• 🎠 New Jersey’s Forgotten Boardwalk to Close
• 📝 Oregon Health Authority's Forgotten Study
• 🚚 Teamsters Warn A-B of Potential Strike, Boycott
• 💰 Ajax Turner Purchasing BountyBev TN Business
• 🦇 Freetail Brewing for Sale in San Antonio
• 🌵 Cacti is Back (Low-key)

Forgotten Boardwalk Brewing is winding down operations after losing its lease, founder Jamie Queli announced earlier this month.

She wrote in the brewery’s newsletter and on social media: “To all of our loyal customers, friends, family and supporters – we wish you a heartfelt thank you for being a part of the Forgotten Boardwalk story for the past 10 years. We have vigorously tried to sign a lease extension with our landlord to no avail as our next door neighbor has leased out the space from underneath us.

“We are extremely disappointed and quite frankly, appalled at the actions of both companies and their adamant refusals to negotiate with us.”

The 10-year-old, Cherry Hill, New Jersey-based brewery will keep regular business hours until its last day on February 29. 

The issues began in September, when Cherry Hill, New Jersey-based Forgotten Boardwalk’s landlord approached the brewery’s neighbor, also an owner in the same complex, and offered to rent them the brewery’s space. Representatives from that business came into the brewery to take measurements for renovations, which took Queli by surprise, as she had been in the process of negotiating a renewal of the brewery’s lease.

But by December, the deal was done and Forgotten Boardwalk would lose its home.

Queli told Brewbound: “We were still trying to work with the landlord on it, and they just dug their heels in. They're like ‘We're not even considering it.’”

Forgotten Boardwalk filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on January 12, the same day it announced it was shutting down. Documents filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court’s District of New Jersey reveal that Forgotten Boardwalk’s estimated assets are between $100,001 and $500,000, and its estimated liabilities are between $1,000,001 and $10 million. 

A balance sheet filed with the court lists the brewery’s rent expenses for 2023 at $159,522.53.

In her farewell to Forgotten Boardwalk’s fans, Queli asked for supporters to share any business opportunities for the brewery. Her request drew a deluge of possibilities that she’s sifting through cautiously.

She said: “Everyone thinks I'm going to figure it out and everyone's rooting for me to figure it out. I feel awful trying to tell them I don’t know if I’m gonna.”

Insiders can read more, including a recap of other recent brewery leasing issues, and comments from Brewers Association chief economist Bart Watson on the trend. 

The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) is under scrutiny after a 2021 study on the impact of proposed higher beer and wine taxes on excessive alcohol use has been brought to light, The Oregonian reported.

The study contradicts some legislators’ claims that a higher tax would significantly help curb alcohol abuse in the state. Legislators have made several attempts over the past few years to raise taxes, including a nearly 3,000% increase from $2.60 per barrel to $72.60 per barrel, proposed in 2021 (H.B. 3296), and a 1,200% increase, to $33.60 per barrel, proposed in 2023 (H.B. 3312).

The report, conducted by EcoNorthwest and finalized in November 2021, found that increased taxes would result in a small decrease in heavy alcohol use, reducing the economic burden by up to $53 million (about 2% of the estimated annual costs). However, the state’s “heaviest drinkers” would only cut their consumption by an estimated 2%, with consumers more likely switching to less premium products. 

The results of the tax-focused portion of the study were not published on the OHA website, and have been absent from political discussions about proposed tax raises, according to the Oregonian.

The Oregon Beverage Alliance (OBA), a group of local brewers, winemakers, cidermakers, distillers and other industry members and the founders of DontTaxMyDrink.org, are criticizing the OHA for the alleged lack of transparency.

The OBA said in a press release: “This shocking news is deeply concerning that the Oregon Health Authority appears to have intentionally buried a taxpayer-funded study it commissioned because the findings contradicted efforts to justify raising alcohol taxes. As the Task Force on Alcohol Pricing and Addiction Services prepares to hear more potential bias and inaccuracies from Oregon Health Authority at the upcoming, Feb. 1, meeting, how can members trust the information Oregon Health Authority is providing to stakeholders and policymakers?”

