Efforts to extend or make permanent fed excise tax break given to alc bev producers in 2017 tax bill (now set to expire at end of this yr) took another step forward with task force report from Senate Finance Committee yesterday. Every member of Task force is co-sponsor of Craft Bev Modernization and Tax Reform Act, report noted. Plus: “The Task Force would like to not only have this provision extended, but furthermore see the CBMTRA enacted on a permanent basis.” Meanwhile, Beer Inst reminds that last mo House Ways & Means Committee “passed a one-year extension to federal excise tax relief, which is now awaiting consideration in the full US House of Representatives. That bill would then move to the Senate, and today’s Task Force report will hopefully ease the pathway for the Senate to pass tax relief.” BI prexy Jim McGreevy and BA prexy Bob Pease welcomed the development, natch. Reasons to be optimistic: “We are up to 272 House cosponsors and 68 Senate cosponsors,” Bob pointed out. If made permanent, 86% of small and indie craft breweries “would be more likely to make capital investments and hire new people,” based on BA survey. Nearly 3/4 of small and indie brewers (73%) say they’re already “purchasing new equipment, upgrading their tasting rooms, moving to new buildings,” over half (53%) say they’re hiring new employees, 39% are increasing employee benefits and raising pay, 21% are increasing charitable contributions and 58% are doing two or more of these actions with tax savings.

Ongoing dispute between Stone Brewing and MillerCoors over Stone/Keystone trademark saw both cos file motion for summary judgement this week. Recall, Stone introduced lawsuit in Feb 2018 tho failed to get preliminary injunction in Mar 2019 when judge determined it did not prove “irreparable harm,” despite having “moderately strong infringement claim against Miller” (see Mar 27 issue). Judge didn’t dismiss MC’s counterclaims at that time, and cos continued to go back and forth before MC filed motion for summary judgement on Aug 12 and Stone then filed motion for summary judgement next day, Aug 13. Court date is set for Sep 16, 2019 at 10:30am in US District Ct, Southern District of Calif in San Diego.

MC refers to Stone’s lawsuit as “a publicity stunt” as “Stone Brewing is failing keep pace in an ever more crowded craft beer segment and needed to revitalize its now-outdated image as an iconoclast.” (Editor’s note: Stone declining 2% YTD thru Jul 14 in IRI data including -9% for latest 12 wks.) MC again lists counterclaims, arguing: 1) it was first to use “STONE” and “STONES” marks “before Stone Brewing even existed,” and 2) therefore “cannot have willfully infringed upon Stone Brewing’s marks”; 3) Stone’s “claims for dilution under federal and state law fail because its STONE trademark is not famous or, in the alternative, because MillerCoors’ use started before the STONE mark became famous”; and 4) Stone claims are barred by laches (meaning co is “out of time” to act on any legal claims). Net-net, MC requests that it’s “the senior user of the ‘STONE’ and ‘STONES’ marks” and “cannot be found to infringe Stone Brewing’s mark.” “It is time for Stone Brewing Company…to face the reality that the claims it has asserted against MillerCoors lack any factual merit,” it wrote.

Meanwhile, Stone seeks summary judgement on its claim for trademark infringement and dismissal of MC’s counterclaims, natch. Stone contends that “trademark infringement” has “rarely” been “so pronounced and obvious” and “evidence now indisputably shows that MillerCoors intentionally rebranded its struggling Keystone beer brand to adopt Stone’s trademark and, thereby, ‘OWN THE STONE.’” Interestingly, Stone points to Keystone’s resurgence in growth with new cans seemingly as an indicator of added confusion. (Editor’s note: after growing in 2018, Keystone brand family slipped back into decline in 2019, tho Keystone Ice still up double-digits according to natl IRI data). While Keystone used “Stone” in marketing materials on and off since 1991, as MC shows in court documents, “never before 2017 had MillerCoors ever used ‘STONE’ on its primary beer packaging (its cans or bottles) as separate from ‘KEY,’” co argues. And MC’s “own documents and testimony show that it knew of Stone’s trademark and made a conscious decision to infringe it anyway, as part of its admitted ‘civil war’ against Stone.” Also, MC “has done nothing since the lawsuit to lessen or mitigate Keystone’s use of ‘STONE.’” Stone’s established trademark, MC’s failed application in 2007 to register “STONES” with US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), “significant evidence of actual confusion in the marketplace” remain key points for Stone, among others. Stay tuned.

