Another high-profile brewery bankruptcy filing hit local press over the weekend, following similar pattern as seen in other such cases. Upstate NY’s Empire Farm Brewery filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in fed ct last wk. Filings list $11 mil in debts owed to a range of creditors, including notable equipment and ingredient suppliers. But largest single creditor is Community Bank, N.A. (once Oneida Savings Bank), with secured debts of over $9.2 mil, including interest, based on financing the brewery’s 42K sq-ft brewery and 22-acre farm in Cazenovia, outside Syracuse, opened in 2016. Empire trying to keep brewery and taproom open, and about 100 folks employed, during proceedings, filings show. And owner David Katleski signed an asset purchase agreement to sell the brewery to Burnett Dairy Cooperative, a Wisc-based dairy/cheese co, for $3.25 mil early this summer, he explains in affidavit laying out reasons for filings and pathway forward. He’s mostly letting that filing speak for itself, tho, simply sharing that “Empire looks forward to getting through this process and the prospect of our future with Burnett Dairy” in comment to Craft Brew News. The co’s downtown Syracuse brewpub is a separate entity apparently unaffected by bankruptcy, according to the Post Standard.

Construction Delays and Wild Yeast Infection; Long Road to a Deal While its farm brewery was still under construction in 2016, Empire “suffered a number of time delays and cost overruns,” which “caused financial shortfalls from lack of revenue” and “increased the secured debt substantially beyond original projections,” David explained in affidavit. By that point, two state-level economic development groups had expected to buy the permanent financing of Empire’s brewery from Community Bank, but the co failed to meet either group’s requirements, leaving all of its obligations to the bank. Then at the end of 2016, Empire “suffered a wild yeast infection” at its farm brewery, according to David. (Recall, that’s the same time numerous breweries started complaining about diastaticus infections and also just after time period cited by Left Hand in its suit against White Labs over contaminated yeast.) The infection at Empire lasted thru the 2nd qtr of 2017 and “it took a substantial period of time to locate the source of the wild yeast infection and to stop it from reoccurring.” In the meantime, “all bottled beer had to be pulled back from distribution.” It compounded issues by delaying construction and adding to Empire’s debt and “caused financial dilemmas which have plagued [Empire] ever since,” David explains.

At Community Bank’s behest, David retained Glendale Capital Partners to find a buyer for the brewery in Nov 2017. It didn’t find a buyer that was “acceptable” to Empire and Community Bank over 8 mos. “Another local brewery expressed interest” in mid-2018, but negotiations didn’t lead to a deal, David lays out. Then a neighboring farm that had used Empire’s spent grain expressed interest, which led to current deal with Burnett Dairy. It entered into APA on July 2 for “substantially all assets of the Brewery, including the tasting room.”

$3.25-Mil Deal, Revs of $2.5-3 Mil, $11 Mil in Debt; Past Bankruptcies The $3.25-mil deal for Empire’s farm brewery assets represents just a little more than the co’s revenue in 2018. David cites $2.71 mil in revs in 2017 and $2.85 mil in revs in 2018 in his affidavit. Separately, initial bankruptcy filing cites larger gross revs figures of $4.5 mil in 2017, $3.8 mil in 2018 and $1.9 mil thru mid-August of this yr. Filings for Empire Farm locations also cite $434K in assets and $10.99 mil in total liabilities to 20 different creditors. Aside from Community Bank’s $9.25 mil in secured debt, Empire’s creditors include a group of equipment manufacturers or service providers owed upwards of $700K, ingredients and raw materials suppliers owed another few hundred thousand dollars and state and federal agencies owed over $50K in taxes. Four separate creditors had already filed suit against Empire for breach of contract, according to filings. A pair of regional and local biz development groups each owed over $50K. Empire also agreed to sign over some of its intellectual property to its attorneys to settle unpaid legal fees. Finally, this isn’t David and Empire’s first rodeo. After opening its 1st downtown brewpub in 1994, followed by 2 other NY pubs, it “declared bankruptcy in 2003,” The Post Standard notes. David reopened its current downtown brewpub in 2007.

