Downtown Boston is getting another summer beer garden, thanks to Mayor Martin Walsh and the City of Boston, Wachusett Brewing Company, and Delaware North, a hospitality company owned by Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs. Dubbed “Boston Seasons” and located at City Hall Plaza, the new pop-up beer garden, ice cream shop and mini-golf course will open May 4 and operate seven days a week throughout the summer.

While widely known market research firms IRI Worldwide and Nielsen have been able to accurately track large volumes passing through major grocery, convenience, and chain retailers, information from upwards of 50,000 off-premise independent retail accounts has been more difficult to access. Those days could be coming to an end, if 3×3 Insights, an upstart New York-based retail analytics company, which launched earlier this year and is backed by the founder of Priceline.com, is able to successfully scale.

Shmaltz Brewing Company will boost its trade presence thanks to a new brand management partnership with Artisanal Imports, the two companies announced today. In addition to “more than doubling” its current sales staff as a result of the agreement with Artisanal, Shmaltz, which currently sells beer in about 30 states, plans to expand the availability of its beers to at least six new markets.

The maker of Samuel Adams beer is planning to set up shop in the heart of downtown Boston, today confirming plans to open a taproom in the summer of 2019. Boston Beer Company — which makes and markets a variety of beer, cider and flavored malt beverage products – is “in the final stages of negotiating” a lease for another Samuel Adams taproom to be located at 60 State Street.

In the final scene of Back to the Future, after Marty McFly has improved the arc of his fate by correcting errors of the past, his mentor, Dr. Emmett “Doc” Brown, sends his flying DeLorean time machine careening into McFly’s driveway. You might have fixed the mistakes of the past, he says, but in the future, your offspring are jerks. Let’s move to the final scene of another video, now, on April 22, 2009, at the Brewers Association’s annual conference – when toasts are raised by a room full of brewing entrepreneurs, who have just viewed the debut of the provocative “I am a Craft Brewer” video to great acclaim.

You’ve probably never heard of Craftroots Brewing in Milford, Massachusetts, but it was just named the fastest growing craft brewery in America by industry trade group the Brewers Association (BA). According to Craftroots co-founder Maureen Fabry, production at the small brewery grew 1,440 percent last year, from 20 barrels in 2016 to 308 barrels in 2017.

The latest snapshot of beer category health is out. Market research firm IRI Worldwide, which tracks category-wide sales trends at off-premise retailers, reported yesterday that dollar sales of beer at multi-outlet and convenience stores were up 1.5 percent through March 25.

Boston-area craft beer maker Castle Island Brewing is doubling down on its home market, today announcing a multi-year agreement for a seasonal beer garden located just three miles from the brewery’s namesake landmark at a recently developed site known as Underground at Ink Block.

In an effort to capture a growing contingent of consumers who are drinking both beer and spirits during a night out, Anheuser-Busch and Beam Suntory have inked a multi-faceted cross-merchandising program and collaborative brewing project. As part of the partnership, the two companies, via their flagship Budweiser and Jim Beam Brands, will “begin appearing together at bars and retail venues across the country,” according to a press release.

Following weeks of uncertainty about the future of Green Flash Brewing, the San Diego-based craft beer company today announced that it has finalized a sale to a new investor group. In a note sent to Green Flash Brewing shareholders, posted by various outlets, founder and CEO Mike Hinkley said the brewery’s primary lender, Comerica Bank, had “foreclosed on its loans” and sold the company’s assets to WC IPA LLC via a foreclosure sale.

The maker of Samuel Adams is wading deeper into the taproom business. The Boston Beer Company — which makes and markets a variety of beer, cider and FMB products — today announced plans to open a 9,000 sq. ft. taproom just steps away from its current Cincinnati production facility.

Another chapter in the story of Green Flash Brewing’s distressed financial situation was written today as the San Diego-based company announced plans to close its Cellar 3 barrel-aging facility and taproom in Poway, California.

Dogfish Head is set to introduce a functional new variety pack, co-developed with packaging supplier WestRock, that will instantly transform into a leak-proof cooler with just a few scoops of ice. Called the “Off-Center Your Summer Pack,” the new SKU, which will retail for as much as $22 in some markets, will feature four varieties of beer – 60 Minute IPA, SeaQuench Ale, Lupu-Luau IPA and Namaste White – and include a custom Dogfish Head koozie.

A record number of breweries opened their doors last year, according to a new report from industry trade group the Brewers Association (BA). The BA, which represents the interests of small and independent American brewers, estimates that 997 breweries opened in 2017, bringing the total number of U.S. breweries to 6,372. At the same time, however, the number of breweries that closed in last year increased by 70 percent, to 165.