Person grapping a Modelo bottle from a cooler filled with ice (Photo by James Kern on Unsplash)

Mexico | Take it as a sign of the times that environmental concerns now trump business plans. US brewer Constellation Brands is getting ready to build a brewery in Veracruz. The company reported at the end of April 2022 that it will invest USD 1.3 billion in the southeastern Mexican state over the next four years. The investment is part of the USD 5.5 billion it will spend on its Mexican plants over the same period.

Craft sign (Photo: Tim Gouw on Unsplash)

USA | It was mostly good news for craft brewers in 2021, according to data released by the Brewers Association on 5 April 2022.

Guinness glass (Photo: Erik Jacobson on Unsplash)

USA | Who are those people who file all their grocery bills for further reference? In the US, some 23,000 consumers brought along their receipts and joined a class action lawsuit in 2015 against Diageo, the brewer of Guinness, over misleading labelling on Guinness Extra Stout.

a column of stones (photo: Sean Stratton on Unsplash)

USA | After four years of legal wrangling and three weeks of trial, San Diego’s craft brewer Stone won its lawsuit against Molson Coors. The eight-person jury’s decision on 25 March 2022 was unanimous, but the victory was not necessarily everything Stone may have hoped for.

handwritten note of pay debt (photo: Towfiqu Barbhuiya on Unsplash)

USA | A San Diego federal jury said on 25 March 2022 that Molson Coors must pay craft brewer Stone USD 56 million for causing consumer confusion with ads for its Keystone brand.

cans of hard seltzer (photo: Camden & Hailey George on Unsplash)

USA | Boston Beer’s Chairman, Jim Koch, already hinted in February that first quarter 2022 beer sales would be tough. And indeed, January proved pretty rough. Taxpaid domestic beer shipments dropped 815 000 barrels (950 000 hl), or 6.2 percent over January 2021, estimated the Beer Institute. In February, shipments declined 5.8 percent over the same month 2021, which is a loss of 681 000 barrels (796 000 hl).

Sign Sorry we are closed (photo: Tim Mossholder/Unsplash)

USA | Many thought it was a bad omen for the whole of the industry when San Diego’s craft brewer Modern Times, which a few years ago was expanding rapidly, on 14 February said it would close four of its eight taprooms and lay off 73 people.

courthammer (photo: Tingey Injury Law Firm/Unsplash)

USA | A trial in a trademark dispute, in which craft brewer Stone is suing MillerCoors (now Molson Coors) for compensation after MillerCoors had niftily rebranded its economy beer brand Keystone and thus stolen Stone’s craft beer customers, began on 7 March 2022. It is scheduled to last for three weeks.

Monster punch cans (Photo by Jorge Franganillo on Unsplash)

USA | So Monster and Constellation are still talking about a combination. According to Bloomberg, talks between the two beverage firms are progressing. Indeed, an agreement could be reached in the coming weeks if negotiations proceed smoothly. The similarly sized companies have a combined market value of about USD 90 billion.

Chess: White king knocking over black king (Photo by GR Stocks on Unsplash)

USA | The Treasury Department’s long-awaited report on competition in the markets for beer, wine, and spirits was finally released on 9 February 2022. While it commends the proliferation of new firms over the past several decades, the report also details challenges to the growth of small businesses and new entrants into the marketplace.

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