Archive for the Industry News Category

On Monday April 22nd Mammoth Brewing announced its intent to acquire Great Northern Brewing of Sparks, Nevada during this summer. Sean Turner of Mammoth Brewing emphasized that “Mammoth Brewing Company will not replace Great Basin…” instead they will brew both brands package products at one production brewery. They anticipate the merger will result in an increase from 15,000 barrels to 40,000 barrels collectively. As Turner explained, this rapid increase will be realized as Mammoth’s production is freed from its current pub-sized brewing equipment.

In an acknowledged sale, Stone Brewing of California announced it has accepted an offer for its Berlin brewery and tasting room from BrewDog of Scotland. Located in the Mariendorf section of Berlin, it is the second Berlin location for BrewDog, which will also open a new facility in Hamburg later this year. BrewDog will continue to produce beers for Stone Brewing in Berlin, along with its own brands. Industry insiders believe the Stone project was too much too soon for the original owner and suggest smaller breweries and tap rooms may

Ninkasi Brewing of Eugene, Oregon acknowledged they have a new majority owner. Legacy Breweries, founded by a former hop company executive, announced their plan to buy two more craft brewers of the same size as Ninkasi. Its strategy is to purchase one in the Midwest and another in the East; these would be augmented by approximately a dozen smaller breweries. The assembled breweries would benefit from centralized purchasing and by sharing production equipment. The larger, Ninkasi sized, facilities could supplement the production of the smaller plants.

Avery Brewing of Boulder, Colorado has sold a majority interest to Mahou-San Miguel of Madrid Spain. The sale amounted to forty percent of Avery; Mahou had previously acquired thirty percent, thus it gained a majority share in the latest transaction. In completing the purchase Mahou partnered with Founders Brewery of Grand Rapids, Michigan – Mahou had previously invested in a minority position with Founders.

When MillerCoors rebranded its Keystone Light beer as “Stone” the ninth largest craft brewer in the country called foul. Stone brewing of California, makers of beers such as ‘Arrogant Bastard’ filed suit for trademark infringement in 2018. On March 26th the court referred the issue to trail, finding that since both brands are marketed nationally “…a consumer is likely to encounter both within close proximity of the other….”. The dispute will now go to jury trail.

Anheuser-Busch sued by Miller-Coors for Superbowl Ad with the Bud Light kingdom attempting to return corn syrup to Miller and Coors. Miller Coors claims this will confuse consumers who will mistake corn syrup with high fructose corn syrup. Anchor Brewing of San Francisco employees voted to unionize on March 13th. By a vote of 31 to 16 workers at the brewery,owned by Japanese brewer Sapporo, voted to join the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. Bridgeport Brewery of Portland Oregon announced it has closed it’s production facility and will cease the

Lawns grow quickly in the heat and humidity of summer, and frequent mowing builds a powerful thirst. Seeking relief from the repetitious and exhausting chore, many American’s find comfort in an ice-cold beer. What beer leaps to the rescue? Conducting a survey presents a task equal to lawn mowing; over and over the answer is the same; nine out of ten beer drinkers favor the light, low-bodied style known as “American Pilsner.” Craft beer enthusiast’s may argue with the accuracy of the name “American Pilsner”, but brewers have a sound

Belgium attracts beer enthusiasts like a magnet. As the ‘true north’ of brewing it draws Americans by the thousands. From Flanders to Brussels they cover the low countryside in search of small craft breweries. Yet, inexplicably, few venture southeast, to the sparsely populated hills of the Ardennes. In fact, on scanning a map of east Belgium, Americans may recognize Bastogne, focal point of the ‘Battle of the Bulge’, but sadly, little else. What a shame, because the pastoral woodlands, meadows and river valleys rival any scenery in the west, and

Everyone drinks beer, or so it seems. It has been a part of the country since it arrived with the first settlers. Since that time it has provided countless Americans with nourishment, comfort, camaraderie, and employment, all the while adding fuel to the nation’s economy. In the 400 years that beer has been in America, consumer demand continually pushed the industry forward with sure and steady progress. Then, in the last 25 years, the introduction of the craft brewing movement created additional opportunity, and the public responded with still further

There’s something about a number with a crowd of zeros behind it that grabs people’s attention. As the calendar approached its version of an odometer rollover, beer magazines, and others, acknowledged time’s passing by compiling lists of “bests”. In General, the tributes focused on notable people, dates, and events, all worthy of recognition, but the most significant contribution to beer in the last century was a simple piece of tin – the bottle cap. When the 1900’s began, most people drank beer in taverns, and seldom at home. Off-premise packaging