Barrel-aged beers now drive "about 10%" of Boulevard Brewing's overall sales, wrote KC Biz Jnl. Tho the "highly profitable" specialty beers likely account for significantly smaller percentage of volume, recall that Boulevard beershipments finished 2021 around 129K bbls, CBN estimates. This yr co's riding improved trends in home state MO too. And after Quirk Hard Seltzer accounted for nearly 30K additional bbls and near 20% of total Boulevard's shipments in 2021, Quirk is bucking segment trends in 2022, keeping up strong double-digit growth in scans and rising in ranks as many other hard seltzer brands steeply decline.

Just over a year after founder Jeremy Cowan announced Shmaltz's exodus from the craft beer biz, a rabbi-in-training swooped in to give the brand a second life. The Jewish craft beer brand sold for an undisclosed price to Jesse Epstein, a 26-yr old reform rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports. Jeremy will stay on "as a minority owner and consultant." And working with "an all-volunteer staff" for the time being, Jesse aims to "use beer as a vehicle for rethinking" Jewish communal gathering spaces.

Leinenkugel's will soon brew beer inside the Milwaukee Brewers' baseball stadium. Co struck a deal to open a brewpub at American Family Field when the MLB season resumes next yr, dubbed the J. Leinenkugel's Barrel Yard, with a 3-bbl brewing system on-site. It'll feature Leinie flagships such as Summer Shandy and Juicy Peach, along with new innovations and exclusive small-batch beers at a full-service bar & restaurant overlooking left field.

As Lagunitas looks ahead at its "broader strategy for 2023 and beyond," co's opting to close its smaller Seattle brewery/taproom by Jan 9, 2023, and "focus" more on its core Petaluma and Chicago locations, CMO Paige Guzman shared with CBN. "When we examined Seattle, and the rationale for its opening back in 2017, it simply didn't fuel our focus moving forward," she explained. It "was never financially sustainable for us," even before additional cost pressures, hiring challenges, visitor traffic drops and more hit. But those additional factors "did not directly drive this decision for us," said Paige. Lagunitas leases Seattle property and is working with its landlord on "future plans" for the space while co works "to assess what equipment we'll relocate to Petaluma." So "if there are other breweries looking for equipment or space in Seattle," Lagunitas is "happy to connect" cos with the landlord and space, Paige added. Both Petaluma and Chicago locations are "combined with our major places of brewing and we're simply better equipped to focus and support these locations in a more robust fashion." About "a dozen" employees worked at the location and Lagunitas has been working with them to provide "resources to assist them post-closure."

NY-based consultant and aerospace biz vet named Mark Missirlian has launched 7.5-oz canned matcha entry called MatchaKo that keeps calories down in range of 5 to 60 per can but dials up antioxidants thanks to use of ceremonial-grade core ingredient sourced from rich volcanic soil of Japan's Kagoshima region. Line broke online and in handful of stores in Southern Calif in 4 versions: Original Unsweetened, Matcha Lemonade, Oat Milk Matcha Latte and Almond Milk Matcha Latte. The 3 sweetened entries use Grade-A Amber maple syrup sourced from upstate NY. Like many other new brands, idea was birthed during pandemic lockdown, when Missirlian learned cumbersome process of creating drinks from scratch at home and set out to create more convenient option. The market, of course, has not been devoid of matcha RTDs in still and sparkling formats, from established players like Ito En and earlier-stage brands like Matchabar and Motto. After soft launch in Sep, co is planning retail expansion to SW reg

World Health Organization (WHO) released its first-ever "global tax manual for sugar-sweetened beverages" (SSBs) that calls for big tax hikes globally to reduce consumption. WHO wants a "one-time global SSB tax increase" that would raise prices 50% and that "could generate additional revenues of $1.4 trillion" over next 50 years to "lessen demand" and "reduce consumption." Increased "taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages can be a powerful tool to promote health because they save lives and prevent disease, while advancing health equity and mobilizing revenue for countries that could be used to realize universal health coverage," said Dr Ruediger Krech, dir of health promotion. Org also noted that a recent Gallup Poll found 59% of people support higher taxes on sugared bevs in survey in US, India, Colombia, Jordan and Tanzania. The manual can be downloaded here.

Register for the Beer Marketer's Insights Year in Beer webinar, featuring the news and numbers that drove the beer biz in 2022, to be held on Wednesday, Feb 1, 2023, 1 - 2:30 PM EST. Review key stats and critical stories that defined 2022. Don't miss this 60 minute + Q&A webinar, sharing top-line numbers and headlines. Presented by BMI editorial staff, you'll get a wide-ranging, rapid-fire review of the most important news, numbers and insights within the US beer biz. Register now for just $225, or sign up your team of 5 for $750; 10 for $1,125.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was just named Time mag's Person of The Year, shared his thoughts about what he wants to do once the war is over with David Letterman back in Oct. "To be honest with you, David, I really want to go to the sea, when we have won the war. And I would really like to drink some beer," said Zelenksy. Cheers to that!…Then too, Coors Light and Mich Ultra ads were named among 30 best ads of 2022 by AdAge. Coors Light's Chillboards (which was also named among 5 best out-of-home innovations) spot came in at #17 while Mich Ultra ad featuring John McEnroe ranked 21st.