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.

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.

The last few months have proven tumultuous for a handful of Massachusetts craft breweries. Although some beer companies in the Commonwealth have recently announced expansions and new locations, others have experienced financial difficulties. Earlier this week, Chelsea-based Mystic Brewing announced it will close on October 19. Meanwhile, Somerville Brewing filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in… Read more »

Lord Hobo Brewing Company is hoping the release of its first 18-pack and a vintage muscle car giveaway will help it accelerate beyond the 50,000-barrel threshold in 2019. The Massachusetts craft brewery launched 18-packs of Freebird, a new year-round golden ale that clocks in at 5.5 percent ABV, last Friday at its brewery and taproom in Woburn. Speaking to Brewbound, Lord Hobo director of new markets Rob Day said Freebird 18-packs — at a suggested retail price of $20 — are the company’s first foray into the “affordable, larger-package format.”

In this week’s Last Call: Canada lifts its tariff on U.S. aluminum cans; farmers and brewers downplay climate change’s effect on beer production and pricing; the Brewers Association lands Iron Maiden’s singer as CBC keynote speaker; and more news from the week.

Nearly two years after publicly declaring an interest in opening a farmhouse brewery in Connecticut, popular Massachusetts craft beer maker Trillium Brewing Company has purchased a farm in North Stonington, about two hours outside of Boston. In a blog post, JC and Esther Tetreault, the husband-and-wife team that co-founded Trillium in 2013, said they bought the farm in order to fulfill their dream of opening a farm brewery near where they were married in the pastoral region of Connecticut.