On the heels of what may go down as the worst week in the history of the National Football League (NFL), one of its largest sponsors, Anheuser-Busch (A-B), is speaking out. A-B issued a statement Tuesday expressing concern over the NFL’s handling of recent off-field incidents involving active players who are alleged to have abused women and children.
Sam Calagione and Dogfish Head are investing in a growing craft spirits segment. Calagione, who described the recent influx of small-batch spirit producers as a “revolution,” believes Dogfish, the company he founded in 1995, has an opportunity to once again extend the brand outside of the beer category.
Victory Brewing will expand distribution throughout Nevada per an agreement with Southern Wine & Spirits, the brewery announced yesterday.The company, based in Downingtown, Pa., plans to launch in Nevada on September 20. The state will be the 35th in Victory’s distribution footprint.
The rumor mill knows little downtime. After a few short months of relative inactivity, the mill’s blades are spinning again with the Wall Street Journal reporting that global beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBev is actively seeking financing for a possible takeover of SABMiller Plc. A source close to the matter told the website that A-B is waiting to secure financing for the deal, valued at roughly $122 billion, before it starts any formal discussions with SABMiller.
Finch’s Beer will expand distribution throughout North Carolina per an agreement with Mutual Distributing, the wholesaler announced last week, with an initial rollout slated for October. Initially, the brewery, which is based in Chicago, will hit the market in the greater Raleigh and Charlotte areas, but plans to gradually expand distribution to all parts of the state with its line of canned 4-packs.
New Belgium today announced the promotion of current chief financial and chief operations officer, Christine Perich, to the position of president. Perich, who joined the company as CFO in 2004, has overseen all facets of operations since 2009. She was instrumental in guiding the company through its second employee stock ownership program transaction in 2012.
MillerCoors announced Tuesday that longtime Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing president, Jake Leinenkugel, 62, will retire at the end of the year. His brother, Dick Leinenkugel, will take over as president of the company, which is part of MillerCoors’ craft and import division, Tenth and Blake.
Boulevard Brewing has announced plans to expand distribution throughout Florida per an agreement with Brown Distributing, an Anheuser-Busch wholesaler. Boulevard beers will be available to the market beginning early October, according to a statement issued by the company, growing its total distribution footprint to 28 states and the District of Columbia.
The Brewers Association (BA) announced this morning that it has promoted Bob Pease, a 21-year veteran of trade group, from COO to CEO. The promotion, per a statement from the BA, “formalizes much of the responsibility that Pease has already progressively adopted,” since taking over as COO in 2010.
In a lawsuit filed in Milwaukee County Circuit court, beer giant MillerCoors has accused two former marketing executives of embezzling more than $10 million over the last 13 years. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, MillerCoors alleges that David Colletti and Paul Edwards conspired with a dozen people and 15 companies to file invoices for undelivered services in which the individuals would split the pay.
Hoping to provide knowledgeable support for the volunteers that keep the beer flowing at the Great American Beer Festival (GABF), the Brewers Association (BA) has announced the return of its ‘Beer Geeks’ program. Consisting of 100 homebrew club members and other so-called ‘beer geeks,’ the program, which was introduced last year, aims to provide volunteers with access to “core brewery and brand information” about the beers they’re pouring.
Just days after Brew Hub officially opened the doors to its Lakeland, Fla. facility, the “partner brewing” venture today announced its next location: St. Louis, Mo. The company plans to begin construction on a $20 million, 200,000-barrel craft brewery in Chesterfield, Mo. later this year.
Having just moved into a new facility earlier this summer after brewing at capacity for four years, Smuttynose Brewing has announced plans to expand distribution to Texas. The Hampton, N.H.-based brewery today announced it has inked a wholesale agreement with Ben E. Keith Beverages, which will distribute Smuttynose brands throughout Dallas, Austin, Houston, and San Antonio, with rollout events slated for this week.
Making its biggest geographic leap to date, San Francisco’s Almanac Beer has announced plans to expand distribution to New York. Per a new partnership with S.K.I. Beer, Almanac’s lineup of beers will be available throughout the state’s five boroughs and on Long Island both on draft and in bottles beginning September 14.