Mahou Group upping its stake from 30% to 90%, reported MiBiz.com earlier this afternoon. Founders and Mahou expect the transaction to close in Jan 2020, “pending state and federal regulatory approvals,” wrote MiBiz. Original deal almost 5 yrs ago, valued 30% stake at $96.3 mil, and “included a provision allowing Mahou to acquire the remainder of the company starting in the fifth year after the initial deal,” added MiBiz, citing documents it got after a Freedom of Information Act request. Founders founders Mike Stevens and Dave Engbers stay on with 5% stakes each. This deal allows Mike and Dave to “take some chips off the table,” Mike told MiBiz, but “a significant amount of our wealth is remaining in the company.… It’s going to give us the opportunity to take Founders to a whole other level,” he added. (A version of this article also appeared in sibling pub INSIGHTS Express.)

Founders founders also simultaneously wrote to distribs this afternoon. Mahou “now coming on as a majority investor in Founders” and “will be buying out all shareholders except” Mike and Dave, “who will stay on to continue guiding the business.” Co accumulated “more than two dozen minority shareholders” over the yrs, including family members of various execs, local business people and other interested investors, MiBiz noted. Mike and Dave wrote distribs: “We’re writing to you directly to confidently state that nothing will change for our wholesaler partners and retailers’ business…. Our entire team remains intact.” There are currently 650 employees. They continued: “Founders sales strategies and goals remain, pricing stays the same, innovations continue. It’s business as usual…. With Mike and Dave leading the charge, we see endless possibilities.” They conclude: “This is a great day for all of us and a critical milestone in us becoming America’s Next Great Brewery.”

Founders Tripled Since Deal in Dec 2014 This move is certainly not surprising, but it is significant. Mahou initially took a 30% stake in Dec 2014. Deal must have worked out pretty well as Founders growth exploded, basically tripling in last 4 yrs. Founders at 193K bbls in 2014 and catapulted to 563K bbls last yr. It was the craft brewer that grew the most bbls in each of last 2 yrs. And co initially expected to grow ~20% to 675K bbls in 2019, including continued All Day IPA growth and plans to double Solid Gold volume from 60K to 120K bbls (see Jan 29 issue).

Founders All Day is #1 IPA by Volume in IRI YTD but Slowin’; Solid Gold Up 30-40% So far, Founders trending a bit slower in natl scan data; volume up 12% in IRI multi-outlet + convenience yr-to-date thru Aug 11. All Day IPA is up 11% and ranks as #1 IPA by volume, #2 by $$ behind just Lagunitas IPA. All Day is 2/3 of Founders volume and 60% of $$ in scans. Yet it slowed to 4% growth in most recent 4 wk period, +5% for latest 12 wks. Then too, Solid Gold Lager not quite doubling in scans, tho has maintained solid double-digit growth pace, with $$ up 41% and volume up 37% YTD thru Jul 14 (slightly different time period). Solid Gold avg price grew $0.75/case to just $23.66 as shift away from 15pks and into 12pks seems to have lifted price (albeit to levels well below avg craft and still a few bucks lower than Mich Ultra avg). Solid Gold is currently 6% of total Founders $$ and 8% of volume in IRI.

Mahou Majorities; 8th Largest Craft Player in US and Counting Now Mahou owns majority stakes in both of its craft brewers, Founders and Avery, after co also upped stake in Avery from 30% to 70% earlier this yr (see Apr 2 issue). So Mahou clearly lookin’ to take “control” of its assets in (at least) one sense of the word, even as both cos downplayed potential oncoming changes. Perhaps, as Mike and Adam Avery both suggested separately, this only enhances growth oppys going forward with more resources allocated toward US. Mahou is already 8th lagest craft player based on 2018 shipments, we estimate, with 617K bbls between Founders (563K bbls) and Avery (54K bbls). Plus, Mahou has reportedly been interested in more US craft deals at different times. And even Founders had expressed interest in M&A from buyer side in the past. How long before Mahou looks to further add to its craft empire?

