Craft Brew News - 3/1/2019

Actual Brewing Files for Bankruptcy

In the wake of sexual assault allegations against Actual Brewing Company founder Fred Lee, the Columbus, Ohio-based craft beer company has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, according to Columbus Business First.

Actual’s largest unsecured claim is a $100,000 loan made by John Dilley, Business Firstreported. The company also owes federal taxes of $55,000 and thousands of dollars to other creditors, including the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services ($3,750), the city of Columbus ($3,500), Keg Logistics ($21,392), mobile canner Iron Heart Canning ($5,087), and its landlord, Plaza Properties ($39,068).

Meanwhile, the company is facing a civil lawsuit from an investor attempting to recoup $50,000, the outlet reported.

Northern Eagle Beverage Acquires New Jersey A-B Wholesaler

Northern Eagle Beverage Co. today announced the acquisition of Anheuser-Busch Sales of New Jersey, a Jersey City-based wholly-owned distributor, according to a press release.

The divestiture does raise questions about A-B’s next potential move. Included among the conditions in last October’s final judgment approving A-B’s MegaBrew merger with SABMiller is an agreement that the global beer giant cannot purchase a beer wholesaler if the acquisition would result in more than 10 percent of its U.S. volume being sold via wholly-owned distribution companies.

In 2015, A-B swapped ownership of a wholly-owned distribution outfit in Kentucky for three Colorado operations owned by Texas-based Standard Sales Company. As the pace of middle-tier consolidation picks up, it’s possible A-B could look to buy a wholesaler in another market, while still remaining under the 10 percent threshold established by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Class-Action Lawsuit Filed Against Molson Coors

Molson Coors is facing a class-action lawsuit for overstating its net income by nearly $400 million in 2016, according to the Denver Post.

In an SEC filing last week, Molson Coors blamed accounting errors with inflating its net income totals and understating its tax liabilities in 2016. Additional accounting errors in 2017 led to overstated tax expenses as well as understated net income and deferred tax liability, the Associated Press reported.

The lawsuit claims that Molson Coors — whose flagship products include Miller Lite and Coors Light — as well as CEO Mark Hunter and CFO Tracey Joubert engaged in a scheme to deceive investors by knowingly or deliberately disregarding that the company’s financial statement contained errors and misleading statements.


Other Half Hires Eric Salazar Away From New Belgium

After a 23-year career at New Belgium, Eric Salazar has departed the Fort Collins-headquartered craft brewery to join New York’s Other Half Brewing and lead its wood-aged and wild ale program, according to the Democrat & Chronicle.

Other Half co-founder and brewmaster Sam Richardson told the outlet “He’s going to help us reimagine what we want this program to look like,”.

However, Other Half has yet to establish a home for its nascent sour production, which it is currently searching for. For his part, Salazar, who departed New Belgium at the beginning of the year, told the Democrat & Chronicle that he and his wife, Amy, were looking to move to the East Coast to be closer to her family.

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Michael Potorti is the Host of Craft Beer Storm and Founder/Brewer at Beara Brewing Co. in Portsmouth, NH

Michael Potorti
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michael@bearairishbrew.com

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