The Great American Beer Festival, the largest beer festival in the United States, has announced that it has pivoted to an online-only event taking place from October 16-17 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Full details of this change come via a Brewers Association press release below.

Coronado Brewing Co. in San Diego, California has announced that its Peach Cruiser IPA will be released in 16-ounce cans. Full details can be found below.

SAN DIEGO – Coming off the success of last year’s Knoxville Series, Coronado Brewing Company is re-releasing Peach Cruiser IPA just in time for summer. Coronado’s Knoxville Seasonal Series debuted back in 2018 and features three special-release beers distributed throughout Coronado’s distribution network. The seasonal program offers beer drinkers fun, interesting beers available to buy on store shelves, while supplies last. Peach Cruiser IPA is the second installment in the series and will be followed by Early Bird, currently scheduled as the third release later this year.

Peach Cruiser is a San Diego-style IPA brewed with summer in mind. The beer is brewed using a blend of Mosaic, Citra and Azacca hops, with fresh peach, apricot, and lactose added to complement the tropical citrus hoppiness. “When I think of summer, I think of tropical fruit and the beach,” says Mark Thiesen, Head Brewer, Coronado Brewing Company. “The blend of hops we used brings out all the bright, tropical fruit characteristics you look for in a summer beer, and the fresh peach puree complements and enhances those flavors nicely. The end result is an incredibly easy-drinking and refreshing IPA that’s perfect for outdoor activities.”

Gathering Place Brewing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin has announced the release of its popular #shoehaze Oat Pale Ale in cans. The beer is named after the popular and influential music genre founded in the early 1990s. Full details are below on this canned release.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin — Just in time for Memorial Day, Gathering Place Brewing is adding four new beers in cans, increasing its canned offerings to 14 beers. The new beers, available in 4-packs of 16 oz cans, will be released on Saturday, May 23 from 2-6 p.m. in the taproom along with a fresh batch of Arrivederci Roma Italian Pils.

The four new beers in cans include #shoehaze Oat Pale Ale, an established crowd favorite, and three beers made for the first time: a Helles Lager, a Milk Porter, and a Coffee Pale Ale.

Asked why Gathering Place opted to release these specific beers, Joe Yeado, Gathering Place’s founder explains, “COVID-19 has presented challenges, but we have to continue innovating and creating new beers and flavors to keep our customers satisfied. These new beers are unique and flavorful in their own right and will be perfect as we transition to warmer weather.”

AMSTERDAM — Heineken N.V. (HEINEKEN) has announced the appointment of Stacey Tank as Chief Corporate Affairs and Transformation Officer as of 1 June 2020. Ms. Tank will join HEINEKEN’s Executive Team, reporting to Dolf van den Brink, HEINEKEN’s CEO designate and from 1 June 2020 CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board.

Stacey Tank returns to HEINEKEN, as she ran the Corporate Relations function at HEINEKEN USA until 2015. She amplified the company’s sustainability development and performance, and boosted the company’s reputation among internal and external audiences. A US national, Stacey has over two decades of experience in global businesses in senior management roles. This includes close to ten years at General Electric in a variety of international audit, finance, and communications roles. During her GE years, she lived and worked also in Europe, Mexico and Brazil.

WeldWerks Brewing Co. in Greeley, Colorado has announced that its Medianoche barrel-aged imperial stout will be made available outside the state of Colorado for the first time in the brewery's history. Full details are below.

SEATTLE — Beer has been bringing people together for decades. And now, since the start of COVID-19 shelter-in-place orders, beer lovers haven’t been visiting their favorite breweries as much, if at all — and they’re feeling the void.

Breweries like Colorado’s WeldWerks are turning to online retailer Tavour to help bring the community together virtually, even in these potentially isolating times.

This week, Tavour will release WeldWerks’ Medianoche to the online craft community, marking the very first time the 2020 vintage will be sold outside the taproom. Beer collectors across the country are already on high alert to get their hands on one of the mere 540 bottles to leave Colorado.

Search any beer trading forum, and you’ll see a surge of requests every time WeldWerks releases a new variant in their award-winning Medianoche series. Collectors raid their cellars and offer top-dollar bottles from some of the most respected breweries in the world, like Cantillon, Bottle Logic, 3 Fonteinen, and Angry Chair!

Procuring a bottle of the new Medianoche will add prestige to their collections. Here’s why:

Two Roads Brewing Co. in Stratford, Connecticut has announced a retailer relief draft program to help bars and restaurants impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Full details are below.

STRATFORD, Conn. — Two Roads Brewing Company announced a major initiative to help CT restaurants recover from the effects of COVID-19. The plan is to offer a substantial “Back On the Road” discount on a selection of its fresh draft products.

According to Director of Sales, Ben Iaderosa, “The shutdown has been a rough ride for retailers, and for some time it will remain so because their seating capacity will be restricted for safety reasons.  We want to help our customers get back up and running, so they can bring more of their staff back sooner.  To support this end, from June 1st until July 31st, Two Roads is providing deep discounts on our most popular fresh draft offerings.”

The brewery has talked with many of its restaurant customers about the challenges they face as restrictions begin to lift. Iaderosa went on the say, “the message that we are hearing is that customers are going to have to be careful managing their inventory and cash flow as they initially order beer.  We feel like it’s our job as their partners to help them achieve that goal.  It’s the right thing to do.”

Two Roads is also working with its distributors to split the cost of refunding retailers for draft beer that is no longer fresh enough for sale.