Tim Sheehan and his brother John T. Sheehan, filed a civil lawsuit in Massachusetts’ Suffolk Superior Court alleging that the patriarch and matriarch of the family, Gerald (“Jerry”) and Maureen Sheehan, have violated their fiduciary duties and misappropriated company funds.
The annual Brewbound Awards acknowledge breweries for their execution of various sales, marketing, and philanthropic initiatives, as well as individuals for their impact on the industry. After the unprecedented disruption and upheaval across the industry over the last 12 months caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 edition of the awards recognizes the ability of those winners to adapt, survive and thrive in a year unlike any other.
Brewbound readers in 2020 sought out news about the pandemic, mergers and acquisitions, brewery closures and job changes. 2020 marked a year of shifts for brewers, as well as Brewbound, which shifted its business model to a subscription model. With that in mind, we’ve pulled the five most-read stories before the paywall was introduced and the five most-read stories after.
Sierra Nevada is calling a time-out on Sufferfest, the athletic-inspired, better-for-you craft beer brand it acquired nearly two years ago. “As we enter 2021, we are pausing production to explore what’s next for Sufferfest Beer Company,” the company wrote on its website.
After the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered bars and restaurants nationwide, consumers’ beer purchasing shifted to off-premise retailers. However, it wasn’t just the usual grocery and club stores that saw sales increase — among others, e-commerce, on-demand convenience delivery platform goPuff and drug store chain Walgreens have sold more beer in 2020.
Men can still enjoy two drinks per day without running afoul of the government’s nutritional guidelines. After being presented with research from the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) in July that suggested the daily alcohol allowance for men be cut in half, the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services opted not to change the recommendation put forth in its 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA), which was released today.
Since its debut in 2016, New Belgium Brewing’s Voodoo Ranger line has become a growth engine for the Fort Collins, Colorado-headquartered craft brewery. The IPA brand, fronted by a snarky, skeletal “spokescreature,” came at just the right time. Sales of New Belgium’s Ranger IPA were down 50% and the team decided the brand wasn’t salvageable.
“We needed something fresh; we needed something more relevant to the IPA category,” CEO Steve Fechheimer said during the Brewbound Live business conference earlier this month. “It was time to take a risk.”
Leaders of four emerging “beyond beer” brands shared their strategies for differentiating in an increasingly crowded field during the annual Brewbound Live business conference, which took place virtually earlier this month due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s cancellation of in-person events. “Your product has to be amazing,” canned cocktail producer Five Drinks co-founder and CEO Felipe Szpigel said during the discussion.
Federal excise tax cuts for brewers and importers have finally been made permanent. After nearly a week of uncertainty, President Donald Trump on Sunday signed into law the $900 billion economic relief package and $1.4 trillion government funding bill Congress passed last week.
Reyes Beer Division is expanding its Southern California operations with plans to add two new warehouses for its Gate City Beverage and Harbor Distributing subsidiaries.
U.S. brewers shipped 12.3 million barrels of beer in November 2020, a decline of 0.8% (or 96,000 fewer barrels than in 2019), according to domestic tax paid estimates from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) shared by the Beer Institute (BI).
Permanent excise tax cuts for brewers and importers was just a signature away. However, getting pen to paper on the $900 billion economic relief package and a $1.4 trillion government funding bill passed by Congress is now in question after President Donald Trump unexpectedly pushed back against the measures.
After a tumultuous year, the beer industry is expected to finish 2020 down by 0.5% in volume, according to National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) chief economist Lester Jones. “Despite losing all this keg volume and all this on-premise, having 20% of the on-premise market shut down basically for a certain period of time, having fewer establishments, fewer occasions, the beer market in total is going to look a lot like it has in previous years,” Jones said. “It just means a whole bunch of beer got shifted around.”
The Atlanta Hawks have been named Anheuser-Busch InBev’s “NBA Partner of the Year,” team executives tell Brewbound. The difference maker for the Hawks: an in-arena activation with rap superstar Big Boi, who was featured on limited edition 25 oz. Budweiser cans sold within the Atlanta market and at the team’s home arena, State Farm Arena.