Beer category is getting less of a bump from new brand launches in 2019 as growth shifts more toward existing brands (including onslaught of top hard seltzers), latest Bump Williams Consulting report highlights and sibling pub INSIGHTS Express reported. Top-15 new beer brands (plus FMB & cider) reached $168.7 mil YTD thru Aug 25 in 2019 vs $225.8 mil in 2018 IRI mutli-outlet + convenience data, he noted (only counting “new” brands as those with “ZERO” sales in prior period last year). While Bump mainly looks at total beer category, craft beer innovations are collectively much smaller in sales this yr as well. Yet craft innovations still make up an outsized portion of total craft segment $$ growth.

Sierra Hazy and Sam 76 2018 Launches Larger Than Top-5 New Craft Brands Collectively in 2019 There are 5 new craft beer brands among top-15 new beer brands overall YTD vs just 4 of top-15 last year at this time. Yet top-2 launches of 2018, Sierra Hazy Little Thing and Sam 76, collectively outsold top-5 new craft brands of 2019 on their own. Indeed, Sierra Hazy and Sam 76 each had nearly $14 mil in incremental sales thru this time period in 2018 while top-5 new brands this yr collectively sold just $25.1 mil, Bump’s chart shows. And #3 new brand last yr, New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Juicy Haze was slightly larger than #1 new brand this yr at $7.4 mil. Goes to show, total craft segment receives much less contribution from innovation when Sam Adams, Sierra Nevada and/or New Belgium don’t have big a new brand launch as core focus for the year. Editor’s note: Boston Beer’s new 26.2 Brew hasn’t caught on much, multiple sources have told CBN; Sierra Hop Bullet double IPA is among top new launches (see below) tho Sierra’s spring seasonal took a tuff hit earlier this yr as it transitioned that beer to yr-round; Sierraveza lager isn’t far behind Hop Bullet, and hasn’t been as much of focus point for co; and NBB’s Hemperor and Mural are not included in this dataset since each began selling by this time last yr.

SweetWater 420 Strain G13 IPA Still #1 New; 4 IPAs and One Karbach Bock This yr, SweetWater 420 Strain G13 IPA has held onto spot as #1 new craft brand in scans with $7.3 mil in incremental sales YTD thru Aug 25 in IRI MULC. It’s also #7 new beer brand overall, larger than Bud Light Lemon Tea ($6.6 mil) and nearly as large as AB’s Ritas Spritz Variety Pk. SweetWater 420 Strain G13 IPA is single handedly keeping SweetWater up this yr, more than making up for flagship 420 Pale Ale and IPA dips. Three more IPAs, Deschutes Fresh Haze IPA ($5.1 mil), Lagunitas Super Cluster IPA ($4.4 mil) and Sierra Nevada Hop Bullet IPA ($4.3 mil) are next largest new craft brands. And AB’s Karbach Crawford Bock ($4.1 mil), in partnership with Houston Astros, rounds out list as 5th largest new craft brand and 15th largest new beer brand overall.

Craft Innovation Still More Than All of Total Craft Growth While top 5 new craft brands are collectively much smaller than last yr’s top new craft brands, they still account for vast majority of total craft $$ growth in IRI; craft $$ sales grew just $27 mil, +2.5% YTD thru Aug 11.That’s a slightly earlier time period than rest of data referenced in Bump’s update, tho suggests total craft innovation $$ sales are still collectively larger than total craft segment $$ growth, as Bump pointed out in his May update (see May 3 issue). In fact, top-5 new brands accounted for less than 20% of total new craft brand sales thru Apr 21 in IRI. When “innovation becomes sole driver of sales through simply swapping What’s New? for ‘What’s Next’…it becomes a bit more troubling when it comes to the health and future of Beer,” Bump added referring to his May update. Yet Bump views broader trend of less contribution from innovation toward total beer growth as a “BIG RED FLAG,” particularly for those taking “shotgun approach” of innovation as attempt “to either maintain existing shelf space or an attempt to win the Innovation War of SKU’s and stop the bleeding of leading iconic beer brands.” Bump mainly aiming comments toward largest beer suppliers here but comments can apply to craftland as well. Tho gotta wonder, is beer better off being more reliant on innovation or less?

