Craft Brew News # 29 - New Jersey Socialists and Gillette Stadium Beer

Craft Brew News 5/31/19
(Courtesy of Brewbound.com)
New Jersey ABC Sets Restrictions on the Number of Events Craft Breweries Can Host
The New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) issued a revised special ruling earlier this week aimed at limiting the number of annual events breweries can host in their taprooms.
Under the ruling issued Tuesday, the ABC said the state’s craft breweries can hold up to 25 “special events,” 25 “social affairs,” and 52 “private parties” annually inside their taprooms. Additionally, breweries are now allowed to sell their beer at 12 events a year outside of their taprooms.
Citing concerns of bar and restaurant owners, the ABC first announced plans to impose restrictions on the number of events craft breweries could host in September 2018. The agency suspended that ruling days later amid pressure from craft brewers, state lawmakers and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.
In Tuesday’s revised ruling, the ABC said the new guidelines are an effort to “balance the concerns” of the state’s 100 licensed craft breweries with those of the state’s 6,000 retail licenses in an effort to create “stability” and “foster realistic competition.”
Leaders from both of the state’s trade groups — the New Jersey Brewers Association and the Brewers Guild of New Jersey — called the latest ruling a “mixed bag.”
Brewers Guild of New Jersey executive director Eric Orlando said while the ruling gives craft brewers some new privileges, it also adds more restrictive provisions.
New Jersey Brewers Association executive director Alexis Degan said her organization plans to lobby lawmakers to remove the limits on the number of events breweries can host in their taprooms, as well as repeal other “antiquated” liquor laws.
Sierra Nevada Asks Breweries to Honor Camp Fire Pledges
Sierra Nevada Brewing is still waiting for more than half of the breweries that agreed to brew Resilience IPA and donate the proceeds to the relief efforts of last year’s Camp Fire wildfire to submit their donations, according to a company letter.
“Though we have and continue to do good work to get our community back on its feet, this is a long-term process,” Sierra Grossman, brewery co-owner and daughter of founder Ken Grossman, wrote in the letter, which was obtained by WorstBeerBlog. “Those funds you pledged are critical to continue our uphill battle.”
Nearly 1,500 craft breweries signed up to brew Resilience IPA as part of Sierra Nevada’s efforts to raise money for the victims of Camp Fire wildfire, which killed 85 people, displaced tens of thousands of residents, and destroyed more than 18,800 structures.
Sierra Nevada told Fortune that it is “actively working” with breweries “to establish realistic timelines for donations.”
“We are however hopeful that those funds will be received as soon as possible so we can continue funding this essential work,” the company told the outlet.
Earlier this year, Sierra Nevada estimated that the Resilience campaign could potentially raise as much as $15 million if the project’s 1,484 breweries produced to their stated commitment levels.
Ex-MillerCoors VP Sentenced to Prison Time
Former MillerCoors vice president of sales David Colletti was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for bilking the country’s second-largest beer manufacturer out of more than $8 million over the course of a decade as part of a fraudulent scheme, according to Law 360.
Colletti, who reached a plea deal in 2016, told authorities he recruited people to act as vendors on more than 200 phony invoices. Those fake invoices were then submitted to MillerCoors, which paid Colletti’s phony vendors, who split the proceeds with Colletti.
Colletti had worked for MillerCoors for more than 30 years.
Wormtown Brewery to Add 2nd Location at Gillette Stadium
Massachusetts’ Wormtown Brewery today announced plans to open a second taproom, adjacent to the New England Patriots’ stadium, before the end of the summer.
Wormtown managing partner David Fields said the Worcester-based craft brewery took control of a 4,000 sq. ft. space at Patriot Place — a shopping, dining and entertainment center near Gillette Stadium in Foxborough — from Battle Road Brewing Company, which had operated a pop-up taproom there during the latter half of 2018.
“Sixteen million people go through Patriot Place on an annualized basis, and they come from not just Massachusetts, but all over New England and all over the country,” Fields said. “So there’s an opportunity to connect our brand to a whole bunch of people that may or may not have seen us before.”
Wormtown has purchased a 7-barrel brewhouse for the facility, which will serve as an innovation hub. The company is hoping to open the Foxborough outpost ahead of the New England Patriots’ first exhibition game on August 22.
The taproom also brings Wormtown closer to one of its biggest customers: Gillette Stadium.
As for Wormtown, the company...