In midst of celebrating Bell’s Two Hearted Ale brewing anniversary (Aug 15, 1997), co snuck in news of low-calorie IPA line extension, Light Hearted Ale, “debuting as a wider release” in 2020. Light Hearted Ale has been available as a General Store Exclusive this yr. After starting out at 4.5% ABV, newer version of Light Hearted clocks in at just 3.5% ABV, 110 calories and 8.7 carbs, according to TTB label approved end of Jul. On the label, Light Hearted is described as “everything you love about Two Hearted – hop forward, balanced, with a firm malt backbone. The only difference? This version is sessionable.”

Bell’s joins slew of new low-calorie IPA offerings from established craft brewers and younger craft brewers alike (including Sierra’s Sufferfest – see above). Dogfish Head Slightly Mighty IPA pushin’ ahead of the pack thus far, as co drastically upped its forecast from just 5K bbls to near 40K bbls this year after distrib orders kept comin’ in. And now under Boston Beer’s wing, Slightly Mighty is primed for further growth, recently touted as “unique product” with “significant distribution opportunities off-premise,” by Boston founder/chairman Jim Koch during co’s Q2 conference call (see Jul 26 issue). Other entries such as reformulated low-calorie Lagunitas DayTime and Firestone Easy Jack haven’t caught on as much. But several craft cos keep turnin’ to low-calorie offerings across the spectrum of styles, with relative success across the board. Bell’s Light Hearted will test those waters as well. (Editor’s note: on the other end of the ABV spectrum, Bell’s also prepping for broader release of Double Two Hearted Ale, an 11% ABV double IPA in 12oz bottles later this mo, per release. And there have been “at least six variations” of Two Hearted in total, tho mostly as specialty or limited releases.)

Two Hearted Sells Over 120 Pints/Day; Over 250K Bbls/Yr; Double Two Hearted Next Mo & More Meanwhile, Bell’s Two Hearted Ale currently sells the equivalent of “more than 120 pints” every minute across the US, per release. That would equate to more than 250K bbls per year if stats hold up. Recall, Bell’s shipped 478K bbls in 2018. And Two Hearted represented a little over half of total Bell’s volume in recent yrs. This yr Bell’s is up 5-6% in natl IRI off-premise YTD thru Jul 14, including up 8% for latest 4 wks. Two Hearted Ale is up 2-3% YTD and represents ~49% of its tracked off-prem sales. With sizable on-premise presence as well, math seems to check out. There aren’t too many individual craft brands that account for that much volume.

Artisanal Brewing Ventures’ Sixpoint Brewing has found a new home in Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY, where co is building new hq brewery and taproom expected to open May 2020, co announced. Similar to ABV’s hq in Charlotte, NC, Sixpoint space will be 20K sq-ft, featuring production brewing, full service kitchen and bar with 30 tap handles and an outdoor beer garden. Giving it a NYC twist, it also features 4K sq-ft rooftop “with stunning views of the Brooklyn and Manhattan skylines.” Recall, Sixpoint was founded in 2004 out of founder Shane Welch’s tiny garage brewery in Redhook neighborhood of Brooklyn, but Sixpoint hasn’t had brewing operations in its home city for many years now, shifting to contract production with City Brewing in Memphis. So this is somewhat of a return for Sixpoint. Brewery is located on the corner of 9th st and 2nd ave. Meanwhile, ABV (Southern Tier, Victory, Sixpoint) continues to grow solid double-digits in off-prem chains this year with volume up 17%, $$ up 15.5% in IRI multi-outlet + convenience data thru Jul 14. Gowanus will be ABV’s 8th retail outlet.

