News

Spirits giant Sazerac announced today plans to acquire Southern Champion’s ready-to-drink (RTD) portfolio, including BuzzBallz, the spherical wine-, spirit- and malt-based cocktail brand.

Russian River co-owner Natalie Cilurzo joins the Brewbound Podcast On Location at the California Craft Beer Summit to discuss the 20th anniversary release of Pliny the Younger triple IPA, with festivities starting this weekend. And Calicraft founder and CEO Blaine Landberg and marketing director and brewmaster Thomas Vo share how the brewery is expanding beyond beer with the Bloom line of fruit-forward offerings.

Founder Ray Daniels has sold the Cicerone Certification Program to Dan Imdieke and Jason Pratt, the organization announced today.

California craft breweries may soon have an easier time selling their beer at special events beyond their taproom walls, thanks to the California Craft Brewers Association’s (CCBA) sponsored bill in 2024. AB 2174 would “authorize a licensed beer manufacturer to apply for, and the department to issue, a beer caterer’s permit for the sale of beer manufactured by or for the licensee for consumption at specified locations and events, including, among others, conventions, sporting events, and trade exhibits.”

Draft beer volume declined -20% during St. Patrick’s Day weekend, due in part to this year’s misalignment of the drinking-centric holiday and March Madness, according to on-premise data firm BeerBoard.

News broke late yesterday that New Belgium has named Rebecca Dye Yonushonis as the company’s next CMO, filling the vacancy left by Shaun Belongie when he was appointed CEO last fall.

Deschutes Brewery is betting big on non-alcoholic (NA) beer. The Bend, Oregon-headquartered craft brewery announced today the national launch of Fresh Squeezed NA IPA, an offshoot of its flagship alcoholic IPA offering.

New Belgium has a new chief marketing officer. The Fort Collins, Colorado-based craft brewery has appointed Rebecca Dye Yonushonis to the role, filling the vacancy left by Shaun Belongie with his appointment as CEO in November.

Blake’s Beverage Co. is looking to be a leader in not just hard cider, but all “fruit-forward fourth category innovation,” founder and CEO Andrew Blake told Brewbound.

Hope your St. Pat’s Day celebrations are off to a fine start given the calendar timing this year! Sean 2004 would likely already be a couple of pints in alongside ya at this time of day … but Sean 2024 is more likely just getting back from a yoga class. Listen – times change, people. Pretty sure we’re already getting close to Jess’ Saturday nap time.

Monster-owned Cigar City will shift the Tampa, Florida-based craft brewery’s production hub to a cross-category innovation center; as a result of the change, 12 positions have been terminated, Brewbound has confirmed. The company also eliminated the position of long-time and original brewmaster Wayne Wambles on February 9.

In the latest installment of Brewbound’s A Round With – a weekly Insider-exclusive Q&A series with industry leaders – Katie Beal Brown chats about the rollercoaster ride of turning a cherished family cocktail recipe into a nationally distributed, ready-to-drink product … and kicking off right before the pandemic turned the bev-alc world upside down.

Could the luck of the Irish be with bev-alc producers this month? Nearly one-third (32%) of consumers plan to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, according to consumer research firm Numerator.