Legislative, Government Affairs & Legal Updates

As the coronavirus disease known as COVID-19 spreads across the U.S., beer companies are adjusting their businesses for a reality in which being social is discouraged. Many companies are bracing for a downturn in on-premise business, including brewery taprooms.

The Brewers Association (BA) made the difficult decision Thursday to cancel the 2020 edition of the Craft Brewers Conference & Brew Expo America, as well as the World Beer Cup competition, due to concerns over the spread of the coronavirus disease known as COVID-19. Brewbound caught up with Bob Pease, the trade group’s president and CEO, to discuss the decision and the fallout. Pease also shared that the BA has engaged members of Congress on an aid package that would benefit craft brewers and small businesses

The largest gathering of craft brewing industry professionals has been canceled due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19, the coronavirus disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. After days of speculation and major events across the country canceling and postponing, the Brewers Association today announced the decision to forgo holding the 2020 edition of the Craft Brewers… Read more »

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.

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.

Four lawsuits claiming that Craft Brew Alliance (CBA) omitted “material information” from a proxy statement related to the craft beer maker’s planned merger with Anheuser-Busch InBev have been dropped after the Portland, Oregon-headquartered company filed a supplemental report, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Tuesday.

Newly named Massachusetts Brewers Guild’s president Sam Hendler wants to finally resolve the contentious franchise reform debate with the state’s wholesalers. Hendler, a co-founder and co-owner of Framingham, Massachusetts-based craft breweries Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers and the Springdale Beer Company, acknowledged that the franchise law reform effort has been dragging on long before he was of legal drinking age. “I was a high school senior when it started,” he told Brewbound.

As the number of U.S. breweries has grown to around 8,000 and competition has increased among those companies for consumers, it might be time to pull the advertising lever, particularly as they start to compete with a growing number of local wineries and distilleries.

The parent company of Brizzy Seltzer Cocktails has filed a lawsuit against Molson Coors Beverage Company in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, alleging that the second largest U.S. beer manufacturer’s Vizzy Hard Seltzer name “is nearly identical to Brizzy in sight, sound and appearance” and infringes upon its trademark.

The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking additional information and documentation from Anheuser-Busch InBev and Craft Brew Alliance (CBA) as the two companies work toward a planned merger that was announced last November, according to a filing this morning with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

A bill introduced in the Michigan Legislature earlier this month would allow breweries producing up to 2,000 barrels annually to self-distribute their products in the state. Currently, Michigan breweries producing up to 1,000 barrels can self-distribute. According to national trade group the Brewers Association, the majority of Michgian’s craft breweries produced fewer than 1,400 barrels in 2018, the last year in which data was available.

East Coast gas and convenience store chain Cumberland Farms’ attempt to change Massachusetts’ off-premise retail chain licensing processes is being met with opposition from the state’s alcoholic beverage package stores.

Beer depletions (sales from wholesalers to retailers) in 2019 were mostly flat compared to 2018, although there were a few spikes around summer holidays, National Beer Wholesalers Association chief economist Lester Jones shared during a webinar hosted by Fintech, a data, analytics and invoice processing platform for wholesalers.

In this week’s edition of Last Call: A New York bill would double the state’s excise tax; the Indiana cold beer sales effort will resume; U.S. cider trade group changes name; Silver Eagle distributes 1 million cases of Karbach beer in Houston; C Squared moves; and Backlash exits taproom.