Sierra Nevada natl sales conference featured big departures for co coming in 2020, its 40th anniversary year. By far the biggest, for the first time in its history Sierra Nevada will sell a product beyond beer. Sierra Nevada will launch an as yet unnamed hard kombucha on draft nationally on Jan 1, with packaging coming in Mar. And it will not be branded as Sierra Nevada. Sierra will also launch its 2d brand in newly defined “Little Thing” brand franchise, following on heels of wildly successful Hazy Little Thing. So Wild Little Thing, a sessionable sour, will launch nationally in Mar. And Sierra will be taking Sufferfest, its first-ever acquisition, natl this fall, “blazing the trail in functional beer,” per founder Caitlin Landesberg.

That’s 3 big outside-the-box initiatives for the iconic craft co. But it will also feed fire on Hazy Little Thing, natch, and attempt to augment its flagship Sierra brand family in several ways, including a 40th anniversary Hoppy Ale as a Spring Seasonal, a yr round Imperial IPA called Fantastic Haze that ships in Dec and more.

Sierra Up Double Digits in Jul, Up 1% YTD Sierra Nevada volume getting back on track, a “significant turnaround,” noted sales veep Nick Lundquist. Upswing started in 2d half of last yr following 30 straight mos of declines. With a 12.6% gain in July 2019, Sierra Nevada now up 1% yr-to-date and 2% for 12 mos. Recall, Sierra Nevada eked out a gain in 2018 with strong 2d half. And it expects to grow in 2019, tho not as much as 5% growth co originally projected.

Hazy Litte Thing Up 85%; How High Is Up for Hazy? Hazy Little Thing is the reason why Sierra Nevada is up. Hazy Little Thing is the #1 growth brand in craft, for 2d yr in a row in IRI. Total STRs up 85% yr-to-date. Hazy draft up 93% and it’s now Sierra Nevada’s #1 draft handle. It’s by far the #1 hazy and the #5 IPA in IRI by $$ yr-to-date. For 4 weeks, it’s #4, just behind Elysian Space Dust and #4 is what Sierra projects as possible by year end. One astonishing stat: 60% of Hazy consumers are new to Sierra Nevada brand family. Sierra Nevada set out a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) for Hazy: to become the #1 IPA by 2021.

“Creating Little Thing Franchise”; “Wild” With next yr’s launch of Wild Little Thing, Sierra looks to “leverage the excitement around Hazy” and create “Little Thing” franchise to “protect and buffer” Hazy, but not “screw it up,” said advertising and content manager Conor McMahon. Wild Little Thing will “demystify sour beer by making the first session sour to attract sour beer and non-craft beer drinkers” alike, he sez. Wild has colorful packaging that complements Hazy, and Sierra will be looking for joint displays.

Sufferfest: “Reimagining Beer;” “Industry Ripe for Disruption” Sufferfest founder Caitlin got prominent slot at Sierra’s sales meeting to to talk extensively about her “mission,” “vision” and plans. Sufferfest is “beer reimagined,” said Caitlin, as co is “blazing the trail in functional beer…. Our mission is to be the go-to-beer for the fit consumer. Our vision is to be at every finish line.” Sufferfest is a “very aspirational beer,” she said and this “industry is ripe for disruption.” Her target: domestic premium light beers. Sufferfest is a “woman founded B Corp” (B Corps “balance purpose and profit”) with a “focus on females, active & healthy, 25-39, principled and informed” and it’s “inspired by athletes.” It’s also been “dubbed the craft alternative to Mich Ultra,” Caitlin reiterated. Sufferfest has 3 beers, Repeat Kolsch, FKT Pale Ale (Fastest Known Time) and Head Start Stout. Each made with additional ingredients like bee pollen, salt & black currant, coconut water and coffee. Next yr it will intro Gut Check, a low calorie IPA, made with Apple Cider Vinegar. All its beers will be between 3.5-4.5% ABV. Sufferfest looks to “build a national brand” in 2020. Sufferfest may be small in volume, but it has big ambitions. It is “poised to take on this category and crush,” said Caitlin. “We’ve been training for this.”