Boston-based Night Shift Brewing means bizness on its latest expansion project: a 130K sq-ft brewery and distributorship in Philly, PA was just approved by the city board, expected to open by end of 2020 to the tune of $10+ mil, co-founder and CEO Rob Burns shared with CBN and Boston Globe reported. About 60K sq-ft will be used for brewing space, along with a massive ~20K sq-ft taproom and the remaining ~50K sq-ft for storage, warehousing and distribution, Rob detailed. Recall, Night Shift has been one of the fastest growing regional brewers in the northeast since opening in 2012, jumping to 30,700 bbls in 2018, with its newer distribution arm nearly doubling last yr as well (see Mar 12 issue). Co expects to grow 30% to over 40K bbls in 2019, Rob shared. But it’s currently got hands tied by own production capacity, even after it installs new 60-bbl Braukon brewhouse system at its HQ in Everett, MA. Night Shift has contract volume at Isle Brewers Guild in RI and smaller batch brews at another brewery in MA. So new production capabilities in Philly will give Night Shift some added breathing room, starting with 30K bbls/yr of capacity and goal to eventually install a 100-bbl Braukon brewhouse capable of putting out nearly 200K bbls/yr. Indeed, Night Shift is “setting this up to be our forever long-term home,” Rob added. (Both Rob and co-founder Mike O’Mara are from Philly burbs, so this is also a bit of a homecoming for them).

CBN contributing editor Gerry Khermouch vacations in Oregon most summers. On his recent return there the signs of more straitened times were visible all around. Here’s what he found:

Oregon Brewers Fest had scaled back in many ways, and we saw more billboards and other ads wooing fickle drinkers. But if glut of breweries, beers and beer fests has toughened competition, that doesn’t mean beer culture isn’t still thriving, with taprooms, ciderhouses and bottle shops packed in all the spots we visited, from Ft George brewing on the Pacific coast in Astoria inland to expansion-minded pFriem Family Brewing in Hood River. As always, OBF posted maps of US and world and invited visitors to stick a pin into wherever they hailed from; there were impenetrable forests of pins on parts of East Coast, Europe and Asia. On trip, we stopped in at Tillamook’s De Garde Brewing to observe a small-is-beautiful strategy, and spent coupla afternoons strolling OBF. And we popped into retirement celebration at Rogue Ales beer garden of its legendary brewer, John “More Hops” Maier, stepping down after 30 years and estimated 23,000 brews supervised in main brewhouse in Newport.

Amid Fest Overload, OBF Finetunes Approach: Oregon-Only Brewers, Special Brews At time many beer fests are struggling to maintain attendance, Oregon Brewers Fest hunkered down this year, dropping Sunday for first time in its 32 years and limiting participants entirely to Oregon breweries. Gone were the live bands, tho there was a guy blowing bagpipes while riding a unicycle. Past years’ invited brewers from places like Australia, Japan or Mexico. This yr there were 8 Oreg cideries. It’s same tactic many local brewers are taking: deepen your location penetration instead of going wide.

OBF’s more focused plan brought its rewards. Tho all of the pouring brewers were from in-state, there now was room for nearly 30 smaller or newer breweries, and over 80 items had been brewed specifically for the fest. Ongoing tilt to balance IPAs with other styles brought heavy representation of lagers (16 lagers and 5 pilsners) and goses (7 all told). Hopheads could still select from 16 IPAs and 4 imperial IPAs. And there were plenty of experimental entries: for example, Adding Lightness hoppy lager from Gigantic Brewing in collab with Upright employed sports car equipment, Chapman struts, to simplify brewing process, newly available Lotus hop breed, and increased use of hop fiber for light feel. Also out there were Color Me Kush entry from Coalition Brewing that replicated cannabis flavors and aromatics by manipulating marionberries, and StormBreaker’s Go Ahead & CRYOver It “hazeless IPA” using cryo-hops (lupulin powder).

