File Under: Crazy. Remember back in December when a Vermont woman was charged with illegally selling five cases of Heady Topper, the highly touted Alchemist-brewed double IPA, on Craigslist, netting nearly $1,000? Remember?
Though a partnership has been in the works for two years, Saint Archer Brewing is now finally set to expand distribution throughout the San Francisco Bay area with DBI Beverage Inc. Beginning October 6, the San Diego brewery’s four core offerings will be made available throughout San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, Truckee, Chico, Ukiah, Stockton and Napa in the canned 6-pack format as well as in 22-ounce bottles.
A couple years ago, Ballast Point foresaw a distribution footprint that would include 35 states. In the words of chief commercial officer Earl Kight, however, the company is “still stuck” at 26. It’s not that the San Diego brewery hasn’t grown: Ballast Point made the Brewers Association’s list of the 50 largest craft brewers for the first time this year, having sold 88,204 barrels in 2013, up 86 percent over the previous year.
Highland Brewing is investing $5 million into a facility expansion that will enable the company, which is based in Asheville, N.C., to boost annual capacity by 60,000 barrels and create additional jobs. Backed by bank loans and some gradual tax incentives offered up by the Economic Development Coalition for Asheville-Buncombe County (EDC), the brewery plans to occupy an additional 30,000 sq. ft. of its current building with new tanks and a bottling line.
With Canadian barley crops marred by frigid temperatures and wet weather, brewers and maltsters alike to dig a little deeper in their pockets for key ingredients, something that could cause prices to surge in the coming year.
Victory has announced plans to install a canning line in its recently opened Parkesburg, Pa. facility beginning in 2015. Victory’s seasonal Summer Love offering will be the first in its portfolio to be canned, the company said. No further decisions have been made about what other varieties will go into the package, according to a company spokesperson.
A number of craft brewers, including stalwarts Sierra Nevada and New Belgium, are rallying behind new regulation put forth by the Environmental Protection Agency they say will ensure the availability of clean water for their beers.
Ninkasi Brewing will expand distribution to Arizona per an agreement with Golden Eagle Distributors, the wholesaler has announced. In late October, the brewery out of Eugene, Ore. will launch in the Phoenix and Tucson markets before subsequently broadening its reach statewide. Arizona marks the eighth state in the brewery’s U.S. distribution footprint. It also has a presence in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Beginning in October, Stone Brewing Co., the country’s tenth largest craft brewery will begin distributing its beers to bars, restaurants, and other retail outlets throughout the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia.Stone has tapped Horizon Beers for market coverage in Canada, and the brewery has a slew of launch events and tap takeovers scheduled for late in the month.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has revised its proposed regulations on the transaction of spent grains between brewers and farmers. On Friday, the federal agency finally released its summary of key revisions, writing that human food processors (such as brewers) already in compliance with the FDA’s human food safety requirements “would not need to implement additional preventative controlsÔǪ when supplying a by-product,” such as spent grains.
Ballast Point Brewing will finally expand its distribution to Colorado, per an agreement with Elite Brands, the wholesaler announced today.The first shipment of beers from the San Diego brewery is expected to arrive in the state before the end of the month. The company had intended to return to Colorado last year, which it had previously left in 2009, but was forced to delay its entry until its secondary brewing facility was built.
Through the first nine months of this year, IRI numbers are once again telling a familiar story: Craft and cider continue to carry the beer segment’s growth across multi-outlet and convenience channels (MULC) with dollar sales swelling 21.3 percent and 82.1 percent, respectively.
How do you vie for the highly sought after attention of the millennial demographic without forsaking your loyal, long-time consumer base? That question served as the driving force behind Mendocino Brewing Co.’s branding overhaul, just the second such makeover the company has undergone in its 31 years of brewing.
Yet another U.S. craft brewer has embarked on a unique, international retail opportunity.Devils Backbone Brewing has inked an exclusive licensing arrangement with the British retail chain J D Wetherspoon plc, which owns and operates more than 900 different-branded pubs and 32 hotel locations throughout Britain.
