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.
The Saint Louis Brewery, makers of the popular craft beer Schlafly, has brought on a new chief executive officer. James Pendegraft, a Saint Louis native and the former vice president of sales & marketing for North American Breweries, a subsidiary of Florida Ice & Farm Co., will take over as Saint Louis Brewery’s CEO. He replaces co-founder Dan Kopman.
Ninkasi Brewing is expanding its distribution footprint once again, this time to Utah. The Oregon-based brewery has inked a deal with General Distributing Company of Salt Lake City for coverage throughout the state, it announced Thursday. Beginning this week, Ninkasi beers will be available throughout Utah in both 12 oz. and 22 oz. bottles.
Over the next three weeks, Oregon’s Deschutes Brewery will miss out on an opportunity to bottle about 15,000 barrels of beer. The 27-year-old craft brewery is in the process of installing a new Krones bottling line that is capable of filling more than 560 bottles per minute, 47 percent more than Deschutes’ current system.
Green Flash Brewing has announced plans for the national rollout of Cellar 3, a series of rare, barrel-aged beers produced in its newly minted second facility of the same name. Located in Poway, Calif., Cellar 3 provides the company with 12,000 sq. ft. of additional room to expand its barrel-aging program and experiment with wild yeast, two endeavors the company’s Mira Mesa facility lacked adequate space for.
Would a Colorado craft brewery ever sell to “big beer?” That’s the question Eric Gorski of the Denver Post posed over the weekend, surveying Colorado brewery owners for their reactions to Anheuser-Busch InBev’s recent craft acquisitions. “There’s a Colorado-sized hole on the growing map of U.S. craft breweries now in the hands of corporate owners,” he wrote. Gorski checked in with a few of the state’s top craft players to get a sense of who might be interested in selling.
