Big Beer

Craft Brew Alliance (CBA) referred to the Kona brand as its “cornerstone” while reporting the company’s fourth quarter and full-year 2019 earnings report Wednesday afternoon. Last year, the Hawaiian-themed craft beer brand shipped 474,800 barrels, an increase of 4.1%.

The crowd-sourced fund to support the families of victims of the shooting at Molson Coors Brewing Company’s Milwaukee campus last month has topped $1.1 million. The fund, which reached $1,178,770 as of press time, was set up on behalf of the National Compassion Fund, a program of the National Center for Victims of Crime. All funds collected will go directly to the families of the five victims.

Surprising to almost no one, beer dominated social media conversations about alcoholic beverages during Super Bowl LIV, according to consumer insights firm Social Standards.

In an effort to reassure attendees of next month’s Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America in San Antonio, Texas, the Brewers Association (BA) said Monday that the show will go on as planned despite fears over the spread of the coronavirus-caused disease, COVID-19.

Molson Coors’ Milwaukee brewery will reopen Monday evening after closing for several days in the wake of a shooting that claimed the lives of five employees on February 26. A GoFundMe fundraiser posted last Friday to support the families of the victims has raised more than $820,000 on its way to its $1 million goal.

The Milwaukee Police Department today identified the five victims of the shooting at Molson Coors’ Milwaukee campus on Wednesday.

Anheuser-Busch InBev’s revenue increased 4.3%, to $52 billion, in 2019, but executives within the world’s largest beer company said Thursday that the growth fell short of expectations.

Following the shooting at Molson Coors’ Milwaukee plant Wednesday that left six people, including the gunman, numerous beer industry professionals, politicians, athletes and more posted reactions to the incident. Here’s a running list of those sentiments.

The marriage of Craft Brew Alliance (CBA) and Anheuser-Busch InBev cleared another hurdle today as shareholders of the Portland, Oregon-headquartered craft beer maker voted to approve a sale of the company to the world’s largest beer manufacturer.

The Boston Beer Company’s Truly Hard Seltzer will launch its Wild Berry flavor on draft nationwide on March 2, replacing the unflavored Truly on Tap draft offering that rolled out in August. Figueroa Mountain Brewing Company has laid off at least eight employees, according to the Full Pint.

Truly Hard Seltzer sales boosted the Boston Beer Company’s fourth quarter revenue to an all-time high of $301.3 million, but it wasn’t without cost, as profits took a hit due to expensive third-party contract production.

After five years at the helm of Heineken N.V.-owned, Petaluma, California-based Lagunitas Brewing Company, CEO Maria Stipp is exiting the company, according to a press release. Effective February 21, Dennis Peek, who most recently served as managing director of Heineken Canada, will take over the CEO role.

The Boston Beer Company’s sales in 2019 reached $1.25 billion, a 25.5% increase compared to 2018, according to the company’s earnings report released Wednesday afternoon.

The hard seltzer category could reach about 10% of the beer market in the next few years, according to research reports from two leading financial services firms. Meanwhile, FIFCO USA has stopped production of Pura Still, the 95-calorie, 4.5% ABV spiked still water brand after less than two years, according to a memo sent to wholesalers this week. Finally, Iron Heart Canning, the country’s largest mobile canning service provider, announced today an agreement to acquire Michigan Mobile Canning.