Craft Brew News 03/13/20
(Stories Courtesy of Brewbound.com)

Craft Brewers Conference Canceled

The largest gathering of craft brewing industry professionals has been canceled due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19, the coronavirus disease .

After days of speculation and major events across the country canceling and postponing, the Brewers Association today announced the decision to forgo holding the 2020 edition of the Craft Brewers Conference & Brew Expo America, as well as the World Beer Cup competition, which was expected to draw more than 13,000 people to San Antonio from April 19-22.

The BA said in a statement on its website. “Developments over the past 24 hours have made hosting this year’s conference infeasible, and, after much thought and consideration, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America and World Beer Cup,”

In major cities and counties across the country, local officials are banning large gatherings of people in an effort to institute social distancing of individuals and slow the spread of the disease. Disneyland also announced it was shutting down.

Celebrities such as Tom Hanks, as well as Utah Jazz stars Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, have all been confirmed as testing positive for COVID-19.

Ballast Point Deal Closes

Constellation Brands’ sale of Ballast Point to an investor group fronted by little-known Chicago upstart beer company Kings and Convicts officially closed on Monday.

The iconic San Diego craft brewery’s return to independence and ownership by a craft brewing group that didn’t produce 1,000 barrels of beer last year blindsided and confounded industry professionals and media when it was announced in early December.

In 2015, Constellation Brands paid $1 billion for the brand in 2015. Industry sources have pegged the sale to Kings and Convicts at around $68 million, plus several years of hop contracts.

Moving forward, Ballast Point’s turnaround starts with adding a sales team, something the brand didn’t have after Constellation reorganized its sales structure in 2018. The company is about a third of its way to hiring 45 salespeople, including national chain accounts and on- and off-premise reps in San Diego.

Athletic Brewing Company Adds San Diego Production Brewery, Closes $17.5 Million Funding Round

Connecticut-based craft non-alcoholic beer maker Athletic Brewing Company announced today the acquisition of the assets of the former Ballast Point “Trade Street” facility, as well as the close of a $17.5 million Series B funding round.

Athletic Brewing co-founder Bill Shufelt declined to disclose how much the company paid for the assets but said it will lease the 80,000 sq. ft. production facility, which does not have a taproom.

Athletic’s Stratford, Connecticut-based facility produced 10,000 barrels in 2019, but the company was hampered by production constraints since last May, Shufelt said. The California production facility will increase the company’s capacity “tenfold” to meet growing demand.

Allagash Founder Rob Tod Advises New England Craft Brewers: ‘It’s Going to Get Tough’

Allagash Brewing founder Rob Tod counseled fellow Maine brewers on what he predicted will be choppy waters ahead during last week’s New England Brew Summit in Portland, Maine.

Tod said “We’re going to have to work hard to protect what we’ve built,”. “We just saw how much value we’re delivering to communities all over this country. We’re going to have to work hard to protect it, because I can tell you there’s nothing that the big mega-brewers would like more than to take beer back into those big factories.”

He also said “One of my big concerns is last time I went to my local grocery store, I wasn’t noticing them adding more coolers, and these seltzers are going in a cooler space that was previously occupied by beer,”. “We’ve worked for 25, 30 years building this beer shelf out, and the seltzers are going in this space. So, is it good for beer? You know, I don’t know.”

In Allagash’s quarter-century of existence, its distribution footprint has changed drastically, which Tod attributed to advice from Jerry Sheehan of multi-state wholesaler Craft Brewers Guild: Don’t be a mile wide and an inch deep.

In 2005, Allagash sold 5,000 barrels while distributing to 26 states and Washington, D.C.

Today, Allagash distributes to 15 states, as well as Washington, D.C., Chicago, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and has seen its volume skyrocket since the mid-2000s.

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