Insiders can read more here.

As negotiations for a new contract between the Teamsters and Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B) resumed Thursday, Teamsters general president Sean M. O’Brien issued a warning to the world’s largest beer manufacturer to agree to workers’ demands or risk a “national walkout” and “another brand boycott.”

O’Brien warned A-B that if a new contract isn’t reached, a work stoppage will begin once their contract expires on February 29. 

He said: “Anheuser-Busch needs to check its moral compass. They’ve ignored workers for months. They make up excuses to not come to the bargaining table. They take our labor for granted while they pour millions into corporate advertising. It’s a disgrace. The Teamsters are more united than ever at Anheuser-Busch, and we are prepared for a full-scale strike and nationwide boycott.”

Teamsters presented A-B with a model contract that received 94% approval of A-B Teamsters, which “includes language protecting jobs, recapturing lost union work, increasing retirement benefits, and boosting wages.” A-B is expected to respond to the model contract today.

Teamsters Brewery, Bakery, and Soft Drink Conference director Jeff Padellaro said: “Anheuser-Busch has failed to address workers’ issues, so our model contract does the heavy lifting for these executives. It’s all laid out for them in black and white – what we need, what we’ve earned, what we expect. All Anheuser-Busch has to do is finally make a decision to respect its workforce. Let’s get this thing done. There’s no sense in Anheuser-Busch driving its brand into the ground by turning its back on the people who make the beer.”

In mid-December, 5,000 A-B teamsters at 12 U.S. breweries voted by 99% to authorize a strike should a new deal not be reached.

Ajax Turner is acquiring BountyBev’s business in the greater Nashville area. 

Ajax Turner, an independent A-B distributor based in La Vergne, Tennessee, will acquire 400,000 case equivalents from Bounty, whose portfolio includes several Tennessee craft brands such as Jackalope, East Nashville Beer Works, Tennessee Brew Works, Wiseacre Brewing, and Hutton and Smith Brewing, along with out-of-state craft brands from Anderson Valley, Rhinegeist, Bell’s, Founders, Maui Brewing, Modern Times, JuneShine, Narragansett, and Revolution, among others, per its website. 

Pending supplier approvals, the transaction is expected to close in February. OMAC represented Ajax Turner.

Ajax Turner is also divesting a portion of its beer territory to Hand Family Companies’ TriStar Beverage in Clarksville, Tennessee. Brewbound understands that Ajax is selling beer and non-alc brands in a portion of two counties, plus another, that make up around 200,000 cases. 

In other distributor dealmaking, two Indiana A-B wholesalers have struck a deal. Zink  Distributing in Indianapolis will be acquiring around 300,000 cases from Greenfield Beverage in Greenfield.

The deal is also expected to close in February, pending supplier approval.

San Antonio-based Freetail Brewing is for sale, according to an online business listing, the San Antonio Current reported.

Per the listing, Freetail’s projected revenue in 2023 was $3.5 million, up from $2.4 million in 2019. Forecasted revenue for 2024 is $4.35 million, which would mark “a 24% increase” year-over-year and be the first year of profitability for the business, which opened in 2008, according to the listing.

“While still in search of profitability, all locations are demonstrating significant growth in revenues and upside potential,” the listing reads.

The asking price was not disclosed. The listing includes the brewery and two brewpubs. 

“This turnkey operation is being sold to the highest bidder that meets or exceeds our confidential minimum sales strike price."

Cacti Agave Spiked Seltzer, the previously discontinued hard seltzer brand from rapper and music producer Travis Scott, is back on shelves. 

Scott broke the news casually on Wednesday, responding to a fan on Twitter/X that the new Cacti is “in stores now,” followed by a second tweet: “THE HUNT BEGINS 👀🌵.”

Anheuser-Busch InBev halted production of Cacti at the end of 2021. Two years later, Scott hard-launched a return of the brand in a music video featuring refreshed packaging and single-serve cans. 

No official announcement has been made by A-B, and Cacti still does not appear under the beer giant’s list of brands on its website. The Cacti website, DrinkCacti.com, is still active, but all content is password protected.