Central States Beverage Co. has announced year-end sales of 1 million cases of Boulevard beers throughout the greater Kansas City area alone, the most ever by one of the brewery’s distributors in one year. The MillerCoors-affiliated wholesaler has more than doubled sales of the Boulevard brand since first acquiring it in 2007, when it launched with sales of 497,000 cases. In 2013, Central States fell just 40,000 cases short of the 1 million case benchmark.
One truth made abundantly clear in 2014: Not all cash is created equal. On one side of the equation sit companies like Founders (Mich.), 10 Barrel (Ore.), and Blue Point (NY), all of which were bought out by larger, international beer companies. While those three brands will now be able to use the money and the distribution reach of their new investors and owners to grow, there’s a definitional downside: they’ve left the ranks of the craft realm.
There is little doubt that most beer salesmen would consider a job heading up sales for Dogfish Head to be one of the most coveted positions in craft. And there was a time when Adam Lambert, the man who held that position, VP of Sales, until the end of November, would have agreed. Brewbound recently discussed his decision to leave Dogfish Head, the keys to becoming a successful beer salesman, and what he hopes to accomplish at New Holland Brewing.
Brewers Association chief economist Bart Watson checked in with Yahoo Finance yesterday, providing a small snapshot of craft beer’s growth in 2014. In a video interview with multimedia correspondent Akiko Fujita, Watson said shared updated figures on the amount of craft breweries currently operating throughout the U.S. The latest number? 3,250.
Bell’s Brewery has issued a voluntary recall of its beer, Mercury: The Winged Messenger, in 43 Michigan counties, citing a glass defect on the lip of certain bottles, which could cause small pieces to become dislodged. The recall, according to a statement from the company, applies only to bottles purchased in specific counties in its home state of Michigan, “not the entire packaging run.”
As Brewbound prepares to go on a brief hiatus for the holiday season, we thought we’d feature some exciting collaboration news from two of the country’s fastest-growing craft breweries. Oregon’s Ninkasi Brewing and Virginia’s Devils Backbone have partnered to create an imperial dark rye beer that Ninkasi’s founding brewmaster Jamie Floyd describes as “unlike anything we’ve ever brewed before.”
We’re pleased to announce that every speaker presentation and panel discussion from Brewbound Session Winter 2014 is now available for viewing on BevNET Food and Beverage University (FBU). This year’s Brewbound Session video playback includes over five hours of insight into the marketing, branding and distribution of craft beer.
Baxter Brewing has announced plans to expand distribution to New York per two partnerships with a pair of L. Knife and Son wholesalers. Having just rounded out its presence in New England, the 4-year-old Maine brewery, which produces an all-canned lineup of beers, has inked deals with Union Beer Distributors and Craft Beer Guild Distributing for coverage throughout New York City and the Hudson River Valley respectively.
Effective the first day of the New Year, Craft Beer Cellar, a small chain of craft-centric retailers headquartered in Massachusetts, will no longer exclude beers from its shelves based solely on who owns the brand. Since its inception in 2010, the company has sold only beer that fits the Brewers Association’s (BA) definition of craft beer.
As breweries in the craft beer sector continue to flourish, established companies, like the 25-year-old Flying Dog, are doubling down and looking to further capitalize on growth with entirely new brewery ventures. The Frederick, Md. beer company yesterday announced plans to launch Farmworks Brewery, a self-described “unique farm brewery destination” located in Lucketts, Va.
Bell’s Brewery has announced plans to expand its presence in southern California in early 2015 per a partnership with Craft Brewer’s Guild of Los Angeles, a wing of L. Knife and Son’s national craft wholesale network. Beginning Feb. 23, all of Bell’s products will be available throughout Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura counties, depending on their release dates.
Two of the largest beer wholesalers in New York City are working to consolidate, creating one company that will control approximately half of the city’s beer market — but not everyone is happy about it. In a note to suppliers, Manhattan Beer Distributors announced Tuesday that it has entered into a formal agreement with Windmill Distributing (PhoenixBeehive Beverage Distributors), to acquire the company’s beer brand distribution rights.
SweetWater Brewing has announced plans to expand distribution throughout Chicago in early 2015, the first in a slew of new markets the Atlanta brewery plans to launch in the first quarter of the New Year. The brewery has partnered with Lakeshore Beverage for coverage in the area, which, beginning in the spring, will distribute draft and packaged offerings — including flagships 420 Extra Pale Ale and SweetWater IPA — throughout the city.
Three Texas craft breweries have filed a lawsuit against the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission in hopes of repealing a 2013 law that made it illegal for brewers to sell their own territorial distribution rights. Prior to the law’s passage, brewers “could negotiate payment from distributors for the exclusive rights to deliver their beverages in a certain area.”
