After more than 22 years of operation, Craft Brew Alliance today announced plans to close its Widmer Brothers pub in Portland, Oregon. The decision to shutter the taproom – which is located underneath CBA’s corporate offices and across the street from the Widmer Brothers production facility – comes a little more than one year after the company scrapped a full-service kitchen that was located on-site amid rising labor costs and declining foot traffic.
Hundreds of entrepreneurs and executives from across the beer industry gathered at last year’s Brewbound Live business conference to discuss category health, cannabis, and future product innovations. All of the main stage conversations are now available on the Brewbound YouTube channel.
After a six-month search, MillerCoors has identified its next chief marketing officer. The company today announced that Michelle St. Jacques, who currently serves as the global head of brands and capabilities at The Kraft Heinz Company, would take over as CMO on February 4.
After more than 30 years, New York’s Brooklyn Brewery will finally begin distributing its products in an ultra-competitive California craft beer market. The company will partner with Stone Distributing for coverage throughout Southern California, and DBI and Bay Area Beverage Co. for support in Northern California.
Kentucky’s Braxton Brewing Company has embarked on a $5 million expansion that will include the purchase of the building where its brewery is currently situated, as well as the construction of a rooftop bar and the installation of a new canning line.
Craft breweries in Texas are once again pushing for the legalization of beer-to-go sales. A pair of companion bills that would make Texas the final U.S. state to permit to-go sales from licensed breweries were filed in both chambers yesterday, the first day of Texas’ 2019 legislative session.
Craft Brew Alliance has extended CEO Andy Thomas’ employment contract for another three years, according to an SEC filing. Thomas’ new contract, which is slated to terminate on December 31, 2021, replaces a previous agreement that was scheduled to expire on June 30, 2019.
2018 was undoubtedly a challenging year for a number of U.S. beer companies. The year was marked by layoffs, brewery closures and sluggish sales as more than 7,000 breweries battled for shrinking market share. As beer professionals throughout the country prepare to flip their calendars to 2019, let’s take a look back at three of the most notable storylines that helped shape the narrative this year.
Off-premise retail beer sales in the U.S. eclipsed $32 billion through December 2, according to market research firm IRI. The Chicago-based group, which tracks sales at multi-outlet and convenience stores, recently reported that dollar sales of beer were up 1.7 percent year-to-date.
In episode 16 of the Brewbound Podcast, Brooklyn Brewery CEO Eric Ottaway discusses the growing consumer interest in low- and no-alcohol products, the overall state of the beer business, his company’s global partnership strategy and the shrinking international opportunities for U.S. craft breweries.
As the partial shutdown of the U.S. government stretches into its fifth day, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) has officially closed. The TTB, a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, will suspend all “non-excepted TTB operations,” according to a notice posted to its website.
Beerboard, the company behind the digital menu displays at retailers such as Buffalo Wild Wings and World of Beer, recently examined on-premise trends using data from more than $1 billion in draft beer sales in 2018.
Anheuser-Busch InBev today announced a partnership with Canadian cannabis company Tilray that is aimed at researching non-alcoholic beverages infused with THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (cannabidiol). In a joint press release, the two companies said they would each invest up to $50 million to better understand the market for beverages infused with cannabis.
A recent report from Nielsen CGA that examined the state of on-premise beer sales in the United States found that San Francisco was one of the best cities to easily find a pint of craft beer.
