A Kentucky bill that would force Anheuser-Busch to sell off or close two distributorships it owns in the state passed out of a Senate subcommittee today and now stands one vote removed from becoming law. As sponsored by Speaker Greg Stumbo, House Bill 168 would ban any brewer from owning a wholesale operation in hopes of upholding the traditional three-tier system.
Today’s craft entrepreneurs are looking beyond their core lineups and exploring alternative growth strategies, choosing to expand via collaboration, joint ventures, bi-coastal expansions and new brand creation. To talk about those strategies and growing creatively, Brewbound will be joined at Coronado next week by Port Brewing’s Tomme Arthur, Peter Zien of AleSmith, and Neva Parker, head of laboratory operations at White Labs.
Brewbound is pleased to announce its first group of speakers for the upcoming Brew Talks meetup, happening on March 10 at the Coronado brewery & tasting room in San Diego, Calif. On tap, is a discussion on how those within the industry decide what’s craft and what’s not. Several industry stakeholders, and consumers, categorize the craft segment not by ownership but by brands — even those the Brewers Association would say are “non-craft.” So what is craft beer? Societe Brewing’s Douglas Constantiner and Mike Sardina, O’Brien’s Pub/Nickel Beer Company owner Tom Nickel, and a to-be-named speaker from Coronado will debate the topic at next week’s Brew Talks.
Oklahoma lawmakers are pushing to reform the state’s beer landscape behind three separate bills that would dramatically change how the industry is both taxed and regulated. Industry stakeholders have mixed feelings about the bills, however. The three bills, which would raise excise taxes on in-state beer producers and change how beer is sold in Oklahoma, are currently in their second round of House and Senate committee hearings.
Next week Harpoon will officially expand its wholesale operations when it begins distributing San Francisco’s Speakeasy Ales and Lagers. The company would like to add more brands to its portfolio throughout 2015 as well. Harpoon President Charlie Storey told Brewound that it had the room in its warehouse and the space on the company’s delivery trucks to enable the company to explore a more fully-developed distribution division.
The city of Richmond is struggling to figure out how to best protect itself in the deal it struck to land Stone Brewing’s east coast facility, as the restaurant phase of the multi-million dollar project has turned into a bit of a snag. Earlier this week, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported the city council delayed action on a land transfer for the brewery’s restaurant in order to add new language that would revert the property back to city ownership, should the deal default. Though that’s unlikely, the Times-Dispatch reported on Monday it would be at least another week before the deal gets its final sign off.
Brewbound kicked off its 2015 slate of Brew Talks events this week at Harpoon Brewery’s beer hall in the seaport district of Boston, Mass., where more than 130 people filed in to catch industry heavyweights from the city sound off on issues both local and national in scope. Kicking things off, a panel comprised of Jean-Claude Tetreault, co-owner of neighboring Trillium Brewing, Peter Burke, national sales director of Cisco Brewing on the island of Nantucket, and Megan Parker-Gray, the bar manager of beer hotspot Row 34, tackled the myriad elements shaping the city’s emerging beer culture.
Brewbound is pleased to announce the next two stops on the 2015 Brew Talks nationwide tour. Brew Talks — a free, traveling meetup series for beer industry professionals – will visit Coronado Brewing in San Diego, Calif. on Tuesday March 10 and Revolution Brewing in Chicago on Tuesday, April 28.
Among the more notable changes is the departure of Dogfish Head founder Sam Calagione, who previously served on the executive committee. Brooklyn Brewery co-founder Steve Hindy, who last year served as an at-large board member, took Calagione’s spot as past chair. Hindy isn’t the only new addition to the executive board, however. Larry Chase has been elevated to secretary and treasurer in the absence of Mark Edelson of Iron Hill Brewery, who held the position last year.
The Beer Institute today appointed Susan Haney as its new vice president of operations. Haney, who most recently served as the senior director of industry affairs, will oversee organization operations, industry and government affairs, The Beer Institute said in a press statement.
Shares of Boston Beer Co., the nation’s largest craft brewery, were trading down by as much as 18 percent this morning in light of yesterday’s earnings report that showed slower depletion growth in the fourth quarter of 2014, a comedown from the torrid pace it had maintained the two quarters prior.
Brewbound’s first Brew Talks meetup of 2015 is set to kick off at tonight at the Harpoon Brewery Beer Hall in Boston. The event will offer more than 100 beer industry professionals an intimate opportunity to network and discuss the business of beer over a few cold beverages. For those unable to attend Brew Talks in person, we’ve made available a free live video steam the evening’s two panel discussions, which will begin at 5:30 P.M. EST.
F.X. Matt Brewing, more commonly known as Saranac, is getting set to debut a new marketing campaign across multiple platforms, including television, a still relatively untapped medium for craft brewers. Dubbed “Pour Your Soul Into It,” the campaign was developed to better relay the company’s history and its own position in the craft beer landscape, which Saranac president Fred Matt said has been unfairly disputed by some consumers.
Indiana’s largest beer wholesaler is reportedly distributing more than just suds. Monarch Beverage has been accused of illegally channeling campaign contributions to influential state lawmakers through a lesser-known company, Vision Concepts. The complaint was filed by a group of smaller distributors who argue that Monarch flouted Indiana’s campaign contribution laws by donating more money than is legal.
