According to IRI, which tracks off-premise sales in grocery, drug, club, dollar, mass-merchandiser and military stores, the craft pilsner category has added more than 317,000 cases year-to-date (through Aug. 9). Only four other categories – IPA (3,507,963 cases), Variety (557,753 cases), Fruit/Veggie/Spiced beer (493,344 cases) and Pale Ale (349,240 cases) – have added more incremental volume in 2015. That’s significant, and no doubt one of the factors prompting Goose Island, which is owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev, to rollout its own craft take on the classic pale lager style.
Starting in late September, the brewery’s beers – including Total Domination IPA and Oatis Oatmeal Stout – will be available throughout New York via a partnership with the Sheehan Family distributor network, comprised of Craft Beer Guild of New York, Union Beer Distributors, T.J. Sheehan Distributing, and Tri-Valley Beverage.
Two months after debuting its $2 million “Why Woodchuck” advertising campaign, Vermont Hard Cider has lifted the veil on a completely redesigned set of core packages. First teased in June, the new “deconstructed” six-packs, as Vermont Hard Cider’s vice president of sales Terry Hopper describes them, feature a more stylized arch to the “Woodchuck” type and focus on the primary flavors in each of the company’s core offerings: Amber, Granny Smith Pear and Hopsation.
Founders Brewing yesterday announced plans to expand distribution to New Mexico, signing with Premier Beverage for coverage throughout the state. In the statement, the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based beer company said it plans to launch product in New Mexico as early as October.
The Kansas City Bier Company has announced plans to more than double its production capacity and begin bottling beer as part of a $1.5 million expansion.
Dogfish Head’s new $5 million Rehoboth Beach brewpub project cleared its final hurdle last week, earning a site plan approval from the town’s board of commissioners. The board voted unanimously to approve a plan that will include a new restaurant, brewpub, distillery, outdoor courtyard, merchandise shop and a live music staging area.
As part of an ongoing effort to take back control of its sales and distribution responsibilities, Shipyard Brewing today announced it has re-launched in Illinois, tapping MillerCoors’ OneIllinois network for distribution of both its namesake and Sea Dog brands.
Commons Brewery founder Michael Wright started his career in beer as more of a licensed hobbyist — a “one man show, on a one barrel system located in [my] garage,” as he describes it. “To my surprise, I was actually able to get licensed in the garage,” he told attendees during last week’s Brew Talks meetup in Portland, Ore. “What I had lacking was any sort of a plan.”
Less than a year removed from first opening last November, Playalinda Brewing has detailed plans to build a multi-million dollar production brewery and distillery about five miles south of its current headquarters in Titusville, Fla.
How do you deliver more beer to more people? That’s the number one question craft brewery entrepreneurs are currently wrestling with, said Karmen Olson, Craft Brew Alliance’s senior manager of emerging business. Speaking to more than 130 beer industry professionals during Wednesday night’s Brew Talks meetup, held at Providence Park in Portland, Ore., Olson provided a glimpse into CBA’s new emerging business unit, which seeks to invest in and form “strategic partnerships” with small U.S. craft breweries.
Three top-level employees of the Utah Brewers Cooperative, comprised of Squatters and Wasatch Beers, were laid off from the company last week, reports the Salt Lake Tribune. According to the website, the company let go of brewmaster Dan Burick, CFO Sean Boyle and national sales director George Allen as part of a restructuring initiative.
The Beer Institute has updated its voluntary marketing and advertising code in an effort to streamline how breweries and importers self-regulate the promotion of their products.
There are now more than a dozen craft brewers looking to sell all or parts of their businesses, according to a Reuters article that, citing unnamed sources, claims beer companies like Lagunitas, SweetWater Brewing, Ballast Point and even Dogfish Head are exploring transactions. One of those companies, New York City’s Brooklyn Brewery, has consistently turned down investments from private equity firms for more than 20 years, founder Steve Hindy told the news service.
Brewbound is pleased to announce that Michael Wright, the founder of The Commons Brewery, will join tomorrow’s Brew Talks PDX meetup to share his entrepreneurial lessons from building a small artisan craft brewery in one of the country’s most competitive beer markets. Wright, who launched The Commons Brewery out of his garage in 2010, will discuss his experience of patiently scaling The Commons Brewery, share his business philosophy and outlook on the continued growth of the craft segment.