Among non-traditional ingredients, hibiscus seemed to rule this year in Rose City, employed in everything from McMenamins’ Rosé City Brut IPA to Cascade’s Coral Horizon barrel-aged blond sour to Cider Riot’s Worker’s Playtime Beet Hibiscus Cider. Spruce tips made it into Oakshire’s Smoke’N Hell helles lager and Wolf Tree’s King of the Forest oud bruin ale, while cucumbers were featured in Von Ebert’s Fruits & Roots farmhouse ale (alongside kiwi and licorice root) and Mazama’s Razzle Weisse Berliner weisse (with raspberries and Meyer lemon). So creativity reigned, to our palate the entries were all highly quaffable and even local visitors got to try things they won’t find at the corner bar or bottle shop.

In Out-of-the-Way Tillamook, De Garde Draws Widely with Beers Made in Coolship, Aged in French Oak Six-year-old brewer called De Garde in cheese hub of Tillamook has adopted a strategy that’s both more in tune with these more straitened times for craft brewers, but also wildly impractical at the same time because of its penchant for wild fermentation. But it seems to be working, with De Garde developing a cult following that draws half its taproom customers from outside the immediate region. In some ways strategy echoes that of the ironically named Gigantic Brewing in Southeast Portland, launched 7 years ago by pair of big-brewery vets who missed hands-on aspect that first drew them to the biz. What makes the enterprise less practical, aside from location that’s not quite on coast nor in metro PDX, is that husband-&-wife owners Trevor and Lindsey Rogers are entirely committed to wild fermentation. Every beer is a somewhat unpredictable product of an open coolship that’s then seasoned in oak foeders.

Trevor, the brewer, is self-taught, having taken an interest in style before it got easier to train alongside Belgian brewers or those at domestic alternatives like Russian River and Allagash. While he was working front of house at Pelican Brewing in Cannon Beach and Lindsey was running Tillamook Cheese’s retail operation, they drove their wort up and down coast, from Astoria south to Newport, to see where the local yeast was most hospitable. Tillamook had best and most consistent, so De Garde planted flag there.

Another way they’re playing game differently is by keeping their prices below $20 – from $14 for Framboise to $18 for collab with Level Beer called Walrus, compared to similar offerings from lauded producers like Bruery and Jester King that may cost twice as much. We asked Trevor how he manages that, given workmanship involved. “There’s no trick: just not being greedy,” outspoken brewer answered. “The math is not that hard to check out” on what it costs others to brew these beers. The low prices don’t signal a volume play: recent move to facility in downtown Tillamook barely nudged up capacity and was undertaken mainly so brewer could own its building. Rogers said De Garde has no plans for further growth than its current 1K bbl, already bigger than ever anticipated.

Rogers is first to acknowledge that De Garde is run inefficiently. It uses no lab-cultured yeast, just cools the wort in coolship. Not a fan of American oak, his brewing team uses only French wood, one area where their commitment to US sourcing breaks down. Avg beer spends 22 months in oak, “longer even than our European inspirations,” he said. In early days, when cash flow was tight, some beers were aged just 6 months but none get less than a year now. Staff of 4 full-timers work no more than 40 hours and get full benefits.

Production is allocated mainly to membership program dubbed The Keepers and to taproom. In 2018 only 12% of De Garde’s beer went into distribution – “we came here planning 100% internal if need be,” Rogers told us. Co self-distributes in Oregon, pursuing event-focused strategy. Move into Wash State didn’t work out well, and when distributor got purchased De Garde opted out. Lime Ventures, which also carries Jester King, Logsdon and Wild Beer, has proved excellent partner in Calif, Trevor said.

It’s unusual strategy that clearly wouldn’t work for every brewer. So has Rogers’ against-the-odds success made them celebrities in Tillamook? Most locals don’t even know De Garde exists, Trevor laughed. But he’s betting durable connection with beer tourists can sustain De Garde in highly competitive era in Oregon craft.

End of an Era as Rogue Brewmaster Maier Hangs It up after 23,000 Big Batches In line at OBF, we complimented a young beer lover on his clever t-shirt, which seemed to list tour dates of guitar shredder John Mayer but on closer inspection proved to itemize medals won by Rogue Ales brewmaster John Maier over his 30-year career. Our line mate turned out to be Rogue employee who promptly invited us to upcoming retirement ceremony in beer garden of Rogue’s Eastside Pub & Pilot Brewery as “More Hops” Maier hangs it up after 23K batches on the big 100-bbl system.

