Michigan-based hospitality business holding company Farm + Ferment announced last week that it had acquired one of the state’s oldest craft brands, Arbor Brewing Company.

In a move aimed at upgrading its U.S. operations and “strengthening” its core brands, Anheuser-Busch InBev today said it would spend $2 billion on numerous brewing, packaging, supply chain and sustainability projects over the next four years. In 2017 alone, A-B said it plans to invest $500 million into various brewery, distribution, packaging and innovation initiatives.

Marty Butler is is the co-founder of The Butler Bros, an Austin-based branding, consulting and graphic design studio that has executed rebrands for craft breweries such as Maui Brewing Co. and Real Ale Brewing. In his column for Brewbound Voices, Butler, who also co-founded the Austin Home Brew Festival, describes his firm’s creative process while sharing lessons learned during recent branding projects with companies across the beer, spirits and food industries.

In this week’s edition of Last Call: Wicked Weed postpones the Funkatorium Invitational; Speakeasy’s sale price is report; Massachusetts and Maryland alcohol task forces set meeting dates; and much more.

In this week’s distribution roundup: Cigar City expands to Colorado, SpikedSeltzer goes national and Seattle Cider hits South Carolina.

Hundreds of U.S. craft brewers that had been experimenting with a selection of South African-grown hops will no longer have access to the proprietary supply after Anheuser-Busch InBev, which owns the farm, said it would reserve 100 percent of the latest yield for its own brands.

Wachusett Brewing Company today announced that Christian McMahan, who most recently served as a managing partner of creative agency Smartfish, would join the Massachusetts-based craft brewery as its new president. McMahan, who previously spent 2 1/2 years as the CMO of Heineken USA (2008 – 2010) and worked for six years as the vice president of marketing for Diageo (2002 – 2008), will officially join Wachusett in mid-June.

New allegations of illegal pay-to-play activities within the beer industry have resurfaced in Boston. A 14-month investigation by the Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission (ABCC) into a wholly owned Anheuser-Busch wholesaler has resulted in charges that the beer distribution company illegally provided nearly $1 million in free equipment to retailers, according to the Boston Globe, who first reported the story.

More than four years ago, Anchor Brewing announced plans to open a second brewery on San Francisco’s Pier 48 as part of the $1.6 billion Mission Rock Development project. But plans for the new facility have seemingly gone adrift and Anchor’s involvement in the redevelopment initiative is now in question.

Speakeasy Ales & Lagers has officially staved off extinction. Two months after announcing plans to cease brewing operations and ready for a sale, the San Francisco-based brewery today said former Horizon Beverage Company owner Cestra Butner, via the newly launched “Hunters Point Brewery” holding company, had acquired its brewing equipment assets and brands.

The fallout from Wicked Weed’s sale to Anheuser-Busch InBev is still being felt days after the transaction was announced. In the wake of the deal — which will require approval from the U.S. Department of Justice — at least 44 breweries announced they would no longer participate in Wicked Weed’s annual Funkatorium Invitational in Asheville on July 8.

Brewbound is pleased to welcome Dan Kenary, the co-founder and CEO of Harpoon Brewery, to the Brewbound Session Summer 2017 stage on June 15 in New York City.

In Monday’s edition of Press Clips: The Texas House advances taproom bill; Georgia governor signs direct sales bill into law; Miller Lite, Samuel Adams begin work with new ad agencies; and much more.

Hopsy, an online marketplace and beer growler delivery service headquartered in the Bay Area of California, has expanded to craft beer-soaked San Diego with the opening of a 4,500 sq. ft. distribution center and retail shop. The company, which delivered beer from over 20 Bay Area breweries to more than 10,000 customers during its first year, began selling products this month from a number of well-known San Diego breweries, including Coronado Brewing and Belching Beaver.