With the annual Brewbound Live business conference less than two weeks away, the Brewbound team shares the schedule for the two-day event during the latest edition of the Brewbound Podcast.

Heineken USA (HUSA) is cutting 14% of its workforce, effective January 1, 2021, Brewbound has confirmed.

2020 will see Captain Pabst’s final voyage. Pabst Brewing Company announced yesterday that the Captain Pabst Pilot House, its Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based brewery, taproom and event space, will permanently close on December 21.

The night before Thanksgiving — typically a popular night for people who have returned to their hometowns for the holiday to crowd local bars for impromptu reunions — brought on-premise establishments a boost by 2020 standards, according to BeerBoard, which tracks draft sales at bars and restaurants.

Molson Coors Beverage Company will begin distributing offerings from Eugene, Oregon-based Hop Valley Brewing east in 2021, as the company’s Tenth and Blake craft division takes the brand national in the new year.

Eugene, Oregon-based Ninkasi Brewing Company has instituted “organizational and operational changes” over the last month that has led to cuts within its field sales, hospitality and management teams, Ninkasi Brewing CEO Nigel Francisco confirmed to Brewbound.

VPX Sports, the maker of Bang Energy, is seeking an injunction against PepsiCo to stop it from making threats to its customers and wholesale distributors, as the two companies’ dispute over a long-term distribution contract moves into the legal phase.

With two months left in 2020, beer category sales at off-premise retailers remain elevated, as on-premise establishments continue to grapple with capacity restrictions and, in some states and cities, on-site service shutdowns. Year-to-date through November 1, beer category dollar sales are up 15.5%, to $37.4 billion, at off-premise multi-outlet grocery stores, mass retailers and convenience stores, according to market research firm IRI.

2021 will mark a “big bet” year for Golden Road within Anheuser-Busch. The world’s largest beer company via its craft business unit, the Brewers Collective, will increase its investment in the Los Angeles-based craft brewery that it acquired in 2015 by seven times in 2021.

The Brewbound Pitch Slam will take place December 8 and 10, starting at 4 p.m. EST both days. The competition is free to stream on Brewbound.com, LinkedIn, YouTube and Facebook. This year’s Pitch Slam semi-finalists include a diverse array of businesses creating products in various segments of the beer category.

Lou Romano, who had served as president of Flying Fish Brewing for the last three years, is exiting the Somerdale, New Jersey-based craft brewery; Sierra Nevada has appointed Kyle Ingram as its brand director; and more job changes in the beer industry.

Grand Rapids, Michigan-headquartered Founders Brewing Company laid off 89 retail workers at its taprooms in Detroit and Grand Rapids, effective November 18, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) filed that same day with Michigan’s Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, Workforce Development.

2020 has been transformational for Beer Kulture. In July, the St. Petersburg, Florida-based lifestyle brand reinvented itself as a nonprofit with a mission to introduce craft beer to communities of color. In September, it launched a job board to introduce breweries to job seekers outside the stereotypical craft beer realm of young white men. By November, the board featured more than 85 jobs.

Elysian Brewing will try to rocket flagship Space Dust IPA to another stratosphere in 2021. The Anheuser-Busch InBev-owned, Seattle-headquartered craft brewery’s goal is to make fast-growing Space Dust the nation’s top selling IPA.