Five days after airing its now infamous Super Bowl ad poking fun at craft brewers, Anheuser-Busch attempted to trademark the phrase upon which the ad was built: “Brewed the Hard Way.” Turns out, as noted by Kaider Law, an intellectual property firm, the beer giant was actually beat to the punch. On February 5 — one day before A-B filed its own trademark — a small brewpub in Kansas City called Martin City Brewing filed a trademark application of its own for its “Hard Way IPA.”
Molson Coors today appointed Geoff Molson, a member of the Molson Coors board of directors, as its new chairman. In accordance with company bylaws that require the roles of chairman and vice chairman to alternate between the Molson and Coors families every two years, Geoff Molson, a seventh generation member of the Molson family, supplants Pete Coors who will become vice chairman.
In a gesture more symbolic than anything else, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution on Sunday in appreciation of thousands of American Craft Beer Week events as well as the jobs and wages craft has generated in recent years.
Anheuser-Busch InBev subsidiary Grupo Modelo said it will invest approximately $328 million – or roughly 5 billion pesos – to construct a new brewery and can production plant in Yucatán, Mexico.
The Illinois Craft Brewers Guild and the Associated Beer Distributors of Illinois have negotiated language to include in a bill – HB 3237– that would loosen restrictions on how brewers in the state operate.
Across IRI multi-outlet and convenience channel (MULC) sales data — which comprises grocery, drug, club, dollar, mass-merchandiser (including Walmart) and military stores — total beer dollar sales are up 4.2 percent through May 17. Both the craft and cider categories are experiencing the most dramatic improvements, however, as cider’s dollar sales rose by 39.5 percent. Dollar sales for import beer brands are also up 10.4 percent.
Coinciding with a recent brewery expansion, Deschutes Brewery plans to break ground on 57,593 sq. ft. of new warehouse space across from its production facility in Bend, Ore., the company announced in a statement.
In December, the company detailed its ambition to launch Farmworks — complete with a 15-barrel brewhouse and tasting room — on a 53-acre farm in Lucketts, Va. Located just 17 miles from Flying Dog headquarters in Frederick, Md., the new brewery was planned to be a separately branded craft subsidiary owned and operated by Flying Dog. Farmworks was slated to open this summer.
Rahr Corporation, a producer and distributor of malt and industry-related brewing supplies, has detailed plans to construct four new facilities in its hometown of Shakopee, Minn. as part of a massive $68 million expansion.
Last month, a pair of craft-friendly bills in North Carolina that would have dramatically raised the self-distribution cap and legalized contract brewing in the state failed to make it out of committee. However, Creative Loafing Charlotte reports some of the less contentious language from one of those bills has reemerged as part of a broader alcohol regulation initiative that has been making headway.
The final numbers are in. After announcing the top 50 craft breweries in March, the Brewers Association today released its 2014 sales figures, painting a much more definitive picture of last year’s winners and losers.
The Brewers Association has issued the following warning to its members regarding pending federal requirements to disclose the caloric value and other health criteria of beer being sold at on-premise chains: “Be ready or lose sales.”
