Zoe Licata joined Brewbound in 2021 after several years of freelance reporting and documentary work. She’s a Massachusetts native, guinea pig for bev-alc innovation and savant in Gen Z culture.
8th Wonder Brewery, Distillery and Cannabis has been acquired by Bayou City Hemp Company, a Houston, Texas-headquartered cannabis company. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
Molson Coors and The Coca-Cola Company are partnering again this fall with the launch of Peace Hard Tea, a 5% ABV malt-based version of Coca-Cola’s Peace Tea.
Drizly, an Uber-owned alcohol e-commerce delivery platform, began “company wide” layoffs this week, according to several social media posts by former employees.
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. has made a minority investment in Riot Energy, a Venice, California-based energy drink company. The California brewery will “initially serve as an investor,” but will “eventually produce and package Riot Energy products” once its CanDo Innovation Center is up and running.
Hard MTN Dew, the flavored malt beverage (FMB) from Boston Beer Company and PepsiCo, is expanding its lineup for the first time since launching with Livewire, an orange citrus flavor inspired by the soft drink flavor of the same name.
Boston-based Harpoon Brewery is expanding beyond bev-alc and into cannabis, announcing the launch of Rec. Weed, a THC-infused non-alcoholic beverage.
A year after its founding, the Adult Non-Alcoholic Beverage Association (ANBA) has more than doubled its membership to more than 90 beverage companies across beer, wine and spirits.
Trade groups across beer and spirits continue to fight over whether spirits-based, ready-to-drink canned cocktails (RTDs) should be taxed at the same as malt-based alternatives. The argument came to a head this month when Public Sector Consultants (PSC) released a study claiming decreased excise tax rates for spirits-based RTDs have cost consumers more on shelf.
Global cannabis firm Tilray is adding an East Coast craft brewery to its growing brewery portfolio, with the acquisition of Montauk Brewing Company. Financial terms of the transaction were not immediately disclosed, but the deal is for 100% of the New York craft brewery.
Ready-to-drink beverage-alcohol (RTDs) has crossed into every alcoholic-beverage category, with spirits-based and wine-based RTDs, hard seltzers, flavored malt beverages (FMBs) and more. And RTD consumers aren’t sticking to just one category, according to Bump Williams Consulting (BWC).
Schilling Cider launched Vida Maté, a line of non-alcoholic yerba maté beverages, earlier this month that CEO Colin Schilling believes has the potential to outsell its hard cider portfolio.
Diageo North America has opened a 225,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility in Plainfield, Illinois, expanding the company’s production capacity by more than 25 million cases. Diageo Lincolnway, a $110 million project, includes the installation of two new high-speed canning lines, which will support production of both malt- and spirit-based ready-to-drink canned cocktails (RTDs).
Hard MTN Dew – the partnership project between Boston Beer Company and PepsiCo Beverages – launched in three states this week: Florida, Iowa and Tennessee.
Ojai, California-based hard kombucha and hard seltzer-maker Flying Embers has closed a $20 million series C funding round, led by global spirits giant Beam Suntory. The investment will help fund expanded marketing and sales initiatives, as well as new product launches and the expansion of the company’s beyond beer portfolio.
