Russian River’s 15th annual release of Pliny the Younger double IPA drummed up $4.2 mil in economic impact for Sonoma County this year, a notable boost with added help from recently opened $50 mil Windsor brewing complex, reported Santa Rosa Press Democrat. With 2d location in place, co was able to double production of Pliny the Younger to 350 bbls and host visitors at both breweries, paper noted. From Feb 1 to Feb 14, Russian River drew in 24,700 visitors spanning across 42 states and 14 countries. Sonoma County Economic Development Board surveyed 2,400 visitors to determine full economic impact, including spending on hotels, meals, gas etc. Interestingly, attendance was essentially split 50/50 between co’s two locations. Pliny the Younger sold for $5.25 per 10oz pour, and customers were limited to 3 “special beers” within 3-hr period. Customers spent $59.38 per brewery visit on avg, survey found.

BrewDog is promoting from within its org while shifting around exec team in US and abroad. Tanisha Robinson, who was hired as CEO of BrewDog USA in Jul 2017, will move to global role as Chief Disruption Officer, while Allison Green shifts from Global Chief of Staff to US CEO, co announced. Notably, Tanisha’s “initial projects include rapidly scaling the DogHouse hotel concept, canned cocktails, CBD beverages, and supporting the Australian brewery launch,” per release. Recall, BrewDog also recently hired Adam Lambert as chief rev officer last Dec, then touting “big” plans for 2019, including 4-5 new states, new brands, packages, brewpubs and more (see Dec 11, 2018 issue). Co expected to brew 25K bbls and reach $18.5 mil in revs in US in 2018, Tanisha then told Market Watch. It grew 268% in IRI for 52 wks thru Feb 17 to become one of top-30 craft growth brand families in scans (see Feb 26 issue). So after slower start in US, BrewDog starting to make some headway.

JuneShine Hard Kombucha Hires Ex-Ballast & Green Flash Vet as VP of Sales In San Diego, ambitious hard kombucha co, JuneShine, hired industry vet Laura Slayter as its VP of Sales, co announced. Recall, after quickly reaching max capacity of 2000-2500 bbls/yr, JuneShine acquired Ballast Point’s Scripp Ranch facility with 100K bbls/yr of capacity just 6 mos after launching, planning to expand thruout CA, PacNW and other major west coast cities in 2019 (see Feb 12 issue). Notably, on top of more recent roles held at Green Flash and Solti, Laura worked at Ballast Point as VP of natl accts when Ballast Point was “roughly the same size as JuneShine and located in the Scripps Ranch facility,” she noted in release. This time around , “I plan to replicate and improve that journey with an even better, more energetic sales team,” she added. (Gotta note, that journey was one that resulted in $1 bil acquisition.) JuneShine is currently sold in “over 200 accounts throughout San Diego county and select accounts in Orange County and Los Angeles.” Laura will aid JuneShine’s expansion plans thruout CA and beyond.

Above partnership between Boulevard and 20th Century Fox marks another step-change in increasingly high-profile sponsorships and collaborations between craft brewers and non-beer brands. Brewers have long worked with local retailers, brands and bands to connect to new audiences. But many recent deals take that to another level. Music connections remains especially common, like Boulevard’s with Tech N9ne, also above, and often come about organically. A beer-loving artist seeks out a brewer to have an exclusive beer in support of a new album or, especially, a tour, for instance. In fact, many of the origin stories of the selected projects here feature brewery folks forging or working existing connections.

This launch comes just a couple months after 20th Century Fox partnered with another brewery, Calif’s Three Weavers, to brew beers to be served in unique escape-room style experiences supporting the release of Alita: Battle Angel. Fox created these immersive gaming experiences, called “Passport to Iron City,” set in fictional city from the film, in LA, NYC and Austin. Three Weavers, part of CANarchy collective recall, created 3 separate beers to be served at the events, scheduled to run thru the spring. Core Three Weavers brands, plus new Oskar Blues IPA also available to participants.

And Fox isn’t the only major entertainment co to clear such a partnership recently. Sony Pictures Television announced late last week that, in tandem with Breaking Bad actor Dean Norris, it’s working with Calif’s Figueroa Mountain Brewing to produce Schraderbrau lager this spring. The beer is a riff on Norris’ character’s homebrew from season 2 of the hugely popular series. Norris, who seems to have pushed the project forward, started hinting that something was in the works on social media earlier this year, spurring a couple of entertainment-focused publications to find that Sony had filed paperwork for the beer. Fig Mtn will release Schraderbrau in 22oz bottles starting in May.

