Let’s talk numbers again, shall we? IRI’s principal of Beverage Alcohol Clients Insights, Dan Wandel, joined last week’s Power Hour webcast hosted by the Brewers Association’s and shared a ton of positive trends for craft brewers.
California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed into law a bill that makes it illegal to deface the name of a manufacturer as it appears on a metal keg without written consent, a measure designed to combat theft. While already illegal to recycle kegs bearing a manufacturer’s name without written permission, ethically dubious, albeit green-minded opportunists circumvented the law by destroying any given keg’s insignia.
Brewbound is hitting the road once again, taking its traveling Brew Talks event series to Chicago for a meetup with beer industry professionals at the brand new Lagunitas Brewery taproom on Sept. 23. Brew Talks Chicago will offer attendees two unique discussions on the marketing and distribution strategies of successful craft brands.
After residents of Crested Butte vocalized anger at what they felt was a pittance offering of $250,000, Anheuser-Busch will now double the amount of money it’s spending to temporarily take over the town as part of a marketing stunt, according to the Denver Post.
In addition to broadening its distribution footprint, Colorado’s New Belgium Brewing is now expanding its political reach. Last month, the Fort Collins-based brewery filed paperwork to create its own national political action committee (PAC), a move that company spokesman Bryan Simpson said will enable New Belgium to strengthen its voice at both the state and national levels.
Victory Brewing today announced plans to expand its presence in the mid-atlantic region as the company looks to open a new brewpub in Leesburg, Va. It’s the company’s fourth such establishment, but the first outside of its home state of Pennsylvania. Located inside a 110,560 sq. ft. mixed-used development belonging to the private equity real estate firm L4 Capital Partners, the brewpub, which will span three floors, will open in the second quarter of 2016.
Coors Distributing Company president Scott Whitley has been tapped as the new CEO of MillerCoors’ craft and import division, Tenth and Blake Beer Company, the company announced last week.
Rubbing the guts of a Cascade hop off his nose, Andy Goeler is in awe of the 1,500 acres of hops under trellis that surround him, resting at the foot of northern Idaho’s Selkirk Mountain Range. He’s gushing poetic adjectives, verbally painting a picture that needs no help painting itself. After a career spanning three decades at Anheuser-Busch, Goeler is now two years into his tenure as CEO of Goose Island Beer.
Salt Lake City, Ut.-based Uinta Brewing today announced it has sold a percentage of its business to The Riverside Company, a private equity firm with offices in New York City and Cleveland, Ohio. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Uinta founder Will Hamill told Brewbound that he would retain a “significant” piece of the Uinta business and continue to lead the company as CEO.
SweetWater Brewing has tapped Superior Beverage Group for distribution coverage throughout the Columbus and Cleveland, Ohio markets, the brewery announced today. The news comes a month after Sweetwater, which is based in Atlanta, Ga.,detailed its initial plans to expand its reach in the Buckeye State. Youngstown, Akron, Canton and surrounding areas are also encompassed within Superior Beverage’s distribution territory, according to the statement.
Year-to-date craft dollar sales in IRI’s multi-outlet and convenience retail channel universe (MULC), which comprises grocery, drug, Wal-Mart, Club, Dollar, Mass-Merchandiser and Military stores, were up 22.9 percent to $1.3 billion through Aug. 10. Volume sales are also growing steadily, up 19.3 percent in MULC during the same period.
A small Colorado ski town may, in fact, not be up for “Whatever.” While some residents of Crested Butte support the idea of Anheuser-Busch taking over the town, temporarily transforming it into a moneymaking fantasyland dubbed “Whatever,” others worry such a corporate affair would damage its image.
A new study from the Beer Institute has found that for every one job created by a brewery, an additional 45 jobs are supported in other industries, ranging from agriculture to transportation. To conduct the analysis, the Beer Institute commissioned the economic research firm John Dunham & Associations to look at the state-by-state excise tax collections on beer and compared those figures with the number of employees in any given business.
In an effort to help re-launch its sessionable year-round offering Peacemaker Extra Pale as “Peacemaker Anytime Ale,” the Texas-based craft brewery today rolled out an enormous, Texas-sized 99-pack of the 5 percent ABV golden ale. Packaged in cardboard, the multi-pack is seven feet long, weighs 82 lbs., and sells for $99 at Austin package stores.