Ken’s (Hard) Kombucha Is Coming; Striking San Diego Stats Sierra founder and chairman Ken Grossman did not have a speaking slot at this meeting, but he did speak up in response to questions several times, particularly during the final presentation on hard kombucha, Sierra’s boldest departure, in which he’s clearly very involved. Sierra seemingly has tinkered with hard kombucha for some time, but it decided the time is now and presented it to its national sales force, even though the product does not yet have a name or even a final formulation. Kombucha is a “craft beverage and nobody does craft better than us,” said creative project manager Valerie Murphy. Non-alc kombucha is a half billion category in Nielsen that’s still growing double digits. “We think the same thing is going to happen with hard kombucha.”

Hard kombucha is doing exceptionally well in a few CA mkts, especially San Diego. Boochcraft is a top 3 FMB there, with $1.7 mil in grocery sales, not much behind White Claw, but ahead of Truly and Smirnoff, Valerie showed. And 3 of top 10 FMBs in San Diego now are kombucha. Boochcraft is also already in top 10 FMBs in LA and SF. So Sierra thinks with its “strong distributor network,” and “two production facilities” and “a national sales team,” it could have a natl top 10 FMB brand. It’s still a “work in progress,” but Sierra Nevada promised draft available nationwide Jan 1, targeting all craft-centric accounts and 16 oz cans released nationwide in Mar. It will need to be refrigerated across entire supply chain and it will be priced competitively with other kombuchas. “We’ve got to run,” said Valerie, further describing urgency with which Sierra will tackle this project as “run, innovate, sample, repeat.” FMBs “move so fast,” she added.

The Meaning of This Meeting “This meeting, this week, this year is the most important and pivotal since I joined the company,” said CEO Jeff White. This is “probably the biggest change you’re ever going to see,” agreed chief commercial officer Joe Whitney. Sierra Nevada will “start to sell something other than craft beer.” So Sierra will be “turning into a portfolio selling company,” added Joe (seemingly taking a page out of Boston Beer's playbook). Jeff has become a change agent in co. Acquisition of Sufferfest was the “beginning of our change journey,” he said. And “we continue to evaluate and look at other opportunities.” But key to Jeff is that Sierra must adapt and evolve to meet the needs of changing consumers, who “cross, blur or completely erase lines.” They were “raised on change” and they “move back and forth really easily and really readily.” Jeff maintained: “We can change what we make and sell without changing who we are, what we believe in [and] what we stand for.” His aim is for Sierra to be “an enduring company” a multigen family biz that is “flexible adaptive, resilient, dedicated, curious,” etc. Recall, he took over CEO role from founder Ken Grossman less than 1 yr ago. But Ken still a very active chairman, his daughter Sierra and son Brian very involved with co that proudly proclaims: “family owned, operated and argued over.”

Forty Year Anniversary Next yr, for its 40th anniversary, Sierra Nevada will embark on a 40th anniversary natl tour with a “mobile branded brewhouse.” Ken bought back his original brewhouse, a retrofitted dairy. And he will take it on the road, serving beer. Watch for it at GABF. Sierra will also have a 40th anniversary celebration next Nov in Chico. And Sierra Nevada will also revive its original 6-pack package. So amidst some of the biggest changes in its 40 yr history, Sierra Nevada is emphasizing continuity as well as change.

Brewers Assn’s first-ever survey to benchmark brewery owner and employee diversity clearly shows “disproportionately” white and male workers across the board, BA chief economist Bart Watson noted in latest blog post. Owners, brewer production staff and production manager positions are 88-89% white, the least diverse categories at breweries, survey found. All brewery positions were at least 3/4 white. Hispanic/Latino demographic is next best represented, at 7-8% of brewery production staff, non-production staff, and service staff (both managers and non-managers). Only 2% of owners are either Asian or Hispanic/Latino, 1% of owners are black and nearly 4% of owners are American Indian or Alaskan Native.

