Big Beer

Steve Crandall, the co-founder of Devils Backbone Brewing Company, has died at the age of 64, nearly three years after being diagnosed with cancer.

The Yuengling Company LLC, the joint venture formed last year between D.G. Yuengling & Son, Inc. (DGY) and Molson Coors Beverage Company, announced it will enter the Texas market this fall through Molson Coors-aligned wholesalers.

Molson Coors Beverage Company CEO Gavin Hattersley admitted that the first quarter of 2021 “was not the quarter we expected to have,” during a conference call for investors and analysts Thursday. The combined effects of a cyber security attack taking down many of its internal systems, a winter storm suspending operations at its Texas brewery and prolonged on-premise shutdowns in Europe added up to a 9.7% decline in Q1 net sales, to $1.89 billion.

Suzie’s Brewery, maker of Suzie’s Organic Hard Seltzer, and Anheuser-Busch InBev agreed earlier this week to settle the Oregon company’s lawsuit against the world’s largest beer manufacturer for allegedly engaging in deceptive advertising practices for its Michelob Ultra Organic Seltzer brand.

Anheuser-Busch InBev has forged a master distributor agreement with Canteen Spirits, while its growth and innovation arm ZX Ventures has made an investment in the 2-year-old ready-to-drink canned cocktail brand.

After initial projections that the hard seltzer segment would grow at a rate of 70-100%, Boston Beer CEO Dave Burwick said the expectation is now in the 60-90% range, with Truly outpacing the segment.

Anheuser-Busch InBev’s global investment and innovation group ZX Ventures has announced a research-and-development partnership with animal-free protein maker Clara Foods.

Boston Beer Company’s torrid run driven by Truly Hard Seltzer and Twisted Tea continued into the first quarter of 2021. Through the first 13 weeks of 2021, Boston Beer — whose brands include Samuel Adams, Truly Hard Seltzer, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Twisted Tea and Angry Orchard — reported a 48% increase in depletions and a 60.1% increase in shipments.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) has accepted an $850,000 offer in compromise from Chicago-based Lakeshore Beverage’s RN Acquisition LLC and City Beverage – Markham LLC for alleged trade practice violations from 2014 through the present.

Molson Coors Beverage Company announced today that it will make an equity investment in TRU Colors Brewery, a Wilmington, North Carolina-based craft brewery with a mission to end street violence.

Boston Beer Company founder Jim Koch is urging the leaders of the beer industry’s three major trade groups — the Brewers Association (BA), the Beer Institute (BI) and the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) — to work together to beat back efforts by spirits groups to bring taxes on spirits-based, lower-alcohol, ready-to-drink offerings in line with beer, hard seltzers and FMBs.

Net sales of Constellation Brands’ beer portfolio — including Mexican import labels Corona, Modelo and Pacifico — topped $6 billion, an 8% increase, in fiscal year 2021, the company shared today while reporting its full-year earnings.

Anheuser-Busch touted the successful first-week performance of its hard seltzer collaboration with rap star Travis Scott, Cacti Agave Spiked Seltzer, which sold out in many brick-and-mortar stores within 24 hours and online within 12 hours.

Molson Coors addressed concerns caused by a cybersecurity incident and February’s winter storm in Texas in a post-trading Friday press release that reaffirmed its full year 2021 financial guidance and provided an update on its post-disruption business.