World Beer Cup Winners Announced; Will Now Be Annual Event
Winners of the World Beer Cup – an international beer competition organized by the Brewers Association (BA) – were announced Thursday for the first time since 2018, at the conclusion of Craft Brewers Conference (CBC) in Minneapolis.
The 2022 competition was the largest World Beer Cup to date, with 10,542 entries andan average of 102 beers entered per category, according to the BA. The last competition, in 2018, had 8,234 entrants from 66 countries. The 2020 competition was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over the course of nine days and 18 sessions, a panel of 226 judges from 28 countries evaluated entrants. A total of 2,493 breweries from 57 countries entered the competition, down slightly from 2,515 in 2018.
The most popular style categories by number of entries were American-style IPA (384), juicy or hazy IPA (343), German-style pilsener (254), wood- and barrel-aged strong stout (237), international pilsener or international lager (231) and Munich-style helles (202). A total of 307 of the available 309 possible awards were awarded over the evening: no gold or silver award was given for Belgian-style witbier.
U.S. entrants took the most awards (252 from 8,058 entries), followed by Canada (14 from 408 entries) and Germany (11 from 258 entries). Ireland had the highest win percentage (16.67%), followed by Austria (7.69%). Pola Del Pub in Bogotá, Colombia took home the country’s first ever World Beer Cup award.
The next World Beer Cup will be held in 2023, transitioning from a biennial to an annual event. Registration will open in October 2022, with winners announced May 10 in Nashville, Tennessee, at the conclusion of the 2023 CBC, according to a press release.
The full list of this year’s winners can be found here: https://www.worldbeercup.org/winners/current-winners/
Tree House Brewing Company to Acquire Tewksbury Country Club
Massachusetts’ Tree House Brewing Company is in the process of purchasing the Tewksbury Country Club from Marc Ginsburg and family, the company announced today on its social media channels.
“We will evolve the space into an expansive and inviting beer hall and retail store and continue to operate the golf course and various amenities with the full strength of our brand behind it,” Tree House wrote. “It is an ideal showcase for the tremendous talents of our creative teams in brewing, coffee roasting, distilling, farming, cooking, and more.”
Tree House added that its “long-term vision” for the Tewksbury space “is to curate a gathering space for friends, families, and groups to celebrate life and each other. As a gateway to points in the city and recreational activities to the north, we hope to build a cultural destination worthy of the region in which it resides.”
In its own social media announcement, the Tewksbury Country Club wrote that “it is with heavy hearts that we inform you that after 25 wonderful years we have made the very difficult decision to sell.” The country club added that all events for 2022 will go on as planned but 2023 events would no longer be booked.
Tree House operates locations in Charlton, Deerfield, and Sandwich, Massachusetts, plus a hard cidery in Woodstock, Connecticut.
New Glarus CEO’s Defamation Lawsuit Against Minority Shareholders’ Law Firm Dismissed
A judge has dismissed the defamation lawsuit New Glarus Brewing president Deb Carey filed in October against the law firm representing a group of minority shareholders who filed a lawsuit against her in August for breach of fiduciary duty, according to Madison.com.
When Middleton, Wisconsin-based Palmersheim Dettmann filed the investors’ lawsuit in Wisconsin’s Dane County Circuit Court, the law firm also issued a press release to several media outlets with allegations in the complaint that Carey disputed. Those claims included that New Glarus has “compiled $100 million in retained earnings and $40 million in cash, and repeatedly refused to distribute any of those profits and reserves beyond the tax distributions that are specified in the shareholder agreement.”
“There they are, sending out a press release that no dividends have been paid and Deb’s taken $100 million from the brewery,” Carey told Brewbound in August. “Are you out of your ever-loving fucking mind?”
Because the press release couched its content in being allegations of behavior, rather than statements of fact, readers would not perceive it as such, Judge Stephen Ehlke said.
“People reading this would not or should not, at least in my opinion, be misled into thinking it is alleged as a fact,” he said.
Brewdog CEO Seeking Fraud Litigation Against ‘Malicious’ Informant Who Provided Him Alleged False Information
BrewDog co-founder and CEO James Watt is pursuing fraud litigation against a woman he claims provided false information in an investigation of who was responsible for “malicious” comments against him, The Guardian reported Thursday.
Watt has filed a civil lawsuit in Scottish court, and is pursuing private criminal prosecution in the U.K., against Emili Ziem, who he asked to uncover who was responsible for a “conspiracy” against him.
