Bell’s Brewery co-owner Laura Bell will “step away” as CEO of the Michigan-based craft beer company, she wrote in a letter to distributors yesterday. Citing her desire to “explore other passions and interests,” Bell said she would relinquish the position on May 18. She was appointed CEO on February 3, 2017.
Nearly a year after long-time brewmaster Peter Bouckaert announced he would depart New Belgium, the Fort Collins-headquartered craft brewery today named Christian Holbrook as is its new production brewmaster.
In this week’s edition of Last Call: Stone Brewing attacks MillerCoors on Twitter; Denizens announces plans for a second Maryland brewery; several breweries listed for sale; plus, much more.
Next week, more than 13,000 beer industry professionals are expected to travel to the 2018 Craft Brewers Conference, held in Nashville, Tennessee. The four-day event (April 30 to May 3), taking place at Music City Center (201 Fifth Ave South), officially kicks off Monday evening with a welcome reception at Fifth Avenue of the Arts (201 Fifth Avenue). Brewbound has selected 11 can’t-miss talks to keep you engaged during the week.
The Brewers Association (BA) is doubling down on its efforts to help small breweries distinguish their brands from those owned by larger beer companies such as Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors. The non-profit trade association, which represents the interests of small and “independent” breweries producing fewer than 6 million barrels of beer annually, yesterday launched a website for retailers to download a variety of point-of-sale materials that feature the group’s “independent craft brewer seal.”
Boston Beer Company has returned to growth. The company — which makes the Samuel Adams, Angry Orchard, Twisted Tea, and Truly Spiked & Sparkling products — today reported its first-quarter 2018 earnings, which were highlighted by double-digit revenue and shipment growth.
In an effort to further establish itself in the high end craft beer category, Kansas City’s Boulevard Brewing Co. will launch a new line of premium-priced beers in the third quarter of this year, Duvel USA executives told Brewbound.
Brewbound’s first Brew Talks meetup of the year is less than one week away, and the official agenda has been released. The evening’s first panel, starting at 4:30 PM CDT, will feature Dogfish Head vice president of marketing Neal Stewart, Boulevard vice president of marketing Natalie Gershon and Trillium Brewing co-founder Jean-Claude Tetreault. Then, at 5:45 PM CDT, Dogfish Head founder Sam Calagione will join Brooklyn Brewery vice president of sales and marketing Dave Duffy, Lowes Foods senior category manager Charles Slezak, and Dave Williams, the director of analytics for The BWC Company, in a discussion on the evolving retail environment for craft.
Building on its efforts to promote a more inclusive brewing industry, the Brewers Association (BA) today announced the appointment of Dr. J. Nikol Jackson-Beckham as its first diversity ambassador.
Leaders from the beer industry’s three largest trade associations are vowing once again to unite brewers and distributors in an effort to return the category to growth. Speaking to a group of nearly 700 U.S. beer distributors attending the annual National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) legislative conference on Monday in Washington, D.C., Beer Institute CEO Jim McGreevy called on industry members to work together to curb volume losses.
Draft beer now accounts for nearly two-thirds of all on-premise beer volume, according to the Beer Institute’s (BI) annual State-Level Packaging Report, released today. Last year, 61.7 percent of all beer sold on-premise was poured on draft — a 1.8 point share gain — which the BI said is the highest on-premise draft share ever recorded.
In this week’s edition of Last Call: A Massachusetts A-B wholesaler is cleared in a pay-for-play case; New Holland buys a building in Battle Creek for a third Michigan brewery; Sony sues Knee Deep Brewing over Breaking Bud; and more.
Fast-growing Massachusetts-based Night Shift Brewing will open a second brewery and taproom on the first floor of the building that houses the Converse World Headquarters, Brewbound has learned. Located at One Lovejoy Wharf, the new location will include a 10-barrel brewing system and have the capacity to produce upwards of 2,500 barrels, co-founder Michael Oxton told Brewbound.
Felipe Szpigel, president of A-B’s High End, told Brewbound that more of his division’s craft breweries will be releasing 15- and 18-packs in the next couple of months.
