Brewscape: The Latest Craft Beer Brand News

George Clooney & Partners Take Aim at NA Beer With Crazy Mountain

George Clooney, Rande Gerber and Mike Meldman’s non-alcoholic (NA) beer brand has been among the beer business’ worst-kept secrets.

The Casamigos founders teased getting into beer’s fast-growing space last October. However, whispers about their involvement started long before.

Former New Belgium CEO and Beam Suntory executive Steve Fechheimer cryptically posted about the “Project Zero” NA beer brand to LinkedIn several times over the last year, including announcing himself as CEO. He also made filings for the Crazy Mountain name with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in June.

The foundation laid over the last year built to the March 9 official press push, including a Page Six feature, pixelated billboards on Los Angeles’ Sunset Strip and numerous social media posts.

Clooney, Gerber and Meldman explained their reasons for getting into the increasingly crowded but growing NA beer space in a press release.

“We love beer, we just don’t always want the effects that come with it,” Clooney added.

Fechheimer told Brewbound that the trio contacted him about a year ago with the idea for an NA beer. He described Crazy Mountain as “authentically their idea” for a lager brand that “fit with their lifestyle.”

“This is important to them,” Fechheimer explained. “This is their next adventure together.”

Crazy Mountain will ride into 25 states “pretty quickly,” with a focus on both the biggest beer and NA beer states, Fechheimer explained. Included among the launch states are California, Texas, Florida, Illinois, New York, Massachusetts and Colorado.

Signed on for the launch are Reyes Beverage Group, Keg 1, Columbia Distributing, Crescent Crown, Andrews Distributing and Southern, he added.

The rest of Crazy Mountain’s map will fill out through 2027.

JuneShine to Outsource Production, Shut Down Facility; 30 Employees Affected

JuneShine Brands is shifting production of all its brands to third-party producers.

The company’s portfolio – including JuneShine Hard Kombucha, JuneShine Spirits ready-to-drink cocktails (RTDs) and Willie’s Remedy+ THC beverages – will move production from in-house to contract production facilities, in a move meant to “maximize efficiencies, bolster profitability and accelerate long-term growth,” according to a press release.

JuneShine declined to share where production will be moving, but noted in the release that it will be “leveraging specialized production partners.” The transition is expected to be complete by June 1, JuneShine co-founder and CMO Forrest Dein told Brewbound.

The company’s existing production is headquartered at the “JuneShine Scripps Ranch,” a 25,000 sq. ft. facility that formerly housed Ballast Point. The location includes a taproom space, which remains open.

“At our current size and trajectory, this realignment allows us to be a more agile and effective partner,” Dein said in the release. “Moving to a horizontal model ensures that our resources are allocated where they provide the most value: in the hands of our consumers and on the shelves of our retailers.”

With the move, JuneShine will be able to dedicate less time to “the capital-intensive brewing process” and focus “the company’s creative energy” “on developing category-defining production,” the company wrote.

“In an era of rising raw material costs and increasingly complex supply chains, maintaining a fully vertical, high-quality craft brewing operation has become a challenge for even the most established brands in California,” JuneShine VP of Operations Ronnie Riedell said in the release.

“This realignment is the most sustainable and sensible next step for our business,” he continued. “By outsourcing production, we are not just cutting costs; we are building a more resilient, efficient organization that can continue to deliver the premium quality our fans expect for years to come.”

Thirty employees will be affected by the move, Dein told Brewbound. The company gave those employees 90 days’ notice and noted that it is “committed to supporting its production staff during this transition.

A-B Closes $490 Million Deal for 85% Stake in BeatBox

Anheuser-Busch InBev closed on its previously announced acquisition of BeatBox Beverages on February 27.

As reported in December, A-B acquired an 85% stake in party punch maker BeatBox for a purchase price of “up to approximately $490 million” with plans to achieve 100% ownership “after five years based on a predetermined pricing formula.”

With BeatBox, A-B is now the third-largest “hard beverage supplier in the industry,” according to a press release. The brand joins A-B’s other growing beyond beer offerings, Cutwater Spirits RTD canned cocktails and Nütrl vodka-based hard seltzer.

“We’re incredibly proud of what the BeatBox team has built and couldn’t be more excited for the journey ahead,” BeatBox co-founder and CEO Justin Fenchel added. “Joining Anheuser-Busch and their beyond beer portfolio marks an important next step for us. This partnership gives us the opportunity to accelerate our momentum in the U.S. and bring BeatBox to even more fans.

