Less than 2 mos since announcing the deal (see Aug 7 issue), Tilray officially closed on its acquisition of AB's various craft brewers (10 Barrel, Blue Point, Breckenridge, Redhook, Widmer) plus Shock Top, Square Mile Cider and HiBall energy brands for $83.4 mil in cash, according to announcement and 8-K filing. Deal now gives Tilray 5% of US craft mkt share and makes it 5th largest craft brewer in the country by volume (AB, Kirin-Lion, Boston Beer, and Sierra Nevada still larger), #1 craft co in the PacNW, #4 in the southeast and #5 in the northeast, co headlined.

The reality TV starlet Jenelle Evans is latest boldfaced name to throw her hat into coffee realm with launch of a functional mushroom coffee called Time Of The Day. The ecomm-only launch (at least for now) is starting with trio of Fair Trade-sourced entries: Reishi & Turkey "for energy and recovery," 7 Superfood Blend "for immunity and overall wellness," and Lion's Mane & Cordyceps "for memory support and stamina.

Asian-themed Sanzo sparkling water has been a marvel of ingenious activation schemes in its short existence, just 3-4 years. It's done cans themed themed to Asian heroes like NBA player Jeremy Lin and actress/comedian Awkwafina. At Expo East, tho, founder Sandro Roco was pumped about a less exotic potential sales driver: 6-packs. At booth sporting oversized 6-pack boxes that Sandro freely acknowledged he stole from La Croix (sporting oversized 8-pks just down the aisle) he said the fundamental fact was that 90% of flavored sparkling water category is driven by multiserve formats. So the 6-pks get him in the game, starting at Safeway/Albertsons divs in Northern Calif and Southern Calif as well as Stop & Shop chain in Northeast, including Sanzo's NY base. Early results are promising, he reported. As an ancillary benefit, the move defers the need for him to expand his DSD footprint, so far confined mainly to Rainforest in Northeast, LA Distributing in LA and Good Stuff in SF.

An Austin-based co called Pirq has been building out an extensive suite of plant-based fortifiers in which turmeric is the star, starting with superfood protein shakes and powders and now adding electrolyte powder sticks. Co was founded by former urban planner Minal Bhakta, its prexy, who's said she was inspired by her turmeric-obsessed mom in India to create the line. She's assisted by her husband, vp Snehal Bhakta, with whom we chatted at Expo Booth. Core entry is 11-oz cartons of Pirq Plant Protein, using pea and brown rice base, augmented by superfood blend of almonds, maca and turmeric-derived curcurmin, an anti-inflammatory nutrient. It's sweetened with Reb-M version of stevia to avoid listing any sugar on the ingredient bill and delivers 15 g of protein but just 130 calories. It's out in Decadent Chocolate, Golden Vanilla, Very Strawberry and Caramel Coffee flavors, with Pina Colada, Orange Creamsicle, Cinnamon Roll and Salted Caramel on the way. By now it's entered such conventional grocers as Giant, Tops, Albertsons/Safeway and Kroger, Snehal told us. It's also available online on Walmart and Target ecomm sites. The protein also is available in powder form in the Decadent Chocolate and Golden Vanilla flavors, in 1 lb bags good for 14 servings. The formula for these is even more robust, with each serving delivering 20 g of plant protein from pea, brown rice and chia base, 2 bil cfu's of probiotics and 150 calories.

Tho Anchor Brewing assets and IP are still up for grabs, a slew of archival materials from the nation's original craft brewery were acquired by the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. The objects were donated, per the museum's press release, with separate Paste report noting that curator Theresa McCulla worked "with employees of the now-shuttered Anchor."

Eleven Buffalo Bayou Brewing shareholders accused former company directors of "brazen fraud" in lawsuit filed in Delaware Chancery Court earlier this mo, Houston Chronicle reported after Law360 unveiled suit a few weeks ago. Former CEO William McLucas and his firm WPM Capital Partners allegedly "exploited corporate law" thru "buddy-buddy" relationships with certain execs "to acquire the privately held company in August 2022 without giving shareholders a meaningful chance to weigh in and without the money to pay them," according to Chronicle report. Shareholders claim co never sought out other potential buyers and they were each to be paid up to $3,335 per share for any ownership transfer. They say they were told "the only alternative to the merger" was Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Cali-based Karl Strauss Brewing expanded its distribution to Nevada via Vin Sauvage. State joins CA and AZ as 3rd statewide mkt for co, which bills itself as San Diego's longest running brewery since Prohibition. Karl Strauss currently operates 8 brewpubs in SoCal, with a new beer garden concept opening soon in city of San Marcos.

Narragansett partnered with indie craft, wine, spirits & non-alc house Imperial Bev for distribution thruout MI statewide, co shared with CBN following news about its recent growth (see last issue). Co's lookin to launch anywhere between 3-5 new states in 2024, hinting that one's "a big one" (TX?) and "the others are to support chain coverage to support the brand's accelerating growth." Currently, co's available thruout New England, NY, NJ, PA, DE, DC, GA, MD, KY, OH, IN, WI, NC, SC, FL, VA, CO, Portland, OR, plus Nashville and Chattanooga, TN. Stay tuned.