Following a major craft beer distribution shakeup in Florida earlier this year, Bell’s Brewery today announced changes to its wholesalers in the northern and central parts of the state. The Michigan-based brewery’s beers are now being distributed through Cavalier Distributing Company, it said via a press release.
It took about 14 months, but a California judge has finally tossed aside a class action lawsuit against MillerCoors LLC that alleged the beer company was deceptively brewing and marketing its Blue Moon Brewing line of craft products. U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel granted MillerCoors’ motion to dismiss the case after the company argued that Evan Parent, a homebrewer, beer aficionado and plaintiff listed in the suit, was unsuccessful in demonstrating that MillerCoors had misled consumers through its advertising and positioning of Blue Moon as a craft beer.
CBA Taps Hopworks’ Tom Bleigh as new Innovation Brewmaster; DBI Appoints CDC Executive as New COO; The Bruery’s Benjamin Weiss to Depart on June 30; Great Lakes’ Newest Key Hires Planning for the Future.
The brewmaster at Stone Brewing will depart the organization this month after 10 years with the San Diego craft brewery, the company announced today. Mitch Steele, who literally wrote the book on how to brew the most popular craft beer style in America, the IPA, is leaving the brewery effective June 30, a spokesperson with the company confirmed to Brewbound.
A growing number of craft beer drinkers would describe themselves as being “health-conscious” and are interested in striking a balance between regular alcohol consumption and routine exercise, according to a new survey jointly developed by Nielsen, The Harris Poll and Brewbound. According to the study — which surveyed nearly 1,400 respondents who drink alcoholic beverages several times per month — 60 percent of millennial craft beer drinkers (those who consume at least one beer per month) said they only drink alcohol on the weekends, while 44 percent of millennial monthly craft drinkers said they take time off from drinking entirely in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
In this week’s last call: A-B promotes Patchogue in a new Blue Point Brewing campaign; Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas to open Nevada’s first Goose Island pub; Buffalo Wild Wings tests the waters on to go beer sales; Melvin Brewing Company plans a brewery expansion in Washington and Gov. Kasich signs House Bill 37
Two beverage industry titans are teaming up to enter the $1 billion ready-to-drink premium bottled tea segment. On Thursday, Starbucks and Anheuser-Busch InBev announced a partnership to manufacture and distribute a ready-to-drink bottled tea under the Starbucks-owned Teavana brand, which Starbucks acquired in 2012 for $620 million. The product is slated to launch in the first half of 2017.
With the U.S. Department of Justice on the verge of green-lighting Anheuser-Busch InBev’s proposed $106 billion takeover of SABMiller, according to Bloomberg, Brewers Association CEO Bob Pease has penned a New York Times opinion piece about the potential repercussions of the “MegaBrew” merger. In his op-ed, Pease expressed concerns about A-B InBev’s ability to “stifle consumer choice” and “choke off America’s beer renaissance,” by restricting access to market.
California’s Napa Smith Brewery has announced a two-pronged expansion plan that will include the construction of a new multi-million dollar production facility in Vallejo, Calif. as well as the addition of shared brewing capacity at Turtle Anarchy Brewing in Nashville, Tenn. In a press release, the company, which expects to produce just 6,000 barrels of beer in 2016, called itself the “smallest independent bicoastal operation in North America.
In this week’s edition of press clips: Sodastream Launches Homemade Beer System; Boston’s Night Shift Brewing to Expand; Alltech Brewing Eyes Expansion in Mexico, Asia; Majority of U.S. House Supports Beer Tax Reform; Wynne Odell Elected to BA Board
One the verge of an important Memorial Day weekend for beer sales, a number of the country’s top-selling brands aren’t on shelves at two of the country’s largest retailers. According to new information from Quri, a San Francisco-based retail intelligence company providing insight into merchandising conditions at major U.S. retailers, many of the country’s largest brands are out of stock at Walmart and Target.
Sales of craft beer are officially slowing, according to new data from market research firm IRI Worldwide, but a closer look shows an important distinction: the biggest brewers and their craft brands are the ones facing the slowdown. While category-wide beer volume sales remain flat across IRI’s measured multi-outlet and convenience channels (MULC — which comprise grocery, drug, club, dollar, mass-merchandiser, Walmart and military stores), up just 0.7 percent through May 15, growth in the craft beer category, which was growing double-digits at this time last year, has slowed considerably.
In this edition of the BevNET Podcast, Chris Furnari, the editor of Brewbound, joins us to discuss his takeaways from the massive, 14,000-attendee Craft Brewers Conference and Brew Expo America, including some of the factors that are enabling massive growth in the craft beer category.
Twisted Pine Brewing Company is getting out of the distribution business. The company today announced plans to cease off-site sales and instead focus on being a leading Colorado brewpub. Restricting the brand’s availability almost exclusively to the Twisted Pine Ale House, the 21-year old Boulder-based brewery has already started parting ways with wholesalers outside of Colorado and will ultimately limit any off-site sales to a few select retailers within its home state.