Then too, production staff skews furthest toward male workers, anywhere between 86-92% male depending on position. Brewery owners are still 3/4 male vs 1/4 female, including “a fair amount of wife/husband ownership teams,” Bart pointed out. Among single gender brewery owners, virtually all are male. Service staff managers and non-managers is the most evenly split between genders, closer to 50/50 male and female. And non-production, non-service staff (both managers and non-managers) were closer to 2/3 male vs 1/3 female.

All in, no real surprises here, but survey goes to show just how far the brewing industry has to go in order to be more inclusive. BA views this as “a set of business resources that the brewery owners can choose to use if they see fit, as well as an opportunity to build the market by inviting new customers into the world of small and independent brewing,” Bart noted. Forty-eight states were covered by the survey, and missing states represent less than 1% of breweries nationally, he added.

WA’s Icicle Brewing co-founders Pamela and Oliver Brulotte changed ownership structure to include “portion of ownership to four key employees,” fresh off of completed expansion into new 13,500 sq-ft production brewery, co announced and Washington Beer Blog reported. New owners include CEO Joel Martinez, brewmaster and senior VP of brewing Dean Priebe, VP of sales Jesse Willis, and VP of wholesale operations Jason Leal. Co-founders “will remain involved in guiding the company through the next phase of growth as part of the newly formed board of directors.” Since opening in 2010, Icicle gradually grew to 5,900 bbls in-state in 2018, according to WA Liquor and Cannabis Board stats. New production facility allows co to brew 50% more beer annually and eventual “maximum production potential increasing 250%,” blog added. And its new brewpub remodel will add 1,200 sq-ft of retail space as well.

Aside from latest filings in (Key)Stone suit (see last issue), a bunch of other trademark related stories popped up in the craft beer world recently, each providing a notable learning or two. First, in case the appearance of Oskar Blues Rosé for Daze wasn’t proof enough that this was coming, the CANarchy-owned brewery and the band Guns N’ Roses are settling the band’s lawsuit against the co for initially releasing its rosé ale as Guns ‘N’ Rosé earlier this yr. That’s according to music-focused site The Blast (which isn’t as kind to the brewer as a beer-focused site might be). Recall, CANarchy prexy Matt Fraser assured our Spring Conference that it was an issue the co was “working on” (see May 17 issue).

Second, Penn State University filed a fed lawsuit this month against a Mr. Paul L Parshall, doing business as Sports Beer Brewing Co, over state trademark filings of “Penn State Nittany Beer” and “Penn State Nittany Brewing.” Paul, listed as Brewmaster on the co’s website, doesn’t seem to make any beer. Instead, he describes the co as an “intellectual property holding company,” inviting others to “Claim Your Brand!” and start making and selling beer under one of the trademarks he claims to hold. The site lists dozens upon dozens of potential beer brands for professional and college sports teams, all of them fitting the pattern of “[Team Name] Beer” and “[Team Name] Brewing.” Some include the appropriate city/state or college name. Others are as simple as “Bulls Beer,” “Patriots Beer” and even “Irish Beer.” A link indicates Parshall does indeed hold a state trademark for “Bulls Beer” in Illinois. And indeed, Penn State sued over state trademarks filed by Parshall, claiming that when the school initially contacted him to drop the application, he “wanted a buyout,” Penn State’s lawyer told the Centre Daily Times. But wait, there’s more.

