The Reyes Beer Division remains a very active acquirer in the state of California. The largest beer wholesaler in the U.S. continued to add to its business in the state today as its Harbor Distributing subsidiary signed an agreement to acquire Redding Distributing Company in Northern California.

Stone Distributing Company teased a move to a larger distribution center last week. The distribution arm of San Diego’s Stone Brewing Company today officially announced the move of its operations to the former Markstein Beverage Co. warehouse in San Marcos.

San Francisco-based Fort Point Beer Company has ended its 6-year-old self-distribution operation and sold the rights to distribute its brands to Matagrano Inc. in the Bay Area. Offerings from Bell’s Brewery will be sold by Classic Beverage in Southern California, following the acquisition of Bell’s brand rights by the City of Industry-headquartered wholesaler, which purchased Craft Beer Guild from Sheehan Family Companies.

The California Craft Brewers Association (CCBA) has filed a lawsuit against Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) director Sandra Shewry alleging that the state has infringed upon the constitutional rights and denied the state’s beer manufacturers equal protection by requiring them to serve a meal to guests in order to operate their tasting rooms while not imposing the same restrictions upon the state’s winemakers.

In the wake of several terminations by a handful of larger beer suppliers over the last two years, a group of California beer wholesalers have launched a new association, the California Family Beer Distributors (CFBD).

As COVID-19 cases spike, California has enacted a new regional stay home order that went into effect Sunday night and affects 85% of the state’s population. Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a new system that would trigger regional stay home orders when hospitals’ projected intensive care unit capacity dips below 15%. That threshold was met Sunday in the Southern California and San Joaquin Valley regions.

Dr. J Jackson-Beckham has joined the Brewers Association (BA) as equity and inclusion partner, a new full-time role created to “help promote greater diversity, equity and inclusion in the craft brewing industry,” according to a press release. Following the retirement of long-time executive director Tom McCormick, the California Craft Brewers Association (CCBA) has hired Lori Ajax as its next executive director, effective January 4, 2021.

After seeing the land around them burn with regularity, the team at Santa Rosa, California-based HenHouse Brewing decided to launch a collaborative fundraising beer with a clear call to action for drinkers to call their lawmakers and urge them to vote for the Green New Deal.

Diageo, the importer of Guinness and Harp, has struck an agreement to move its brands from Watsonville-based Couch Distributing and South San Francisco-based Matagrano, Inc. to the Reyes Beer Division in California.

Buellton, California-based Figueroa Mountain Brewery has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in order to take on new investment from New York-based private equity firm Creekstone LLC.

Josh Landan believes he’s found another Saint Archer in the nearly nine-month-old Ashland Hard Seltzer brand. Landan, who co-founded the San Diego craft brewery in 2013 and sold it to Molson Coors in 2015, recalled growing the San Diego craft brewery from 7,200 barrels in Year One, to 17,000 barrels in Year Two and 35,000 barrels in three years. Now, Landan believes he’s found another rocket ship in Ashland.

When California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a stay-at-home order and shut down on-premise bars and restaurants to stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in mid-March, 92% of San Diego-based Societe Brewing’s business was draft beer. The shutdown stopped the 1,000 tap handles pouring Societe’s beer at 700 San Diego restaurants and bars from flowing. Societe, like so many other small craft breweries, was left scrambling to figure out how to continue on.

Stone Brewing’s 2020 CEO search didn’t take a year to complete. In fact, it took less than a month. The Escondido, California-headquartered craft brewery announced today the hiring of former Lagunitas Brewing CEO Maria Stipp as its next CEO.

Athens, Georgia-based Creature Comforts Brewing will become a bi-coastal craft beer brand next year with the construction of a taproom and brewery in downtown Los Angeles, the company announced yesterday. The long-awaited opening of Brooklyn-based Other Half Brewing’s taproom and production facility in Washington, D.C., now has an October 2020 opening date, according to a press release today.