Sapporo’s $165 million acquisition of Stone Brewing officially closed Wednesday, August 31, giving the Japanese beer maker one of the top 10 craft breweries by volume in the U.S. in 2021 and the 18th largest brewing operation overall.

With the summer selling season’s last gasp just days away, NielsenIQ VP of beverage alcohol though leadership Jon Berg expects ready-to-drink (RTD) offerings and beer “to have positive momentum” this Labor Day holiday weekend. However, Berg cautioned that results may be “slightly muted” compared to 2021 as shoppers are “really starting to feel substantial impact from inflation now.”

Boston Beer Company is launching a multimillion-dollar, multi-channel marketing campaign to support Truly Hard Seltzer, which it recently reformulated with real fruit juice. In the new ad campaign, Boston Beer, which has leaned on singer Dua Lipa in previous Truly ads, has instead turned to fruit flies to help promote the reformulated hard seltzer brand.

The college football season kicked off last weekend and will go into full throttle this Labor Day weekend. For those watching at home, Boston Beer Company’s Twisted Tea will be heavily featured this weekend and throughout the season. Boston Beer’s playbook for Twisted Tea includes a 360-degree marketing “Tea Drop” campaign, with new 15- and 30-second TV spots that will be featured across the major networks airing college football games.

Beer Kulture, Brave Noise, and Women of Bevolution have launched a grant program aimed at helping underserved groups launch businesses in the craft beverage industry.

Iowa’s Big Grove Brewery opened a massive brewery and restaurant on the edge of downtown Des Moines in late July as part of an effort to establish a foothold for the brand in the middle of its home state.

Bell’s Brewery plans to donate $480,000 to non-profits in 2022, including $100,000 to clean water stewardship via a newly launched grant program called Inspired Giving, the Michigan-based craft brewery announced earlier this week.

As the sale of Modern Times to Maui Brewing inches closer, the San Diego craft brewery has provided notice of plans to lay off more than 120 workers in early October. However, many of the affected employees are expected to be rehired by the Hawaii-headquartered acquirer of Modern Times once the sale closes in the fall.

A lawsuit has been filed against New Jersey-based Cape May Brewing and the convenience chain Wawa, over the companies’ collaborative hard tea brand, Shore Tea.

This weekend marks the 14th anniversary of The Bruery. The Orange County craft brewery will celebrate with a big ticket ($120) event, The Bruery’s 14th Anniversary Invitation Festival, which officially kicks off Saturday with unlimited pours from more than 70 craft breweries, wineries, cideries and meaderies.

Unlike most craft breweries whose businesses thrive in the spring and summer months, Great Lakes Brewing Company’s sales pick up in the second half of the year. CEO Mark King and COO Steven Pauwels said they’re preparing for a big fall and winter driven by seasonal releases Oktoberfest and Christmas Ale.

Eight months after announcing intentions to sell its U.K. craft brewing operations, Kirin subsidiary Lion has sold its Magic Rock and Fourpure brands to Odyssey Inns Ltd, a hospitality group led by Stephen Cox, who co-founded Devon’s Utopian Brewing.

Cincinnati’s Rhinegeist Brewery will begin “a two-stage expansion” into Houston, Texas, starting in mid-August via Silver Eagle Distributors.

Ball Corp. plans to permanently close can manufacturing facilities in Phoenix, Arizona, and St. Paul, Minnesota, and delay construction of a new plant in North Las Vegas, Nevada, the Westminster, Colorado-headquartered company announced today during its second quarter financial results.