Recall, Sony sued Knee Deep Brewing last yr to stop it from selling its Breaking Bud IPA (see vol 9, no 38). As we noted then, numerous breweries have employed in-jokes and references to tv, film and music when naming and creating artwork for their beers (long a homebrewer’s trope). But the more actual tv shows, filmmakers and musicians partner up with breweries, the more likely those folks may come after breweries for dipping into their intellectual property without permission. In that respect, the partnerships also suggest a bit of a coming-of-age moment or maturation for craft.

Gigantic/Hellboy; Georgia Music & Sports; More Food Pairings Many participants in these projects bill them as collaborations rather than sponsorship deals, and in many cases they easily dovetail into a brewery’s biz. Take Gigantic Brewing out of Portland, OR and its series of Hellboy beers coming out throughout 2019. The brewery has employed comic-inspired pop art branding from the get-go, so partnering with Hellboy publishers Dark Horse Comics to a series of 6 beers to celebrate the comic’s 25th anniversary fits right in for the brewery. Releases will appear every 7 weeks, each at 6.66% ABV and limited to 666 cases, associated with different Hellboy characters and feature label art created by Dark Horse, natch.

Out in Georgia, breweries are striking up partnerships left and right to build audiences. On the one hand, there’s biggest city brewer SweetWater and its collab with Atlanta Hawks player Dominique Wilkins, Human Highlight IPA, a specialty release that dropped earlier this yr. But then there’s more extensive projects from local musicians Nappy Roots, as the Atlanta Journal Constitution spelled out last month. The Grammy-nominated band released Kentucky Mud, a nitro chocolate milk stout named for a song, brewed by Arches Brewing in Hapeville, GA. The band just finished its Great American Beer Run Tour, during which it visited breweries and shot footage for a forth-coming reality tv show. In fact, Nappy Roots had previously worked with Atlanta’s Monday Night Brewing and 2 others for separate beers since and hopes to build its own brewery in home-state Georgia.

Speaking of repeat-partners, NY’s Captain Lawrence teamed up with ice cream/cake-franchiser Carvel for another pair of beers, following up on last year’s Fudgie the Beer release. This yr, co brewed up a paid of Cookie Puss beers, a milkshake IPA and a pastry stout, named after a brand of Carvel ice cream cakes. Both co’s based just outside NYC. It follows in footsteps of plenty of other food-related partnerships, like Harpoon’s partnership with Dunkin, Keegan Ale’s IHOPS and Noon Whistle’s work with Planter’s/Kraft Heinz (see vol 9 no 90 and 98 from last fall).

All of these projects can come with potentially big upside of getting brewery’s brand name out in bigger way, especially with mainstream press coverage galore. But again, the risk is in successfully transitioning a consumer interested in a one-off into a repeat buyer of a brewery’s other beers. Then too, cycling big one-off pops presents its own challenges in future years. But, by and large, these and many more breweries determining the benefits outweigh the risks.

MO’s Urban Chestnut joins the likes of Lagunitas in pursuit of non-alc “craft beverage production” with new Sparkling Hop Water, set to launch this summer in 4pk 16oz cans, co announced. Sparkling Hop Water is “unsweetened and naturally free of both alcohol and calories,” described as an “all-occasion beverage full of floral and piney hop flavor,” per release. Urban Chestnut has been selling versions of hop water at its taproom since making some for festival that unexpectedly was cancelled last spring. “We were blown away by how well it was received and has been selling, so we’ve continued to produce it and keep it on tap ever since,” VP of sales Jon Shine stated.

Notably, co promises to “explore” CBD-infusions and other “natural ingredient” infusions such as Ginseng, Jon added. And co cites use of hops for “medicinal purposes since medieval times,” and research that suggests hops “have mild sedative properties, can improve blood circulation, and may one day lead to the development of cancer therapies” as well. Gotta note, Lagunitas HOP Sparkling Water rolled out nationally this year, co already eying international oppys, CEO Maria Stipp shared with CBN earlier this year (see Jan 25 issue). Yet co initially focusing on on-premise accounts looking to expand their non-alc beer selection, as well as utilize brand as a cocktail mixer.

Now that baseball season has begun, here come the stadium beer list articles. And looks like the Chicago Cubs’ Wrigley Field has “an all-star lineup” of brews in 2019, Chicago Tribune reported. This is Wrigley’s “most varied and ambitious menu to date,” sez paper, welcoming Three Floyds and Beygle Brewing, as well as “an expanded presence from Half Acre, Revolution, Lagunitas and Cruz Blanca, the brewpub co-founded by chef Rick Bayless.” Indeed, Half Acre will “more than triple its availability of Daisy Cutter Pale Ale in 16-ounce cans” and Pony Pilsner will be on tap at two locations. And Revolution’s new Every Day-Hero Session IPA, Anti-Hero IPA, and 16oz cans of Fist City Pale; Three Floyds Gumballhead Wheat 16oz cans, Zombie Dust pale ale draft; and Begyle Blonde 16oz cans will be available at different locations in the ballpark as well.

