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Anheuser-Busch InBev subsidiary Grupo Modelo said it will invest approximately $328 million – or roughly 5 billion pesos – to construct a new brewery and can production plant in Yucatán, Mexico.

The Illinois Craft Brewers Guild and the Associated Beer Distributors of Illinois have negotiated language to include in a bill – HB 3237– that would loosen restrictions on how brewers in the state operate.

Across IRI multi-outlet and convenience channel (MULC) sales data — which comprises grocery, drug, club, dollar, mass-merchandiser (including Walmart) and military stores — total beer dollar sales are up 4.2 percent through May 17. Both the craft and cider categories are experiencing the most dramatic improvements, however, as cider’s dollar sales rose by 39.5 percent. Dollar sales for import beer brands are also up 10.4 percent.

The Beer Institute, a Washington D.C.-based lobbying group that represents the interests of domestic and international brewers, today announced a pair of key new hires. The group has hired former MillerCoors research analyst Michael Uhrich as its new chief economist. Also joining the BI as the group’s new director of federal affairs is Joe Heaton, who has spent more than a decade on Capitol Hill and most recently served as Rep. Jon Runyan’s (NJ) deputy chief of staff.

Coinciding with a recent brewery expansion, Deschutes Brewery plans to break ground on 57,593 sq. ft. of new warehouse space across from its production facility in Bend, Ore., the company announced in a statement.

In December, the company detailed its ambition to launch Farmworks — complete with a 15-barrel brewhouse and tasting room — on a 53-acre farm in Lucketts, Va. Located just 17 miles from Flying Dog headquarters in Frederick, Md., the new brewery was planned to be a separately branded craft subsidiary owned and operated by Flying Dog. Farmworks was slated to open this summer.

Rahr Corporation, a producer and distributor of malt and industry-related brewing supplies, has detailed plans to construct four new facilities in its hometown of Shakopee, Minn. as part of a massive $68 million expansion.

Last month, a pair of craft-friendly bills in North Carolina that would have dramatically raised the self-distribution cap and legalized contract brewing in the state failed to make it out of committee. However, Creative Loafing Charlotte reports some of the less contentious language from one of those bills has reemerged as part of a broader alcohol regulation initiative that has been making headway.

The final numbers are in. After announcing the top 50 craft breweries in March, the Brewers Association today released its 2014 sales figures, painting a much more definitive picture of last year’s winners and losers.

The Beer Institute has announced the hiring of Joy Dubost, a food scientist and registered dietitian who will help lead the group’s lobbying efforts and develop regulatory positions. Dubost will serve as the organization’s new senior director of science and external affairs, working closely with those on Capitol Hill to help shape scientific policies that impact brewers.

The Brewers Association has issued the following warning to its members regarding pending federal requirements to disclose the caloric value and other health criteria of beer being sold at on-premise chains: “Be ready or lose sales.”

99 Bottles of beer on the wall? For craft, it’s actually about 11,727 — and that’s not a great thing. The bigger number is the total amount of craft brands being sold at bars and restaurants, according to on-premise data supplier GuestMetrics, which tracked those SKUs through the first quarter of 2015. In two years, the number has increased by nearly 50 percent, from 8,027 in the first quarter of 2013.

SABMiller, the world’s second largest beer company, today announced it has acquired Meantime Brewing, one of the fastest growing craft breweries in the UK. Though specific financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, the acquisition will include all of Meantime’s retail sites — the brewer currently operates a number of bars and taprooms.

IBM once rather hilariously summed up society’s perception of millennials thusly: “If the buzz is to be believed, they’re either lazy narcissists or energized optimists bent on saving the world.” Well, if a recent survey conducted by online ticketing service Eventbrite is to be believed, they’re also hedonists at the altar of the beer festival.