In this week’s edition of Last Call: Sierra Nevada will introduce the “Beer Camp Across the World” variety pack in June, BrewDog is planning to open its first U.S. brewpub this month and Hitachino Nest Beer is opening a restaurant in San Francisco during SF Beer Week.
The Beer Institute has estimated that category-wide beer volumes grew 0.3 percent last year, thanks in part to increasing sales of craft and imported beer. In a note to members, sent yesterday, Beer Institute CEO Jim McGreevy said sales of imported beer, particularly brands from Mexico, propelled the category to a positive performance in 2016.
Another craft brewery has sold itself back to its employees. Vermont’s Switchback Brewing Company, known throughout New England for its popular Switchback Ale, today announced the establishment of an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), transferring 100 percent of the company’s stock into a trust backed by GreatBanc Trust Company.
Cincinnati’s Rhinegeist Brewery continued its impressive growth in 2016, increasing production more than 80 percent, to 56,500 barrels. In a recent year-in-review, shared with Brewbound, co-founder Bryant Goulding said his company released 96 different offerings last year, including 24 pale ales and 17 IPAs.
In this week’s distribution roundup: Founders lands in Oregon and Idaho, Sweetwater taps the Arkansas Craft Alliance and Daytona Beach Brewing Company hits Central Florida.
Bell’s Brewery announced Friday that co-owner Laura Bell would take over as the company’s CEO. Laura Bell, who most recently served as the brewery’s vice president, will oversee the brewery’s operations and planning for Bell’s Brewery and its sister operation, Upper Hand Brewery, according to a press release.
Legislative Roundup: Georgia, Mississippi Brewers are One Step Closer to Direct Sales
Last Call: Michelob Ultra Release Super Bowl Spot; BA Appoints Neil Witte as Quality Ambassador; AleSmith to Expand Tasting Room; MillerCoors Spending $50 Million to Expand Leinenkugel’s Operations; Empire Brewing and 1911 Established Ciders Merge Sales Teams.
Boston Beer Company, the country’s second-largest craft brewery according to trade group the Brewers Association, today announced that CEO Martin Roper would retire in 2018. Roper, who has led the company since 2001, said in a press release that he informed the company’s board of directors of his plans to step down “a year in advance” to give the Boston Beer ample time to name a successor and to “assure a very smooth transition.”
Spuds MacKenzie has risen from the grave to convince you that a night out with friends is more fun than staying home alone.
Is the beer business headed for a “Trump moment?” That’s the question Craft Brew Alliance CEO Andy Thomas posed this week to a room of beer industry professionals attending the annual Beer Business Daily Summit in San Diego.
Press Clips: A-B Releases First Super Bowl Ads; Georgia and Mississippi Move Toward Direct Sales Reform; Boulevard Partners with Kansas City Royals; Corona, Tecate Challenge Trump
The Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act (CBMTRA) is back in front of Congress. The latest two bills (H.R.747 and S.236) were simultaneously re-introduced into both the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate on Monday morning. If the Act passes, it would cut taxes on all brewers, importers, cider producers, distillers, and winemakers. The comprehensive tax reform effort is once again backed by the Beer Institute and the Brewers Association, and contains the same craft-friendly language as previous versions put forth during the 114th Congress.
Guinness parent Diageo today announced plans to build a U.S. version of Dublin’s famous Open Gate Brewery in Baltimore County, Maryland. The $50 million project will include the construction of a mid-sized Guinness brewery, packaging and warehousing operations as well as a tasting room, retail store and visitor center at Diageo’s existing Relay, Maryland, site, according to a press release.
