Wachusett Brewing Company

Barrel One Collective is getting a new leader, a little more than six months after the founding of the New England-centric parent company of 15 brands, including Harpoon and Smuttynose. Nathaniel Davis will take the reins as CEO from Harpoon founder Dan Kenary, who will transition to the role of president after an eight-week sabbatical.

Barrel One Collective is in the process of adding another New England craft brewery to its growing roster. The Boston-headquartered platform has struck a deal to acquire Worcester, Massachusetts-based Greater Good Imperial Brewing, the only dedicated high-ABV craft producer in the country.

Leaders of the newly former Barrel One Collective shared their vision for the new platform, which was formed from the merger of Harpoon Brewery’s parent company Mass. Bay Brewing and Smuttynose’s home of FinestKind Brewing. Dan Kenary and Steve Kierstead explained how the platform came together and how open they are to adding to the collective.

Two New England legacy craft houses are merging in a deal that unites 14 brands. The parent companies of Harpoon and Smuttynose – Mass. Bay Brewing Company and FinestKind Brewing, respectively – have merged to form Barrel One Collective, the companies announced today in news first shared with Brewbound.

Anheuser-Busch InBev has forged a master distributor agreement with Canteen Spirits, while its growth and innovation arm ZX Ventures has made an investment in the 2-year-old ready-to-drink canned cocktail brand.

The Dubliner Irish Whiskey has announced its first collaboration on US soil partnering with Massachusetts craft brewer, Wachusett Brewing Company for the 1st edition of its Beer Cask Series. The Dubliner shipped casks of its award-winning, Bourbon Cask Aged Irish Whiskey to the brewers at Wachusett in 2019 who then filled them with their Quinn’s Amber Ale. The beer was aged in the Kentucky bourbon oak casks for several months and the freshly disgorged casks were sent back to Dublin to be used for The Dubliner Beer Cask Irish Whiskey release which is launching this March.

Former Wachusett Brewing Company president Christian McMahan has started The Hooch Lab, a consulting firm targeting higher-end brands in the beer, wine, spirits and ready-to-drink FMB space.

Just in time for its release on Veteran’s Day, Wachusett Brewing Company is launching a special new beer for a very special cause. “Holiday” Double IPA features a limited-edition hop blend by Yakima Chief Hops that raises money annually for veteran causes.

Founders of three of Massachusetts’ oldest craft breweries shared insights and advice for the next generation of Bay State craft brewers during the virtual Mass Brewers Guild conference earlier this month. “Expect to work your ass off,” said Jim Koch, founder of Boston Beer.

The hard seltzer segment is on pace to capture 10% of the beer category dollar sales by this summer, according to Cowen analyst Vivien Azer. Last week, hard seltzer segment’s share of beer category dollar sales reached 8.8%, according to market research firm Nielsen. And there are no signs that the segment is slowing down.

Wachusett Brewing Company is putting a refreshing twist in to the fast-growing hard seltzer category with the launch of Country Hard Seltzer, an exciting fusion of flavored lemonades and seltzer, just in time for the summer season.

Wachusett Brewing Company and Atlas Distributing are releasing a new beer together that will directly raise money to support three COVID-19 response funds in the communities where they operate.

The Dubliner Irish Whiskey has announced its first collaboration on US soil partnering with Massachusetts craft brewer, Wachusett Brewing Company for the 1st edition of its Beer Cask Series. The Dubliner shipped casks of its award-winning, Bourbon Cask Aged Irish Whiskey to the brewers at Wachusett in 2019 who then filled them with their Quinn’s Amber Ale. 

Newly named Massachusetts Brewers Guild’s president Sam Hendler wants to finally resolve the contentious franchise reform debate with the state’s wholesalers. Hendler, a co-founder and co-owner of Framingham, Massachusetts-based craft breweries Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers and the Springdale Beer Company, acknowledged that the franchise law reform effort has been dragging on long before he was of legal drinking age. “I was a high school senior when it started,” he told Brewbound.