Summary: Craft Brew News - 12/06/2019<br>(Stories Courtesy of BrewBound – <a href="http://www.brewbound.com" rel="noopener">www.brewbound.com</a>)<br><br>New Belgium to be Acquired by Kirin-Owned Lion Little World Beverages<br><br><br>Another member of the old guard of craft brewing sold today when Kirin-owned Lion Little World Beverages announced a “definitive agreement” to acquire 100% of New Belgium Brewing Company in an all cash transaction.<br><br>Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, although it is expected to close at the end of 2019, pending approval from government regulators, as well as co-owners in New Belgium’s Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).<br><br>Once closed, the transaction will mark the end of New Belgium’s 100% employee-owned status, which was fully implemented in 2012, and the end of the company’s status as a small and independent craft brewer as defined by national trade group the Brewers Association (BA).<br><br>Co-founder Kim Jordan will also remain involved in an advisory role and will collaborate with other founders within Lion’s portfolio.<br><br>Lion’s acquisition of New Belgium, the fourth largest BA-defined domestic craft brewery, will give the Australasian company a foothold in the U.S. market. In 2018, New Belgium produced just under 850,000 barrels of beer, a decline of 11% from 2017 levels.<br><br>Coca-Cola Files Complaint Against Mark Anthony’s ‘White Claw Hard Seltzer Surge’ Trademark Application<br><br>Coca-Cola filed a complaint with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office last week claiming that Mark Anthony Brand’s application to register “White Claw Hard Seltzer Surge” infringes on its Surge brand of citrus sodas.<br><br>Mark Anthony Brands filed an application with the USPTO on May 24 to register the brand name White Claw Hard Seltzer Surge, a product that has not yet been announced.<br><br>According to Coca-Cola’s complaint filed November 20, White Claw’s proposed use of the Surge name is similar in “sound, appearance, connotation and commercial impression.”<br><br>Surge soda launched in the 1990s as a competitor to Pepsi’s Mountain Dew brand and was discontinued in 2003. Coca-Cola resurrected the brand in 2014 and filed a trademark application for it on December 31, 2013.<br><br>TTB Accepts Offer in Compromise From Seven Brides Brewing<br><br>The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) has accepted an offer in compromise from now-shuttered Seven Brides Brewing in Silverton, Oregon.<br><br>According to the TTB, Seven Brides offered to pay $18,230 of the $132,802.81 it owes in fines for violations that took place from April 2010 to September 2018. Seven Brides has offered to pay $3,630 up front and $1,000 each month for 14 months and the $600 balance in the fifteenth month.<br><br>Before closing in October 2018, Seven Brides produced 650 barrels of beer, according to the Brewers Association.<br><br>The TTB has accepted 18 compromise offers from wholesalers and producers this year.<br><br>FDA Issues Warnings to 15 Companies for CBD Products, Cannot Declare CBD ‘Generally Regarded as Safe’<br><br>The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it cannot yet determine that CBD is safe for consumption and issued warnings to 15 companies for promoting products with it in ways that violate the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, according to THCNet.<br><br>The Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act prohibits companies from adding CBD to food, marketing products for children or infants, and claiming that CBD products can treat diseases, provide any kind of therapeutic relief or serve as a dietary supplement. <br><br>So far, only one drug with CBD has been approved for use in humans; it treats two forms of pediatric epilepsy, Abernathy noted in the release. In order to declare CBD “generally recognized as safe,” the FDA must conduct more research on the substance’s affect on humans.<br><br>Craft Beer Storm...
