Legislative, Government Affairs & Legal Updates

Anheuser-Busch InBev CEO Carlos Brito officially passed the torch Thursday to Michel Doukeris after 15 years with the world’s largest beer manufacturer.

In a year when craft beer volumes declined for the first time in the modern craft era, drinker interest in craft beer did not abate, Brewers Association (BA) chief economist Bart Watson said during his presentation of the trade group’s annual consumer poll.

A bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives seeks to jumpstart business travel and dining to support the hospitality industry and would offer a tax credit for unmerchantable inventory that spoiled during the pandemic, including out-of-code beer.

Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers and sister brand Springdale Beer Company have signed with Sheehan Family Companies to distribute its offerings statewide in Massachusetts, the company announced today. Sheehan subsidiaries Craft Massachusetts (Boston, central and western Massachusetts), L. Knife & Son (southeastern Massachusetts), and Seaboard Products (northeastern Massachusetts) will begin distributing Jack’s Abby products starting today.

Six new alcohol laws will go into effect in Virginia starting July 1 — and a seventh on January 1, 2022. The state Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority (ABC) recently explained those laws, from the extension of cocktails to-go sales, to “low-alcohol beverages” sales in ABC stores, with the state of emergency, which was brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, is set to expire on June 30.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo ended the state’s state of emergency on Thursday, which meant the expiration of delivery and to-go privileges granted to breweries, bars and restaurants during the pandemic. The New Jersey bill (S.B. 3452) that would have brought the state excise tax rate on spirits-based, ready-to-drink canned cocktails in line with beer has been pulled from consideration for now, sources confirmed with Brewbound.

Sierra Nevada has filed a counter lawsuit against Matagrano, Inc., the Chico-headquartered craft brewery’s former South San Francisco-based wholesaler, in the Superior Court of the state of California, County of San Mateo. The trademark lawsuit between Constellation Brands and Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Grupo Modelo over the former’s ability to produce and sell Corona Hard Seltzer will continue, despite Constellation’s motion to dismiss, a federal judge ruled this week.

Minhas Craft Brewery, the second-oldest continuously run brewery in the U.S., is producing Happy Dad Hard Seltzer, which was created by the Nelk Boys, a group of Canadian YouTubers with more than 6.6 million subscribers.

Two former employees of Wormtown Brewery in Worcester, Massachusetts, are exploring their legal options after alleged sexual harassment and racially charged comments by fellow staff members, according to The Boston Globe.

The craft segment’s slide into the red in off-premise scan data against tough year-ago comps may not be a bad thing for craft brewers, according to Brewers Association (BA) chief economist Bart Watson.

Sugar-based hard seltzers are now considered malt beverages in Oregon and will be taxed accordingly, ending the state’s discrepancy with the federal government’s classification of the popular bubbly beverages.

Black is Beautiful, a collaborative initiative started by Weathered Souls Brewing to fight police brutality and other injustices against people of color, has raised $2.2 million, according to a Facebook post by the San Antonio-basec craft brewery.

A nationwide truck driver shortage is causing headaches for several industries, including the beer industry. The U.S. pool of truck drivers with commercial drivers licenses (CDL) is 50,000-60,000 workers short of where it should be.

Efforts to equalize the tax rate for ready-to-drink canned cocktails with beer in New Jersey have picked up steam in recent weeks.