Craft Brew Alliance has officially opened its new Widmer Brothers innovation brewery, relocating the small-batch operation from a cramped corner of Portland’s Moda Center to the company’s primary brewing facility about one mile away. First announced last April, the new innovation brewery will enable CBA to conduct research and development, experiment with emerging styles and give Widmer brewers a chance to collaborate with other food and beverage industry entrepreneurs.
Sweetwater Brewing today announced plans to broaden its reach in Texas, expanding distribution to the Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin areas via Ben E. Keith Company; Fast-growing Rhinegeist Brewery will formally launch in the Cleveland market this week, inking an agreement with House of La Rose Inc., according to a Cleveland.com report.
With construction already underway at its 100,000 sq. ft. Ohio production facility, Scottish craft brewery BrewDog yesterday announced the formal launch of an ambitious $50 million crowdfunding campaign to help finance the company’s first U.S. brewery expansion. Called Equity for Punks, the newly launched campaign invites U.S. investors to purchase shares of BrewDog USA at $47.50 each; BrewDog is requiring investors to purchase a minimum of two shares.
Here’s a full stein of reality, courtesy of Craft Brew Alliance’s chief executive, Andy Thomas. “If we become irrelevant to consumers, we’re all doomed,” he told a crowd of 250 beer business executives and entrepreneurs who attended the June 9 Brewbound Session conference in Brooklyn.
Sierra Nevada Brewing yesterday named Jeff White as the company’s first chief operating officer. White, who began with the Chico, Calif.-based craft brewery in 2013, serving first as its systems integration director, will bring more than 30 years of brewing industry experience to the newly created COO position.
Karl Strauss Brewing Company today announced it would open a new satellite brewery and brewpub in Southern California next month. Located across from Angel Stadium in Anaheim, the company’s new brewery — its 10th brewing location — will include a 7-barrel brewhouse, two 14-barrel fermentation tanks and three 14-barrel brite beer tanks. The facility will be capable of pouring upwards of 35 unique, small-batch beers at a time, the company said.
On-demand alcohol delivery service Drizly today announced it has completed a $15 million Series B funding round led by venture capital firm Polaris Partners, which previously financed a majority of the company’s $13 million Series A round last May. Founded in 2012, Drizly has raised $32.8 million to date from a group of investors including First Beverage, Continental Investors, Suffolk Equity, Gary Vaynerchuk (via the Vayner RSE fund) and the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America have all invested in the startup company.
Craft Brew Alliance (CBA) today released its second quarter earnings results, which were highlighted by a 23.9 percent increase in Kona Brewing shipments and a portfolio-wide net sales increase of 6.4 percent compared to the same period in 2015. Driven by its “Kona Plus” strategy — which prioritizes national sales of the Hawaiian-themed brand over those from Widmer, Redhook, Omission and its partner brands — CBA was able to push year-to-date shipments, depletions and net sales back to about flat following a challenging first quarter.
Addressing 760 fellow co-owners during a company-wide retreat held in Fort Collins, Colo. this week, New Belgium co-founder Kim Jordan quashed persistent rumors of a brewery sale and reassured employees that the country’s 4th largest craft brewery would continue to remain 100 percent employee owned for the foreseeable future. “While the Board of Directors and ESOP trustee have a fiscal responsibility to keep an eye on capital markets, we have found that our current capital structure serves our purpose and vision best,” Jordan said on Monday.
Two Maine-based craft breweries — Sebago Brewing and Maine Beer Company — are in the process of finalizing brewery expansions projects what would enable each company to significantly grow their operations in the greater Portland area. Sebago Brewing, based in Gorham, today announced plans to open a new $5 million destination brewery in 2017. Pending planning board approvals, the company could break ground as early as November, it said in a press release.
Tamarron Consulting has published the results of its latest “Malt Beverage Supplier Performance Survey,” naming MillerCoors as the top rated beer manufacturer in 2015. More than 220 U.S. beer distributors representing approximately one third of total U.S. malt beverage industry volumes responded to the survey, which asked wholesalers to rate performance and share perceptions of the leading domestic and import brands.
Just days after it was revealed that a pair of top Ballast Point Brewing executives would leave the organization to “pursue other interests within the beverage alcohol space,” two more key figures are also headed out the door. Founder Jack White Jr. and chief operating officer Yuseff Cherney — who also served as the company’s head brewer and distiller — have officially departed, according to Michael McGrew, a spokesman with Ballast Point’s parent company, Constellation Brands.
Fresh off last week’s purchase of Georgia-based Terrapin Beer Company, MillerCoors, via its Tenth and Blake craft and import division, today announced it has acquired a majority stake in Oregon’s Hop Valley Brewing. Specific financial terms were not disclosed and the transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2016.
The Brewers Association, together with market research firm Nielsen, today presented the findings of their jointly produced “Craft Insights Poll,” which looked at the purchasing habits of craft beer drinkers. Fielded in early June, the 20-minute online survey solicited answers from 1,000 “regular” craft beer drinkers that consume craft products at least several times per year.