Recall, AB struck multi-year “megadeal” with Wrigley Field beginning in 2014, replacing Pabst’s Old-Style sponsorship, paper reminds. In the past Wrigley has featured Goose Island, including with exclusive Cubs-themed beers. Yet Lagunitas IPA replaced several Goose Island handles back in 2017 and last year Bell’s Oberon and “a smattering of Revolution and Half Acre” were made available as well. AB will still account for “about half the beer available” and is adding fast-growing Mich Ultra to list of offerings. Plus, Goose still has 10 different beers available. But Wrigley clearly lookin’ for more diversified offerings, including a couple of AB’s Virtue Cider brands and a “sparkling water/tequila hybrid” called Sauza Agua Fuerta from Beam Suntory’s tequila brand. This yr’s list was built with “market share data, insights and analytics…to make truly informed decisions about what Cubs fans want to enjoy at the game,” concessions management partner Levy Restaurants said in statement.

Several more notable hires in craftland of late. The latest – Craft Brew Alliance hired ex-New Belgium CEO, Christine Perich, as Chief Financial and Strategy Officer starting Apr 1, 2019, co announced. Recall, CBA’s previous CFO Joe Vanderstelt abruptly resigned in Jul 2018 after 3.5 yrs with the co to join Ocean Spray Cranberries, per LinkedIn. But this opening gave CBA an oppy to hire for a “broader” role beyond “just a financial specialist,” CEO Andy Thomas explained to CBN. And Christine fits the bill. Indeed, Christine spent 16 yrs with New Belgium, rising to CFO, COO and eventually president/CEO during her tenure. Plus, Christine has spent the last few years starting her own consulting biz in broader beverage space, serving as CEO for WTRMLN WTR for a short time, as board member to HealthAde Kombucha and Laws Whiskey House, and working for AB’s ZX Ventures brand, Owl’s Brew, among other projects. This coincides nicely with CBA’s newest initiative via pH Experiment to study consumer trends and launch innovative new products beyond traditional beer brands, both Christine and Andy acknowledged. “Lifting my head outside of beer…I have a different perspective now too,” that should help to “meld nicely into this role,” Christine told CBN.

Christine will keep her board seat on HealthAde, but “a lot of other…contracts were coming to a natural close,” thru her consulting biz. Andy initially reached out to Christine in Nov and “when we started talking again” in early 2019, the timing worked out well, both explained. Christine will remain based out of Ft Collins and will travel as needed. Plus, she’ll be right by AB Ft Collins brewery that’s contract brewing up to 300K bbls/yr of CBA brews.

Ex-HUSA vet Lesya Lysyj Joins Boston Beer as CMO; Sam Adams Just 20% of Boston in Scans Then too, Boston Beer named Lesya Lysyj as CMO earlier this week, filling a slot vacant since last July when Jonathan Potter left (as sibling pub INSIGHTS Express reported). She is only the 2d CMO that Boston ever had. Recall, Lesya had an effective 3-yr run as HUSA’s CMO under Dolf van den Brink. She left to become prexy of Weight Watchers North America and most recently was prexy of Welch’s Foods US. Boston Beer CEO Dave Burwick also spent time at Weight Watchers, points out AdAge, tho at separate times.

While Boston Beer’s biz increasingly shifts toward FMBs and hard seltzers, co continues to give Sam Adams most of its marketing attention and $$ allocation. As founder Jim Koch has commented several times, Sam Adams is still considered the heart and soul of Boston Beer, and co continues to spend disproportionately against its beer brands in hopes of turning things around. Yet Sam Adams declining at steeper rates in early 2019. Down 15% YTD thru Mar 16 in Nielsen All Outlet, including down 20% for latest 4 wks, as core brands decline, and Sam 76 unable to cycle last year’s launch. Sam Adams fell to just 20% of total Boston scan volume for 4 wks. Truly Spiked & Sparkling’s volume (334K cases, +216%) is nearly as large as total Sam Adams volume (362K cases) for period. Much of Lesya’s work likely to be on Sam brands regardless. But lots of work to be done. Total Boston is up 10.6% yr-to-date thru Mar 16 in Nielsen, even with declines from both Sam Adams and Angry Orchard. Slowed to +6% for 4 wks.

