A number of small brewery transactions have emerged this month, as craft breweries across the country fight to remain competitive in an increasingly more crowded industry.

Despite months of rumors to the contrary, Stone Distributing Company (SDC) is not for sale. In a memo to employees last week, Stone Brewing CEO Dominic Engels sought to quash talk that the San Diego craft brewing company was attempting to offload its distribution business.

After 12 years of debating North Carolina’s self-distribution and franchise laws, brewers and wholesalers are one step away from their compromise being written into law. On Monday, the North Carolina Senate voted 38-3 to approve the Craft Beer Distribution and Modernization Act (House Bill 363), which the House approved in mid-April. The legislation now advances to Gov. Roy Cooper.

The U.S. beer industry was responsible for creating more than 2.19 million jobs that paid more than $101 billion in wages and benefits in 2018, according to a joint study released today by industry trade organizations the Beer Institute (BI) and the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA).

Nearly a year after imposing aluminum and steel tariffs against Canada and Mexico, the Trump administration today officially lifted levies imposed upon the two longtime trade allies. Ending tariffs on steel and aluminum imported from Canada and Mexico marks a significant moment for the beer industry, as about 43 percent of aluminum used by U.S. beverage companies comes from Canada, according to Washington, D.C.-based trade group the Beer Institute (BI).

How might a lender approach the funding for your brewery expansion? In many cases, it’s possible the individual underwriter will not be intimately familiar with the brewing industry, which means you must prepare your business and loan application in anticipation of facing headwinds. This column explains four financing methods for owners to consider.

The Texas Craft Brewers Guild’s effort to legalize beer to-go sales inched closer to reality this week, when powerful lobbying group the Wholesale Beer Distributors of Texas (WBDT) agreed to back a measure that, if passed, would allow consumers to purchase up to a case of beer a day from the Lone Star State’s manufacturing breweries.

In episode 36 of the Brewbound Podcast, Edelson and Boerema discuss the opportunities and challenges of running a brewpub chain at a time when brewery taprooms have become so popular, and explain how they see the taproom-focused business model evolving.

A minority activist investor in Craft Brew Alliance (NASDAQ: BREW) has sent a letter to the brewery’s board of directors urging the company to consider a sale. David Cohen, the founder of Boston-based private investment fund Midwood Capital Management LLC — which owns about 2 percent of CBA’s outstanding shares and currently has about $70 million under management across 20 different small cap-stocks — believes CBA “must seek a sale to maximize shareholder value.”

Starting in June, nine U.S. states will begin receiving limited shipments of popular but hard to obtain craft beers via a new program called “Guest Brewer.” Brew Pipeline, a so-called “direct-access platform” started by Steven Kwapil and Trip Kloser, is playing matchmaker for craft breweries and wholesalers through the Guest Brewer program. Kwapil and Kloser have tapped industry veteran Marty Ochs — who served as Ninkasi’s director of sales between 2009 and 2013 before launching his own craft beer consultancy — with curating the program’s portfolio of breweries and building its network of wholesalers.

A majority of U.S. Senators support making permanent excise tax relief for alcohol producers and importers. The 2019 version of the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act (CBMTRA) added its 52nd supporter in the U.S. Senate today, with Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) becoming a co-sponsor. The legislation seeks to make permanent the two years of tax breaks that alcohol producers and importers received as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which are slated to expire at the end of this year.

Lord Hobo Brewing Company is hoping the release of its first 18-pack and a vintage muscle car giveaway will help it accelerate beyond the 50,000-barrel threshold in 2019. The Massachusetts craft brewery launched 18-packs of Freebird, a new year-round golden ale that clocks in at 5.5 percent ABV, last Friday at its brewery and taproom in Woburn. Speaking to Brewbound, Lord Hobo director of new markets Rob Day said Freebird 18-packs — at a suggested retail price of $20 — are the company’s first foray into the “affordable, larger-package format.”

In this week’s edition of Last Call: Brewers Association CEO Bob Pease weighs in on the Boston Beer-Dogfish Head deal; Rob Tod wins a James Beard award; Bell’s and Loveland head to arbitration; the Texas Senate strips to-go-sales amendment from a bill; and more industry news.

Rich Lindsay has departed Finestkind Brewing LLC, the operating company behind the Smuttynose Brewing brand, after about 14 months as CEO, Brewbound has confirmed. Lindsay joined the North Hampton, New Hampshire-based craft brewery after it was acquired by Runnymede Investments in a foreclosure auction last March.