The pay-to-play saga continues in Massachusetts. 10 days after agreeing to pay a $2.6 million fine for violating state laws that prohibit unfair trade practices and illegal pay-to-play activities, the Craft Beer Guild of Massachusetts, which also does business as Craft Brewers Guild, has filed a complaint with the state’s Suffolk County Superior Court.
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In an effort to fill demand, Tree House will build a sizeable new brewery capable of eventually producing more than 125,000 barrels per year. In a blog posted to the company’s website on Tuesday, co-founder Nate Lanier detailed the company’s plans to build a 45,000 sq. ft. brewing facility in Charlton, Mass. Complete with a 50-barrel brewhouse and fermentation tanks as large as 240 barrels, the new brewery will initially be capable of producing 30,000 barrels annually, a significant increase from the 11,000 barrels Tree House will make in 2016.
Add West Virginia to Bell’s growing U.S footprint. One day after revealing its Mississippi distributors, the Michigan-based craft beer maker today announced it has signed agreements with a trio of Anheuser-Busch wholesalers throughout West Virginia. Proud Eagle, Mountain Eagle and Northern Eagle will begin selling the Bell’s brand throughout by mid-July, the brewery said in a statement.
Craft Brew Alliance will break ground on its new 100,000-barrel Kona Brewing facility on Friday, commemorating the event with a traditional Hawaiian blessing ceremony and the limited-release of “First Rock Pale Ale.”
Bell’s Brewery today announced plans to expand distribution to Mississippi. The Michigan-based craft brewery has signed agreements with five local wholesalers for coverage throughout the state. Capital City Beverages, Clark Beverage Group, F.E.B. Distributing, Stokes Distributing Company, and Magnolia Beverage Company will distribute Bell’s beers beginning later this month.
He doesn’t always retire. But when he does, he prefers it to be on Mars. Jonathan Goldsmith, the 77-year old actor best known for his role as Dos Equis’ “Most Interesting Man in the World,” will appear in his final commercial for the Mexican-themed beer brand owned by Dutch brewer Heineken, on Thursday
About two and a half hours north of Miami, there’s a small brewery where every beer on tap is made with citrus. Calling itself a “grove to glass craft beer project,” Orchid Island Brewery views itself as the Floridian equivalent of a Belgian farmhouse brewery. The company pays homage to Florida’s rich history of citrus growers by sourcing grapefruit, oranges and other citrus fruits from local growers.
Boulevard Brewing today announced it would add Michigan to a growing national footprint that now includes 35 states. The company has signed with Imperial Beverage for statewide coverage and expects to begin shipping beer next month. In a press statement, Boulevard also said it would enter Kentucky with Beer House Distributors, part of the Sheehan Family Companies, a move that was announced alongside a handful of planned market entries at the end of last year.
Amid increasing competition from thousands of fast-growing startup breweries, Oregon’s Craft Brew Alliance — which makes and markets the Kona, Widmer, Redhook, Omission and Square Mile Cider brands — is fine-tuning its go-to market strategy. Despite a somewhat lethargic 2015 where net sales increased just two percent, CEO Andy Thomas and other CBA executives who spoke to investors during last week’s earnings call, remained optimistic about the company’s position as it approaches the end of this year’s first quarter.
New Belgium today announced it has hired longtime Diageo executive Ruairi Twomey as its new vice president of marketing. Twomey, who most recently served as the VP of marketing for Diageo Guinness USA and brings more than 15 years of beer and spirits experience to the Colorado-headquartered brewery, will join the New Belgium executive leadership team on March 14.
Another town. Another round: Brewbound is pleased to announce that New Belgium Brewing, the country’s fourth largest craft brewery, will play host to a pair of Brew Talks events in 2016. The first, happening on March 22 at the New Belgium headquarters in Fort Collins, Colo., will feature two panel discussions on the business of beer. The evening’s first conversation will look at eco-friendly brewing initiatives, triple bottom line business models and the challenges of scaling a sustainably-minded craft brewery. A second conversation on the state of the U.S. craft beer business will feature local brewery owners and look at marketplace issues such as pay-to-play, mergers & acquisitions, distributor consolidation and wholesaler incentive programs, among other topics.
It took 18 months, but Brew Hub has finally selected a site for its second “partner” brewing facility. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Brew Hub’s development partner, Green Street, has a “letter of intent to acquire a 7-acre property at the southwest corner of Chesterfield Airport Road and Spirit of St. Louis Boulevard.”
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