While craft beer is facing its own set of challenges in US, the scene seemingly tuffer overseas. In UK, "more than 100 small brewers that have been forced out of business in the past 18 months," The Guardian reports. They were "hit by a combination of Brexit, the pandemic and the cost of living crisis," and they're "now threatened by changes to beer duty laws" with beer, wine and spirits taxed based on alcohol content since Aug 1 (as opposed to previously different tax levels). "There are brewery shutdowns every year… But there's more shutting down this year than in the previous eight years of doing business," said Yvan Seth, founder of indie craft distrib Jolly Good Beer. Avg beer production by members of the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) is also 11% below 2019 levels, article reminds.

TN's Wiseacre Brewing added another mkt to its distribution footprint, expanding into San Diego this wk with Brown Bag Beverage. It'll begin selling 3 yr-round beers - Tiny Bomb Pilsner, Gotta Get Up to Get Down Coffee Milk Stout and Air Bath Session IPA - along with seasonal and specialty releases at BevMo, Total Wine and others. Co's beers are currently available in 20 states plus DC, announcement notes, after filling out FL in May and launching WI and AZ earlier this yr. Wiseacre finished last yr up 9% to 26.5K bbls, per Brewers Assn stats. It'll celebrate its 10th anniversary by hosting "first ever BAM! WISEACRE Beer and Music Festival" on Sat, Oct 21 at its original Memphis taproom.

College craft beer collabs continue to pick up pace as new season approaches. Among latest additions: COOP Ale Works is partnering with Oklahoma (OU) athletics to create "Schooner All-American Ale" as school's first-ever official craft beer offering. KY's Gravely Brewing teamed up with University of Louisville (UofL) athletics to release "Cardinale" as the university's new official craft beer. And Mifflinburg, PA's Rusty Rail Brewing Co will sell The Fans Hazy IPA at Penn State's Beaver Stadium, the first craft IPA to be offered there.

Stone's Richmond, VA facility will begin producing 3 Sapporo beers by late November (Premium, Reserve and Black), followed by a 4th next yr (low-carb White). As combined co continues its quest to essentially double total capacity, it'll look to brew 156K bbls in Richmond this yr followed by 320K in 2024 and 360K bbls per yr by 2025, COO Sean Monahan and sr director of brewing ops Robert Kunz told Richmond Biz Sense. And "Stone Richmond is in the process of doubling its staff, installing new fermenters, adding a faster canning line and reworking its storage procedures ahead of the Sapporo launch," article notes. (A version of this article also appeared in sibling pub Insights Express.)

After eyeing the city for a while, Iowa's Toppling Goliath Brewery officially unveiled plans to open in Des Moines. Outpost won't open until 2025, but it'll mark co's first location outside home base of Decorah. Co will occupy ground floor of a 5-story apartment complex in Drake neighborhood of the city, including 13K sq-ft space with a small production component, outdoor patios and a full food menu, Des Moines Register reported.

Firestone Walker is lookin' to build back Mind Haze IPA brand family with new version of its Tropical Hazy Mixed Pack, which includes new "Tropic Rocket" IPA variant, co announced. Mind Haze "Tropic Rocket" is "super loaded with tropical fruit character," fitting right in alongside Mind Haze Tiki Smash and Citrus Cyclone IPAs. Gotta note, Mind Haze IPA, Mind Haze Light IPA and current iteration of Mind Haze Tropical Hazy variety pk are all down tuff double-digits in scans lately. Tho Mind Haze Double IPA continues to grow. And core 805 Blonde and Cerveza are improving lately.

DreamPak LLC, a copacker and private-label producer of drink mixes, liquid creamers, shelf-stable meals and dietary supplements, broke ground on 50K-sq-ft addition to its primary plant in New Berlin, Wis, at an anticipated investment of $5 mil. The new space will add processing, filling and storage space to support DreamPak's liquid concentrate biz at plant it purchased a decade ago to augment its presence in DC area. DreamPak was founded by Dr Aly Gamay, in 2000. It's based in McLean, Va . . .

In filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this month, fermentation pioneer Amyris disclosed plan that calls for it to spin off its considerable portfolio of consumer brands in order to narrow focus to core ingredient biz. Court documents cited by media reports show it to owe $1.3 bil in debt. Tho most of those brands are personal care & beauty entries like Biossance, JVN (with Queer Eye star Jonathan Van Ness), Pipette, Olika, Terasana and Rose Inc, they do include sweetener marketer Purecane, which uses proprietary yeast strain to extract Reb-M stevia from sugarcane, for low-glycemic offering that's also non-GMO certified. (Purecane also markets an electrolyte drink mix.) The plan will allow Emeryville, Calif-based biotech to focus on R&D and scale-up, commercialization and applications development of its biofermentation-derived ingredients. It said it will continue to operate the brands as it seeks buyers who'll "continue to leverage Amyris' cutting-edge science and technology." Its largest stakeholder, John Doerr, has agreed to provide $190 mil in debtor-in-possession financing. It has until mid-Sep to achieve consensual solution with key stakeholders to avoid having its assets sold in court-supervised auction, per Biofuels Digest report. Amyris has been leader in biofermentation and spawned alumni who've moved on other influential roles in food/bev biz, as with cofounder Neil Renninger, who later co-launched plantmilk player Ripple Foods. (Flow of earnings reports and other financial news has been so relentless in recent weeks that we're only able to get to this now.)

You saw Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on TV last month railing about energy drinks licensing popular candy brands that are appealing to kids (BBI, Jul 10). It's no shock, then, that prolific class action counsel Spencer Sheehan now has Ghost Energy in his sights. Lawsuit filed in US District Court for Middle District of Florida (Ft Myers) by plaintiff named Angel Martinez alludes to Schumer's crusade, Canadian recall of some energy drinks, and various health experts and studies to make case that energy drinks branded with licensed names like Sour Patch Kids, Swedish Fish and Bubblicious are targeting vulnerable demo with drinks whose 200 mg of caffeine is double the 100 mg limit recommended for under-18s. "Though the Product is marketed to children and teens, the only place which discloses it is only intended for healthy adults is in fine print and/or on the opposite side from purchasers," suit alleges. As bad, Ghost's marketing partners with FaZe Clan, "a leading 'youth focused' esports and gaming platform." And as in other suits, Sheehan also goes after low-calorie formula that some experts argue is incompatible with energy benefit, same tack he took in hydration segment with recent Prime Hydration suit (BBI, Aug 14).