USA | It must have been a tough decision to take: Boston Beer, the maker of Truly hard seltzer, threw away excess stock, instead of discounting it. This was in response to a category-wide sales slowdown.

USA | Michigan’s Bell’s Brewery, which was among the first wave of craft breweries in the 1980s, has agreed to be sold to the Australian beer company Lion and its parent, Japanese brewer Kirin. This was reported on 10 November 2021.

USA | Stone Brewing’s Napa taproom and brewery was closed at the end of October 2021, after a judge gave its landlord the power to evict the firm. Almost 40 people lost their jobs.

USA | Is this what woke brewers do? After Earth Day (22 April), New Belgium brewery has also added National Coming Out Day (11 October) to its list of release dates. It launched a special beer, appropriately named Biere de Queer – Celebration Ale, which was sent to hundreds of members of Congress to persuade them to pass the Equality Act.

USA | Errr, will punters really seek out a destination taproom to drink hard seltzers? Boston Beer clearly thinks so. Truly LA, as this brick-and-mortar taproom is called, will open next year in Downtown Los Angeles. It will seat 350 persons indoors and outdoors.

USA |Hard seltzer’s slumping summer sales have sent waves of concern across the beverage industry. The slowdown started with consumers’ return to the on-premise and has only gotten worse as the summer has worn on.

USA | As allegations of sexual discrimination and harassment shook the craft brewing industry earlier this year, several industry groups came together as the BRU (Brewing Respect and Unity) Coalition. It seeks to drive an industry-wide adoption of best practices for preventing discrimination, harassment, and violence within the brewing industry.

USA | Smaller wine, beer and spirits producers hope that President Biden’s executive order will make it easier to reach consumers, not least by allowing direct-to-consumer shipping across state borders, which is still illegal in most states. 

USA | More work for corporate lawyers. Even before AB-InBev’s lawsuit against Constellation Brands over a breach of their Corona licencing agreement has been settled, the Mexican arm of AB-InBev has accused Constellation Brands of a second breach of their deal, this time concerning the Modelo brand.

USA | The popular Wisconsin craft brewer New Glarus, famous for its Spotted Cow beers, is being sued by three of its original investors over withheld profits. The lawsuit was filed on 19 August 2021.