“Thank you to everyone who has supported BeatBox along the way. We’re just getting started.”

Tilray to Acquire BrewDog Brand, UK Brewery and 11 Pubs for £33 Million

Tilray Brands has struck a deal to acquire some assets of Scottish craft brewery BrewDog.

The deal, which closed March 2, includes BrewDog’s global brand and intellectual property, its brewing operations in Ellon, Scotland, and 11 pubs across the U.K. and Ireland.

Tilray separately acquired BrewDog’s Australia business unit, while also working toward a deal for its U.S. assets.

The announcements came weeks after news broke that BrewDog was exploring a sale and had secured the services of global consulting firm AlixPartners.

“BrewDog is one of the most iconic, mission-driven craft beer brands in the U.K.,” Tilray CEO and chairman Irwin Simon said in the release. “It helped redefine modern craft beer through bold innovation, fearless creativity and an unwavering commitment to great beer. What makes BrewDog truly special has always been its brewers, its brewpubs and its passionate community of beer fans.”

Tilray is set to acquire three BrewDog pubs in Scotland:

• Dogtap Ellon, on-site at the company’s main production brewery;

• Lothian Road in Edinburgh;

• And the Edinburgh DogHouse in downtown Edinburgh.

Other pubs included in the deal are in Dublin, Ireland; Birmingham and Manchester, U.K.; and five pubs in London, including Canary Wharf, Paddington, Seven Dials, Tower Hill and Waterloo.

The Australia deal includes BrewDog’s production facility in Brisbane, two bars in the same city (DogTap Brisbane and BrewDog Fortitude Valley) and three licensed taprooms (Pentridge, Victoria; South Eveleigh, New South Wales; and Perth, Western Australia).

Nearly 500 workers lost their jobs with the closure of 38 BrewDog-owned pubs across the U.K., AlixPartners shared in a press release.

The brewery, distribution center and remaining pubs represent the preservation of 733 jobs, AlixPartners noted. Eighteen franchise-operated bars in the U.K. and across the globe will remain in business.

In addition to the closure of dozens of bars, another shift in BrewDog’s financial situation is that no payments will be made “to any equity holders, including that granted under the Equity for Punks scheme,” AlixPartners noted in the release.

The Equity for Punks community includes more than 200,000 individual investors who participated in the brewery’s eponymous crowdfunding campaigns, which have reportedly raised more than $102 million between 2009 and 2021.

Garage Beer Adds Molson Coors, BeatBox Vets to C-Suite

Garage Beer continues to build out its executive team.

The independent beer brand, which is backed by Jason and Travis Kelce, has named BeatBox alum Patrick Brang its chief financial officer and longtime Molson Coors veteran Andrew McGuire its chief revenue officer.

“Patrick and Andrew are tremendous additions to the Garage Beer team,” president Brian Amicon said in a press release. “Patrick brings a strong track record of scaling businesses in growth mode, while Andrew adds deep experience and leadership in the beer industry.

“We’re humbled and excited to have both of them helping drive the next stage of Garage Beer’s growth,” he continued.

The hiring of Brand and McGuire comes on the heels of Garage adding Amicon as president and Molson Coors alum Pete Marino as board member.

McGuire spent nearly 20 years at Molson Coors, where his most recent title was chief customer officer for the global brewer’s U.S. operations.

At BeatBox, which closed its 85% sale to Anheuser-Busch InBev, Brang served as SVP of finance.

Pabst, Brown-Forman FMB Partnership to End in July

Brown-Forman and Pabst Brewing Company are ending their production, sales, marketing and distribution partnership for flavored malt beverages (FMBs) such as the whiskey brand’s Jack Daniel’s Country Cocktails after five years.

The companies said they mutually agreed to wind down the relationship, with Brown-Forman shifting production in-house, effective July 7.

In 2021, Pabst was granted the exclusive rights to Brown-Forman’s Jack Daniel’s Country Cocktails FMB line as well as the right to create new offerings. Jack Daniel’s Bolder, Jack Daniel’s Hard Tea and el Jimador Spiked Bebidas followed. However, Brown-Forman retained full ownership of Jack Daniel’s Country Cocktails’ trademarks and other assets.

Now, Brown-Forman will take over “management of the supply, sales, marketing, and distribution for these products,” per the announcement. The company will also “oversee the supply chain and commercial operations for these brands, aligning them with the company’s broader strategic focus on the ready-to-drink category.”