Parshall may indeed hold numerous state-level trademarks (that’s his “business model,” as the paper summarizes Penn State’s filing), but he’s only associated with one federal trademark for “Purdue Boilermakers Beer,” applied for this past May. That said, he’s also applied for and later surrendered 4 other beer trademarks. In 2017, he tried to get “Dallas Cowboys Beer” and “NASCAR Beer,” but those didn’t hold up. Amazingly, he also tried to register both “King of Beers” and, for whatever reason, “Gambrinus Brewing Company” back in 2015. Surprise, surprise, no-go on either of those too. A quick search didn’t turn up any active COLAs for actual beer labels for any of the sports-related brands. Yet Parshall’s site still offers $120 kegs, claiming he’ll “contract with a local microbrewery in your area for a tasting to decide what kind of beer you want to brew.” And that’s not all! Parshall also offers similarly-branded cigars, food items (like “Chicago Cubs Hot Dogs” or “Milwaukee Brewers Cheese”) and t-shirts.

Needless to say, Penn State was having none of this. State trademark filings don’t come with the same “formal search process” as federal filings, the Centre Daily Times reminds, and few states, if any, offer searchable online databases, making it much easier to hide filing thru those separate systems. The fast-growing number of co-branded sports beers (Avery Brewing announced Stampede Lager with University of Colorado just yesterday) and band/music beers (Bootsy Collins/Fretboard Brewing and Jonny Goood/Full Pint Brewing collabs announced this week) only ups the ante on making sure intellectual property uses are above board.

Finally, another interesting beer-related case popped up on TTABlog, legal blog of atty John L Welch of Wolf Greenfield firm, tracking decisions by Trademark Trial and Appeals Board. The TTAB reversed an initial refusal to register a mark for Cannonball Creek Brewing Co of Golden, CO. Initially, US Patent and Trademark Office denied the mark, claiming it was too similar to a registered mark for Cannonball Double IPA, from Natty Greene’s Brewing. In this case, the word “Creek” made all the difference. By highlighting that word, rather than “Cannonball” on the visual design and including a wave motif, the “commercial impression” of the CO brewer’s mark, tied more closely to water than a weapon, was “sufficient to distinguish the marks so that confusion...is not likely,” the TTAB found.

Four breweries made this year’s Inc 5000 list of fastest growing cos looking at revenue growth over 3-yr period thru 2018. Several were new to the list, including CA’s Fieldwork, Denver-based contract brewery, Sleeping Giant and AZ’s Huss Brewing. TX’s Flix Brewhouse, the movie theatre/microbrewery, made the list for a second straight year (generating most of its revs from movies most likely). Plus, craft beer and bev distrib Remarkable Liquids and Downeast Cider each made the list for their 4th year in a row.

Fieldwork was fastest grower among all alc bev cos in Inc 5000 and 604th fastest growing co listed in total, with revs up 736% over 3 yrs to $14.8 mil in 2018. Recall, Fieldwork built out a retail-focused company with 6 locations in northern CA, tho sales are split about 50/50 between on-site and retail accounts (mostly serviced thru self-distribution tho co added Mussetter in Sacramento and Day One Dist in OR this yr), co-founder Barry Braden told CBN earlier this yr (see May 14 issue). It quickly grew to 15,500 bbls in 2017 before settling into steady low-double-digit growth to 17,500 bbls in 2018 (expects similar growth to 19K bbls this yr). That’s about $846 per bbl in revs in 2018. Notably, Huss Brewing volume is a similar size, at 18,700 bbls in 2018, according to Brewers Assn stats, yet its revs were about 1/3 of the size at $5 mil in 2018 (up 195% over 3 yrs). And Sleeping Giant revs grew 287% to $5.3 mil over 3 yrs thru 2018, tho volume was already nearly 2x the size of either co by 2017 at 32K bbls. Contract brewing margins are a different ballgame. Sleeping Giant opened in 2015, touting itself as “the first dedicated contract brewery in the Western United States,” partnering with all sorts of upcoming brewers both locally and across the country. It quickly expanded capacity to 75K bbls/yr with capability to reach 175K bbls/yr eventually, according to its website. Indeed, Fieldwork model has boded well for many burgeoning brewers across the country – it’s debt free, “we haven’t borrowed money to expand,” and “we own our own destiny” without “feel[ing] the pressure” to rush toward growth, Barry explained back in May.