Cutwater Appoints AB’s Shreyas Balakrishnan as New GM; Previous Elysian GM Not long after AB’s acquisition, Cutwater Spirits appointed 15-yr AB vet, Shreyas Balakrishnan, as new GM, Cutwater’s Earl Kight shared. Shreyas, just 37 yrs old, was most recently GM for AB’s fastest growing craft brand, Elysian. Yet he also worked for AB as a brewer for “many years,” and on distribution side as well. Plus, he has mechanical engineering degree and MBA from Washington University. So “he gets it,” sez Earl. But before transitioning to Cutwater, Shreyas will remain acting Elysian GM until his replacement is found, AB spokesperson confirmed with CBN.

Stone Brewing “demonstrated that it has a moderately strong infringement claim against Miller,” US Dist Ct judge ruled earlier this week, “but not that it would suffer irreparable harm” without a preliminary injunction. So, he refused to give Stone an injunction. Lack of irreparable harm alone enough to withhold injunction, judge pointed out. But even considering other arguments, Stone would come up short “because Stone merely reiterates its largely unfounded consumer and non-consumer confusion allegations.” Stone will have to show harm and confusion at trial.

Recall, Stone sued MC last yr, claiming that MC’s rebrand of Keystone Light, with labeling that increased focus on word STONE, violated Stone Brewing’s trademark. Judge did multi-factor analysis to determine the “likelihood of confusion” and found some weighed in Stone’s favor, some in MC’s favor, some neutral. He determined that Stone’s mark is “commercially strong and recognizable” and “entitled to the strong protection afforded to suggestive marks.” Also, since both brands distributed nationally and appear “in close proximity” and in direct competition on store shelves the “proximity” factor “weighs in favor of Stone.”

Looking at “similarity of marks,” MC wanted retailers to display Keystone brand so consumers see the word STONE, but not KEY, judge said. But, “what Stone conveniently fails to mention is that a consumer picking up, or even just looking at a Keystone can see the full name KEYSTONE LIGHT (twice), as well as the bright-yellow house mark of Coors.” Perhaps even more damaging, MC found a tweet from Stone that read: “[The] pictures we show aren’t important…. We know anyone, including a judge, is plenty able to turn a can & see the entirety of it for themselves.” MC won that factor. Similarly, on issue of “degree of care” among buyers, judge agreed with MC that “there are sufficient differences in the cans, packaging and price between Stone and Keystone that consumers would likely know the difference.”

Factors that were neutral included MC’s intent, whether MC and Stone used same mktg channels and likelihood of expansion. On issue of “actual confusion,” Stone and MC each provided surveys from experts purporting to show an “extraordinary level of confusion” among consumers (Stone’s expert) or “no likelihood of consumer confusion at all” (MC expert). These were a wash, “if not slightly for Miller,” judge determined.

Taking all those factors into account, judge found “Stone’s trademark infringement claim against Miller is moderately strong.” But, again, Stone had to show irreparable harm and it didn’t. In fact, “because Stone is hard-pressed to determine that it would suffer any harm absent a preliminary injunction,” the judge observed, “it falls far short of demonstrating it would suffer irreparable harm in the absence” of a preliminary injunction.

Then too, MC filed counterclaims vs Stone, seeking declarations that it can continue to use STONE and STONES to advertise Key Light, and more. The judge refused to dismiss MC counterclaims, another defeat for Stone. Net-net: the case continues, barring settlement.

Both Sides Claim Victory Early signs suggest settlement unlikely. Indeed, Stone put out statement claiming victory for “true independent craft beer.” Noting judge “confirmed ‘Stone’s mark to be commercially strong and recognizable,’” Stone declared again that “MillerCoors is infringing on the brewery’s trademark rights. “That’s even while judge explicitly wrote: “Miller has not been found liable of trademark infringement.” Stone did cite Judge’s determination that its claim “moderately strong” and vowed to present “evidence of the significant impact that MillerCoors’ campaign has had” on Stone and “the massive sales which Keystone has accumulated since reviving itself using Stone’s trademark” at trial. Court’s decision “confirms” that MC “should be ashamed of what they have been doing,” said co-founder Greg Koch. CEO Dominic Engels called it “a win for Stone.” Meanwhile, MC said it was “pleased” with judge’s decision not to grant an injunction, which shows that Stone’s motion “lacked merit.” MC said too: “We always used our Keystone trademark in an appropriate manner, and have easily refuted claims to the contrary.”

• Volume pop beer industry got in 2020-2021 is washing away and then some this yr. Domestic taxpaids down 4.1% for 11 mos, shedding 6.3 mil bbls vs yr ago, BI estimates.
• NA beer at 12 share in Whole Foods North Atlantic region for 13 wks, 8 share of Whole Foods nationally and 2 share of beer $$ in US Foodstores, per Athletic founder Bill Shufelt citing Nielsen data.
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