Legislative, Government Affairs & Legal Updates

With the nation’s can supply tightening, President Donald Trump yesterday announced the reimposition of a 10% tariff on Canadian aluminum, claiming that America’s neighbor to the north was flooding the market.

The National Beer Wholesalers Association’s Annual Convention won’t be taking place in-person in Orlando, Florida, this October after all. The largest meeting of beer wholesalers in the country will instead go virtual from October 4-7. The NBWA was set to host its Annual Convention in Orlando in early October, however, the COVID-19 pandemic has rendered those plans unfeasible.

The clock seemed to expire last week on Massachusetts craft brewers’ hopes of finally achieving franchise law reform. After finally reaching a compromise with wholesalers after a decade of contentious negotiations, the measure (S. 2841) unanimously passed the Senate but couldn’t get out of the House Ways and Means Committee before the expiration of the legislative session last Friday.

In a time when off-premise beer sales top $1 billion weekly, without the on-premise half of the trade, the beer industry still has “a hole to dig out of,” National Beer Wholesalers Association chief economist Lester Jones said during a webinar presented by invoice tech firm Fintech.

Citing what he called a “coordinated harassment campaign,” Stone Brewing co-founder Greg Koch took to his brewery’s blog earlier this week to address a trademark dispute with Morehead, Kentucky-based Sawstone Brewing.

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on craft breweries are beginning to be revealed as the Brewers Association (BA) today reported that craft beer volumes have declined around 10% through the first half of 2020.

Deep Ellum Brewing Company founder John Reardon has filed a lawsuit against the CANarchy Holding Corporation — and its private equity firm Fireman Capital Partners — alleging that the craft brewery rollup has failed to make several payments related to the 2018 acquisition of the Dallas craft brewery.

The Brewers Association (BA) today addressed criticism of its handling of racist actions by breweries within its membership. In an email to members titled “Bylaw and Governance Update,” president and CEO Bob Pease wrote that the BA has heard the criticism and its silence does not mean the calls to action have gone unheard.

On Saturday, the Massachusetts Brewers Guild and the Beer Distributors of Massachusetts announced an agreement that would cover all but two of the state’s craft breweries.

More legal drinking age consumers than ever before are drinking craft beer, market research firm Nielsen found in its sixth annual Craft Beer Insights Poll (CIP), conducted on behalf of not-for-profit trade group the Brewers Association (BA).

Molson Coors is seeking a permanent injunction to stop A-B from broadcasting additional Bud Light ads pointing out the use of corn syrup in the brewing process of its competitor’s flagship light lagers, Coors Light and Miller Lite.

A Craft Brew Alliance (CBA) shareholder has filed a lawsuit against the Portland, Oregon-based craft beer maker, its board of directors and Anheuser-Busch InBev alleging that the world’s largest beer manufacturer exercised its influence over the smaller company to sell “on unfair terms.”

After 20 years leading McDermott, Will & Emery’s alcohol regulatory and distribution group, Marc Sorini is joining the Brewers Association as general counsel.

New Haven, Connecticut-based Dichello Distributors is suing Anheuser-Busch, claiming A-B “engaged in an ongoing conspiracy” with Sal DiBetta, a former employee who later worked as CEO of the wholesaler between 2013 and 2016, as well as “other unnamed parties,” to “undermine” Dichello and force president John Hall’s family to sell the business to A-B, according to a complaint filed on June 17 in the Connecticut Superior Court.