At informal ceremony for Rogue Ales brewmaster John Maier, ceo Dharma Tamm warned Maier he’s not entirely through with him, and gave him a Rieseschiller electric bike as a present, to ease the brutal bicycle commute over Aquinbay Bridge that brewer has endured for decades. “When we need him, the least we could do is pay for his ride,” Dharma reasoned. For the occasion, Maier brought along a bottled kriek-style beer (which he characteristically labeled as Creek) with light touch of Montmorency cherries. Since he’d forgotten to include UPC code, he had no choice but to give it out, starting right there. That gave him chance to cite abiding lesson he’d picked up over distinguished brewing career: “Free beer always tastes better.”

Among smattering of other advice proffered to employees and beer garden guests: make sure to contribute to your 401-K. And at brewhouse, “when in doubt add more hops.” Maier also offered shoutouts to Alaskan’s Geoff and Marcy Larson, who gave him his first brewing job; to Aquinbay Bridge (“I cross you every day on my bicycle, and you are a bitch”) and “to homebrewers everywhere, you have inspired me my whole career.”

All’s well that ends well for Breckenridge Brewery at its original brewpub location, it seems, as co celebrating “that we’ve reached an agreement with the landlord in Breckenridge,” per Twitter. Recall, after landlord “abruptly and inexplicably” backed out of negotiations to renew lease, co filed lawsuit as “last resort” (see Jun 4 issue). “Over the past few months, as we faced losing our home, we felt that support stronger than ever as you visited the pub, spread the word and shared memories of our brewpub,” co wrote on Twitter thread.

Decorah, IA’s Toppling Goliath is one of those breweries with a reputation that quickly outstripped its volume. Built by online chatter over its barrel-aged beers and hop-forward ales, TG’s rep allowed it to quickly expand production and distribution. The co shipped around 39K bbls in 2018, founder Clark Lewey told Craft Brew News earlier this mo. It should grow solid double-digits to around 44K bbls by end of 2019, he estimated, tho a “fair amount more beer has gone into barrels” for aging. The co ships to around 17 states full time, “and some states get our beer now and then,” Clark said. And it’s far from done. The co’s considering entering the spirits world after an Iowa law change earlier this yr and is also weighing the option of building a satellite brewery in Washington state, Clark explained to the Des Moines Register. That’s just one of a few articles the paper recently printed about the state’s top craft brewery, including an extensive review of the impact it has on Decorah during release events for its specialty brands.

Toppling Goliath finished its new 52K sq-ft brewery in Dec of 2017, outfitted with a 100-bbl brewhouse, Clark told CBN. The co recently installed 2 more 300-bbl fermenters, boosting capacity some 20%. It’s set up to simply drop in more equipment and eventually get to 100K bbls/yr “without doing one modification,” he explained. That is, “if the demand is there.” Clark started the co on a 1/2-bbl system just 10 yrs ago. It moved to a used 10-bbl system around the same time Clark hired brewmaster Mike Saboe. Two yrs later it moved to a 30-bbl brewhouse and “started rockin’ and rollin’.” Then, in 2015, “still running the business as a hobby business,” Clark signed on with Brew Hub to produce more beer for the co in Fla while he debated whether or not to build a bigger brewery of his own. The co finished the new brewery a few months before its contract with Brew Hub ended, allowing it to “step into existing demand,” Clark told us. TG could “cash flow the project right from the beginning” and has already invested another $4 mil “into our equipment without any additional loans” since it opened the facility.

Its popular special release events provide a clue into how that works. The co hosted some 4,000 beer drinkers for last weekend’s release of Mornin’ Delight, a coffee-laden barrel-aged stout, each spending $100 on 2 bombers of the beer and a tasting glass. That’s $400K before merch and any other beer piled into car trunks and hauled home, the Register points out. The co did 4 special releases last yr and plans to complete 4 this yr.

