Mahou San Miguel is upping its stake in Colorado’s Avery Brewing, and the Spanish beer company has teamed up with its other U.S. craft brewery partner, Michigan’s Founders Brewing, on the new investment. Mahou, along with Founders, will purchase a 40 percent stake in Avery Brewing for an undisclosed sum. The newly acquired stake will be combined with Mahou’s original 30 percent minority interest in Avery that was purchased in early 2018.
Trillium Brewing Company is expanding once again. The company today announced plans to open two new locations in the greater Boston area. The popular Massachusetts-based maker of hazy New England IPAs will relocate its Canton brewery headquarters to a sprawling 19-acre “forever home” about five miles away from its current facility. It will also open a taproom and retail store in the Fenway neighborhood of Boston.
Craft Brew Alliance today announced the hiring of longtime beverage industry veteran Christine Perich, who will take over as the company’s chief financial and strategy officer on April 1.
After an eight-month search, the Boston Beer Company has identified its next chief marketing officer. The country’s second-largest craft brewery today named Lesya Lysyj, who is currently the U.S. president of Welch’s Foods Inc., as its new CMO.
Around this time last year, the Beer Institute (BI), a national trade association representing the American brewing industry, warned that President Donald Trump’s aluminum and steel tariffs would cost the beer industry $347 million annually. Well, as it turns out, the BI’s worst fears are coming true. The Washington, D.C., lobbying group tapped Harbor Aluminum — a research firm that specializes in the global aluminum industry – to study and estimate the cost of aluminum tariffs under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 since they were imposed on March 8, 2018.
Middle-tier consolidation continued this week as Houston-based Silver Eagle Distributors today announced that it would sell a portion of its business to Redwood Capital Investments. In a press release, the beer wholesaler, which is the largest independent distributor of Anheuser-Busch products in the U.S., said it had agreed to a deal that would give Redwood control over three Texas counties — Ft. Bend, Montgomery and a significant portion of Harris.
In episode 28 of the Brewbound Podcast, Watson shares his early 2018 analysis and discusses the circumstances that have led to an increasing number of brewery closures in recent years. He also answers questions about the BA’s revised craft brewer definition, and the possible future impact of legal recreational cannabis on the alcohol segment.
Anheuser-Busch InBev today said it planned to make a number of changes to its board of directors, including the appointment of former Altria CEO Martin Barrington as chairman and the addition of three more female board members. The changes are subject to shareholder approval and expected to become official on April 24, following the company’s annual shareholder meeting.
For just the third time in the 35-year history of the Boston Beer Company, a woman has been appointed to the brewery’s board of directors. The country’s second largest craft beer producer, as ranked by trade group the Brewers Association, today announced that Uber, Inc. regional general manager Meghan Joyce has been named to the company’s board.
Next Green Wave Holdings, a vertically integrated California cannabis company, issued a press release Tuesday erroneously indicating that San Diego’s Thorn Brewing had been sold. Speaking to Brewbound, Thorn Brewing co-founder Dennis O’Connor confirmed the brewery was not a part of Next Green Wave’s $27 million transaction, which included the acquisition of more than 45 CBD and THC products.
After experiencing an 11 percent production decline in 2018, New Belgium Brewing has opened its Colorado brewing facility to an upstart lager brand that is aiming to eclipse the 100,000-barrel threshold within two years. New Belgium — the fourth largest craft brewery in the U.S. — and Charleston, South Carolina-based East Island Brewing Co., maker of the “Island Coastal Lager” brand, today announced the new brewing arrangement in a joint press release.
The Brewers Association today released its annual rankings of the top U.S. beer companies based on projected 2018 sales volume. Cincinnati’s Rhinegeist made the biggest leap forward last year, moving up an eye-catching 11 places (to 28th) from its ranking as the 39th largest craft brewery in the country in 2017, according to statistics published in the May/June issue of the BA’s New Brewer magazine.
In this week’s edition of Last Call: Saugatuck Brewing announces a ‘merger’ with Gonzo’s BiggDogg Brewing, Nielsen forms a strategic alliance with Headset, and BrewDog rebrands its streaming network, among other news clips.
Craft Brew Alliance (CBA) today reported its 2018 and fourth-quarter financial results, which were highlighted by 8 percent full-year depletions growth for the company’s lead brand – Kona Brewing. Despite the continued success of Kona, CBA’s total shipments, including beers produced under contract at its facilities, declined by 700 barrels, to 747,600 barrels, versus 2017, while depletions dipped 2 percent last year.