Then too, NY’s Remarkable Liquids grew 185% over 3 yrs to $21.2 mil in 2018, including +49% in 2016, +55% in 2017 and +24% in 2018. Late last yr, Remarkable launched NJ statewide operation as well, setting itself up for another yr of strong growth thru expansion alone. Boston-based Downeast Cider growth rate gradually slowing down as well, tho still up 145% over 3-yr period to $13.7 mil in 2018. It grew 35% in both 2016 and 2017 and +26% in 2018. Downeast cider continues to post strong double-digit gains in off-prem scan data too, while maintaining strong pricing; $$ sales up 41.5% and volume up 33% YTD thru Jun 16 in IRI multi-outlet + convenience, with $58.77 avg price per case. It’s among top-10 regional cider cos in IRI even as home state MA isn’t a good scan state. And a testament to can growth across craft beer and bevs, CanSource was #701 fastest growing co in Inc 5000 with revs up 622% over 3 yrs to $18.5 mil in 2018. CanSource opened in Longmont, CO in 2012, digitally printing cans primarily for craft brewers as well as “other small batch seasonal beverages,” according to its website. Yet the largest beer co revs came from Flix Brewhouse, up 186% to $45.7 mil over 3 yrs thru 2018, including up 32% in 2018 vs 2017 (secret to getting folks to go to the movies is apparently to serve em alcohol, as Alamo Drafthouse would similarly attest to.)

The Soft Parade has now begun! Much like its larger biz partner Lagunitas, Short’s Brewing is looking to capitalize on legalization of recreational weed in its home state MI. Short’s formed JV with Green Peak Innovations (GPI) to develop line of cannabis infused bevs including cold brew coffee, sparkling waters, “mocktail” tonics, teas, lemonades, and more, co announced as GPI CEO Jeff Radway shared at Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference. Deal also provides GPI with “exclusive” and broad rights to license Short’s beer brand names for any type of edible and/or beverage. “Our partnership with Short’s involves creating marijuana-infused products that mimic the taste of the popular Short’s beers for people who enjoy them but without the alcohol,” Jeff stated. “Some of our first products will include Soft Parade-flavored gummies and vape pens that taste like Huma Lupa Licious.” MI law (and federal law) prohibits adding cannabis to alcoholic products, released statement notes. But Short’s and GPI will “work together to infuse existing Short’s beer with CBD and/or THC” if and when the law allows it. First products are expected to debut by end of this yr, and infused bevs expected to follow “shortly after.”

AriZona Enters THC Realm via Tie to Dixie Brands; Vapes, Gummies First Then too, tea marketing giant AriZona entered the cannabis ring last week, inking deal with decade-old Dixie Brands to partner on suite of AriZona-branded THC products, cos announced (as sibling pub Beverage Business Insights reported). Similar to Short’s, cos will start with vape pens and gummies. Tho partners may cement alliance with equity tie, too, with AriZona or affiliate getting right to exercise warrants equal to up to $10 mil of Dixie’s common shares. AriZona set up affiliate co called Herbal Enterprises LLC to work on cannabis product concepts and designs, while Denver-based Dixie will develop, formulate, produce and distribute the items in its 5-state trading area. Gotta note, Dixie’s bev line, Dixie Elixirs currently sells 100mg THC-infused products sold in CA, CO, NV, and MD. Yet it only remains a top-10 THC-infused bev brand in NV, where Two Roots has now taken a commanding lead with each of the top-4 bev brands, according to latest Headset data.

Two Roots Adding New Flavors: First THC-Infused Seasonals Speaking of Two Roots, it launched two new seasonal styles, Mango Dango IPA and Grapefruit Fight radler, earlier this week. Two Roots touts these as “the first seasonal THC-infused craft beers” ever. Both will be available in single-serve 10oz cans or 4pks in dispensaries across NV and CA.