Then too, Decorah’s population is only about 8K. So Toppling Goliath estimates each release event brings about $1 mil in local economic activity. “It’s huge for the community,” according to Lorraine Borowski, mayor of the small Northeast Iowa town some 55 miles on two-lane Rte 44 from La Crosse, WI. “It’s not easy to get to Decorah,” Clark told the paper. “You really have to like to drive.” Paper spotted license plates from 14 other states during event.

And now Clark and co are looking further. He expects to install a distillery on site 1st, he told the Register, considering IA legislators passed a bill allowing breweries to produce spirits earlier this yr. In fact, the governor signed that bill at Toppling Goliath (see May 31 issue). Bourbon and clear spirits in the offing, per paper. But perhaps more surprising is Clark’s suggestion that co could look to build another brewery out in Washington. Considered a “springboard” for West Coast distribution, Clark and co “think our beer would do really well there, and also we’d really enjoy making beer within those markets,” he told the Register.

Bound to happen, but still impressive. California now home to 1,000 independent breweries, Calif Craft Brewers Assn announced. Quite the milestone to hit in CCBA’s 30th yr, just ahead of big Calif Craft Beer Summit confab in Long Beach next mo. And another reminder that lots of folks out there still excited about and willing to join this industry, despite competitive levels reaching new heights every day. Ain’t over yet either: CCBA tracks about 200 other breweries-in-planning, either currently applying for CA state license or with license pending, org shared with CBN.

Highlighting benefits breweries provide to their communities, including “jobs, charitable giving, economic growth” as well as “gathering place[s] for their neighborhood[s],” CCBA exec director Tom McCormick called attention to deepening impact across CA in statement. As more breweries open in CA, over 95% of state residents live within 10 miles of a brewery, the org shared. And it ain’t just San Diego and San Francisco, either. In fact, regions that saw biggest growth in number of breweries since last June included the North Bay, Greater Sacramento and Greater LA regions. In the North Bay, Napa and Sonoma counties now home to 78 breweries, up 23% since last June. And brewery count in and around state capital, Sacramento, up 15%. But state’s biggest population center also finally catching up. Over 20 breweries opened in LA, Ventura and Orange counties in last 14 mos or so, CCBA shared with us. So region’s up to 210 breweries.

Revs from exports of Maine brewers’ beer already hit $300K so far in 2019, largely driven by 3-yr old Maine Beer Box program, the Portland Press Herald reported this wk. Program organized by Maine Brewers Guild back in 2017 with public support and via partnership with North Atlantic shipper Eimskip, kicked off with initial event in Iceland. Maine Beer Box is a refrigerated shipping container outfitted with 50 taps, bringing Maine-made beer to festivals and special events abroad. Initial trip established the market for participating Maine breweries (90 of 150 state brewers have participated over last 3 yrs) as well as barrel-maker River Drive Cooperage & Millwork, which now estimates it provided 80% of the wooden barrels currently being used by Icelandic brewers, according to the Press Herald. Subsequent events in Canada and the UK created partnerships for brewers like UK-based beer-of-the-month club Beer52, which offered members only Maine beers this past April. That provided a Q1 boon for Maine brewers like Geary, Baxter, Rising Tide, Sebago and Foundation, outside of Beer Box shipments. Indeed those 5 co’s posted $50-75K in export sales each so far this yr and this yr was 1st yr of large export shipments for many, paper wrote. Next up for the program: Japan next Feb.

As breweries increasingly become places that serve beer as well as make it, also important to point out growing responsibility held by brewery taproom servers. In many states, last place of alcohol service can also be held liable for any damage or injury caused by a drunk driver, if improper service is proven. That’s now playing out in Salem, OR, where family of a teenager who was badly injured by a drunk driver sued both that driver and small Vagabond Brewing, where the driver had been drinking before the accident last Dec 26, according to the Salem Statesman Journal. The 25-yr old driver’s BAC was 0.158, so about twice the legal limit, and he was charged with and pleaded guilty to a DUI and a pair of assault charges. Vagabond is named in $3.5-mil negligence suit filed by the family of the victim, who lost his leg in the crash. Importantly, they will need to prove that staff at Vagabond served the driver when he was already visibly intoxicated.