Watt is attempting to charge Ziem with fraud and malicious communication, after she allegedly shared false information with Watt to “make a gain” at the expense of Watt.
In March, Watt described in a LinkedIn post a “two year-long coordinated criminal campaign” against him that included “online harassment, defamation, blackmail, significant fraud and malicious communications.” In response, he hired “digital investigative specialists” to “identify the source of these damaging and false allegations and identify the individuals who defrauded me,” he said.
Around the same time, he also sought Ziem’s help, and allegedly paid her nearly €100,000 ($125,000) in Bitcoin to gather relevant information, Good Beer Hunting reported, citing multiple sources and “reviewed documents, emails and a recording provided by Ziem.”
Watt’s filings do not argue against claims that he enlisted Ziem’s services, but that the information she provided – including details of her investigation of ex-BrewDog employees who may have been critical of Watt – was false and malicious.
A pre-trial hearing of the case will be held in Southwark Crown Court on June 1, according to the Guardian. Ziem’s legal team told Good Beer Hunting Ziem is “entirely innocent” of the Watt’s claims, “vehemently denies any wrongdoing” and that they will defend against the allegations “robustly.”
Earlier this week, BrewDog announced that Watt would donate one-fifth of his ownership stake (valued at £100 million and a total of £120,000 over four years to each of the 750 salaried crew members, starting in June) in the business to its employees as part of its 15th anniversary. Once complete, BrewDog’s employees and Equity Punk shareholders will own 25% of the company’s shares. Additionally, each BrewDog location will share 50% of its profits with team members, with 30% of profits shared directly with crew members who work there and 20% shared with crew members working within the bar’s area cluster. The company said that giveaway amounts to between £3,000-£5,000 to the employees.
Watt’s share of the business will decrease to 19.2% following the transfer of 3,727,201 shares to an employee benefit trust, which will distribute the 1.25% of the company evenly to its crew members over the next four years. In the 24 hours following the announcement, BrewDog saw a “15 fold increase in people wanting to work” for the company, according to Watt in a LinkedIn post.
Monster Reports $15.2 Million in Alcohol Sales in Q1
After closing on the CANarchy Craft Brewery Collective acquisition on February 17, energy drink maker Monster reported $15.2 million in alcohol sales in its first quarter financial returns on Thursday.
Monster co-CEO Rodney Sacks said the company estimates April 2022 sales, including CANarchy, to be about 6.7% higher than April 2021 and 4.8% higher than April 2021 excluding CANarchy.
“We remain encouraged with the opportunities this acquisition presents to us in the alcohol space and the potential through their distribution network,” Sacks said in a press release.
May 25 Deadline Set for MKE Brewing Bids
The deadline to submit offers on Milwaukee Brewing Company is 5 p.m. on May 25, according to New Mill Capital principal Eric Weiler. The sale process of the Wisconsin craft brewery has moved to “a call for offers” on the brewery’s assets.
“We are requesting and will review all offers for the main production brewery, ale house and intellectual property both in bulk and piecemeal,” he wrote.
Offers are expected to be presented to MKE Brewing’s board of directors on May 31 for final selection.
“Milwaukee Brewing will ultimately select a purchaser based on price, certainty of closing, buyer contingencies, due diligence length and financial capability,” Weiler wrote.
Michelle Korsmo Takes Over as CEO of National Restaurant Association
Michelle Korsmo, the former president and CEO of the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America, has taken over as president and CEO of the National Restaurant Association. Korsmo led the WSWA for nearly four years. She succeeds Tom Bené, who left the organization in October 2021 to become president and CEO of the Breakthru Beverage Group.
Imports +16.7% in March 2022; Mexican Imports +23.8%
Imports posted strong year-over-year growth in March 2022, increasing +16.7% compared to March 2021, Danelle Kosmal, VP of research for the Beer Institute, shared, citing U.S. Department of Commerce and Census Bureau data.
“We saw particularly large growth in Mexican (+23.8%), Irish (+77.8%) and Canadian (+32.7%) imports,” Kosmal wrote. “Year-to-date, imports are up +9.7% overall.”
Kosmal noted “massive growth” of imported non-alcoholic beers, which increased +39.5% in March 2022.
Consulting firm Bw166 reported that imported beer increased +11% by volume and +13% by value over the last 12 months. In the last three months, imports increased +10% by volume and +12% by value, the firm added, noting that 78% of imported beer value is attributed to imports from Mexico.
Additionally exported beer increased +8% by volume and +22% by value over the last 12 months. In the last three months, exports declined in both volume (-3%) and value (-3%).