Brewbound readers in 2020 sought out news about the pandemic, mergers and acquisitions, brewery closures and job changes. 2020 marked a year of shifts for brewers, as well as Brewbound, which shifted its business model to a subscription model. With that in mind, we’ve pulled the five most-read stories before the paywall was introduced and the five most-read stories after.

Just two weeks after closing on the acquisition of Atlanta’s Sweetwater Brewing Company, Canadian cannabis company Aphria has reached an agreement to merge with Tilray, forming the world’s largest cannabis company valued at $3.8 billion.

Middle-tier consolidation continues to chug along, this time in Alabama. Gulf Distributing Holdings in Mobile, the state’s largest beer wholesaler, completed the acquisition of Supreme Beverage Co. in Huntsville on December 4.

Molson Coors Beverage Company is further solidifying its relationship with L.A. Libations by investing in Arriba, a brand of michelada mixers operated by the California-based incubator.

Crescent Crown — which operates distribution territories in Louisiana and Arizona and sells more than 37 million cases of beverages annually — announced Monday a deal to acquire Jim Carey Distributing Company in Covington, Louisiana.

This week’s edition of the Brewbound Podcast discusses the opportunities and challenges ahead for Canadian cannabis company Aphria — which struck a $300 million deal to acquire Atlanta’s Sweetwater Brewing Company in early November — the size of the cannabeer market and more.

The Brewers Association announced last week the winners of five available seats on its board of directors. Orders of sparkling wine and champagne spiked on Saturday when news networks called the presidential election for former vice president Joe Biden, according to on-demand alcohol delivery marketplace Drizly.

The deal is finally done for Pabst Brewing Company to acquire the former Molson Coors production facility in Irwindale, California.

Philadelphia-headquartered, on-demand delivery platform goPuff today announced a $350 million deal to acquire off-premise beverage alcohol retailer BevMo. The transaction is expected to close within the next 30 days, pending “customary closing conditions.” Bloomberg first reported talks of a deal earlier today.

With the proposed acquisition of Atlanta-headquartered SweetWater Brewing Company yesterday, Canadian cannabis company Aphria believes it’s on the path to becoming a vice industry powerhouse.

Ontario cannabis company Aphria has reached a deal to acquire Atlanta, Georgia-headquartered SweetWater Brewing Company for $300 million in cash and stock.

Breakthru Beverage is getting out of the beer business in Wisconsin. “We are in the process of exiting the beer category in Wisconsin as part of Breakthru’s larger efforts to better manage our portfolio strategy,” Kevin Roberts, Breakthru EVP of supplier relations, said in a statement.

Next Glass, the tech parent company of beer-centric social media app Untappd and online beer community and event producer Beer Advocate, announced today it has reached an agreement to acquire e-commerce platform Oznr, formerly known as CraftCellr.