As the number of new COVID-19 cases have reached record highs, Texas and Florida today ordered bars cease on-premise operations.

Latino-owned San Diego craft brewery Border X is partnering with the Mujeres Brew Club to open a taproom location in the former Alta Brewing space, founder and CEO David Favela told Brewbound. The new taproom brewery will operate as a nonprofit with a focus on empowering women within the craft beer space.

As it planned for eventual reopenings of its 11 own-premise locations, craft beverage rollup Artisanal Brewing Ventures surveyed consumers in April and found they wanted more than just the basics to combat the spread of COVID-19 inside taprooms. So, ABV is going a step farther and adding needlepoint bipolar ionization (NPBI) technology to the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems at its nine indoor locations by the end of June.

Newport Craft Brewing and Distilling has added another New York City-based brand to its portfolio with the acquisition of Radiant Pig Beer Company, the company announced yesterday. Newport CEO Brendan O’Donnell told Brewbound that Radiant Pig, which Rob Pihl founded in 2013, gives Newport Craft more access to New York, “which is now really a closed market for new breweries.”

Seattle-based Fremont Brewing reopened its beer garden on Sunday after a temporary closure following an employee testing positive for COVID-19. Six weeks after calling off its Philadelphia expansion, Everett, Massachusetts-based Night Shift Brewing may add another taproom location in Natick, Massachusetts, in early 2021, according to the Natick Report.

About three weeks after Adam Lambert took over as president of the Michigan Brewers Union — the roll up of Dark Horse Brewing and Roak Brewing — the COVID-19 pandemic shut down on-premise sales across the U.S.

Off-premise beer category dollar sales have topped $1 billion in three of the last four weeks, according to market research firm Nielsen. Sales of beer, cider and FMBs increased 20.3%, to $1.006 billion, for the one-week period ending June 13, Nielsen reported.

Duvel Moortgat USA VP of sales Bobby Dykstra and VP of marketing Natalie Gershon discuss plans for the Boulevard and Brewery Ommegang brands, trends during the COVID-19 pandemic and their strategy for the next six months.

Deschutes Brewery’s Portland, Oregon, pub is slated to reopen later today after being closed for three months. The pub’s reopening, along with those of other restaurants and bars in Multnomah County — Oregon’s most populated county — was delayed a week after Gov. Kate Brown imposed a one-week moratorium on reopenings due to a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases.

Fresh Fest, the nation’s first craft beer festival to showcase black brewers, has canceled its in-person events due to the COVID-19 pandemic and will instead go digital later this summer.

Longtime Vermont Cider Co. VP of sales Terry Hopper became fast-growing Montauk Brewing Company’s 10th employee in eight years.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, new product innovation at breweries has declined by nearly half, according to alcoholic beverage compliance firm Sovos ShipCompliant. New product registration from breweries declined 43.4% in April and May in Sovos ShipCompliant’s database, compared to the same months in 2019.

Leaders of four popular Massachusetts craft breweries join Brewbound Frontlines to discuss their companies’ growth in 2019 and how they’re faring during the COVID-19 pandemic. Executives from Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers, Wormtown Brewery, Castle Island Brewing and Vitamin Sea Brewing are featured on the panel.

Seattle, Washington-based Fremont Brewing has temporarily shuttered its brewery and beer garden after an employee tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, June 16.