With a leadership team all well under two years on the job, it would be logical to view 2025 as a rebuilding year for Heineken-owned Lagunitas Brewing. But the Petaluma, California-headquartered brewery took distributor and retailer feedback to heart in the past year-plus, which drove Lagunitas to develop a 2025 plan that’s consistent, focused and hinges on collaboration with its partners.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the $2.2 trillion stimulus package Friday afternoon and sent the bill to President Donald Trump, who signed the bill into law at 4 p.m. ET in the Oval Office. U.S. brewers shipped 11,350,000 barrels in February, a decline of 0.7% compared to February 2019, according to national trade group the Beer Institute.
San Diego, California-headquartered Green Flash Brewing has furloughed or laid off most of its staff, VP of marketing Ben Widseth confirmed to Brewbound on Tuesday evening.
In California, where more than 1,000 breweries are in operation, the state Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) has offered temporary regulatory relief for license holders such as drive-thru windows for off-premise transactions, packaged goods sold to-go from on-premise retailers and delivery to consumers.
As the hospitality industry grapples with the impact of mandated closures of restaurants, bars, brewery taprooms and tasting rooms, craft breweries and brewpubs are beginning to announce staff layoffs and furloughs.
With mandated shutdowns of bars, restaurants and taprooms in more than 20 states and voluntary closures in many others, the novel coronavirus has forced craft brewers to get creative in getting their beer to consumers.
Statewide shutdowns of on-premise consumption at bars and restaurants have been announced in Illinois, Ohio, Washington, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Michigan. Restaurants in these states can still sell food for takeout or delivery.
The craft brewery where the brut IPA trend started in 2018 shuttered with little warning over the weekend. San Francisco brewpub Social Kitchen and Brewery announced it would close its doors last weekend, citing lease issues.
The Reyes Beer Division has reached an agreement to acquire certain distribution rights from Sacramento, California-based Saccani Distributing Company. The acquisition will add 1.5 million cases to Reyes’ Golden Brands subsidiary, which sells 26 million cases to 14,000 accounts in Northern California.
Stone Brewing has shuttered its taproom in Shanghai, China, citing pressures from tariffs and COVID-19, the coronavirus disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. Rogue Ales & Spirits plans to close its nearly two-decade old brewpub in Issaquah, Washington, on Friday. Mikkeller’s Los Angeles taproom has closed its doors after three years, according to Eater LA.
Sierra Nevada’s new innovation arm, the Chico Fermentation Project, has announced its first release: Strainge Beast Hard Kombucha, the company’s first-ever beyond beer offering.
Stoudts Brewing Company will cease operations at the end of the winter, as founder Carol Stoudt retires after 33 years, according to a press release. The California Bureau of Alcoholic Beverage Control has suspended San Francisco-based Seven Stills Brewery and Distillery’s operating license for 90 days for violating the state’s tied house laws, according to a report from SFGate.com.
Coronado Brewing Company is poised for “planned strategic growth” in 2020, the company’s new CEO James Murray told Brewbound. According to Murray, the company’s projections for the year include 5% to 10% depletions (sales to retailers) growth. In 2019, Coronado sold 35,100 barrels, an 8.1% increase from the 32,471 barrels sold in 2018.
Employees at Anchor Brewing ratified a three-year contract with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), Local 6 earlier this month, a first for the San Francisco-based brewery. D.C. Brau raised $614,335 from 12 investors during a recent equity raise, according to a December 19 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Columbus, Indiana-based 450 North Brewing Company has posted an apology on its social media accounts for selling its Slushy line of beers with the incorrect alcohol by volume.
Alabama’s Straight to Ale and Druid City Brewing merge. Truly Hard Seltzer will be offered on American Airlines flights. Kombucha brewer Local Roots acquires Latitude 33’s production facility. Anheuser-Busch InBev returns as official beer sponsor of the NHL and launches larger partnership with the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets.
