Corona's $7.3 billion parent company acquired a beloved craft brewer — and furious customers are threatening to ditch the beer

Kate Taylor - Business Insider

(Funky Buddha is known as one of the best craft brewers in the US.Flickr/FunkyBuddhaBrew) Another beloved craft brewer has been acquired by a beer industry giant.

On Thursday, Constellation Brands — the parent company of Corona and Modelo — announced its acquisition of craft brewery Funky Buddha.

Funky Buddha is the fastest-growing craft brewery in Florida, winning over beer fans with brews like the Florida Hefeweizen and Hop Gun IPA. The brewer was founded in 2010, in Boca Raton, Florida.

Funky Buddha's acquisition by the third-largest beer company in the US, with Constellation racking in $7.3 billion in sales in 2016, is a controversial decision in craft beer circles.

Many fans of Funky Buddha spoke out against the deal on social media. Click Here To Read More!

10 of America’s Best Pool Bars

vinepair staff - vinepair.com

There’s something about being in a pool with a cold drink in hand that makes everything feel right with the world. There’s simply no better way to refresh both your body and soul than sipping on a cocktail, beer, or some rosé in the shallows of the cool water while sunshine beams down on you. Click Here To Read More!

A beery evening stroll through the new breweries of old Pilsen

By Josh Noel -Contact Reporter - The Chicago Tribune

This is the first in an occasional series tracking Chicago's evolving craft beer scene by neighborhood, each installment in a single evening.

At the only occupied table outside the recently opened Pilsen brewery, a handful of drinkers gathered beneath a string of white holiday lights with glasses of saison and witbier and chatted in the language of the neighborhood: Spanish.

Pilsen. Drinking beer. On a warm summer evening.

As recently as nine months ago, Pilsen had no taprooms or brewpubs. In the midst of a food and drink uprising — some call it gentrification — Pilsen, a home to Mexican immigration since the 1950s, suddenly has three.

There's Moody Tongue, which opened as a production brewery three years ago and opened a lavish taproom in October; Alulu, a cozy brewpub that opened in March; and Lo Rez, which began brewing last fall and opened a taproom in June. All sit along a 1-mile stretch just north of Cermak Road, between Ashland Avenue and Halsted Street. Click Here To Read More!

Bacardi Employees Team Up with Surfrider Foundation for Beach Dune Restoration

70+ Volunteers to Remove Invasive Species and Plastics

CORAL GABLES, Fla. and MIAMI BEACH, Fla., July 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Teams of Bacardi employees, ecology experts and volunteers for Surfrider Foundation's Miami chapter recently worked together to help restore the beach dune and preserve the unique ecosystem along the Miami Beach coastline.

"Bacardi recognizes the importance of the local communities where we live and work and plays an active role in giving back by supporting our employees to make a difference," said Jessica Merz, director of corporate communications, for Bacardi. "Our goal is to return to the environment at least as much as we take away." Click Here To Read More!

Is the Mezcal Industry Doing Enough to Protect Mezcal? Maybe. Maybe Not

Contributed by Brad Japhe - liquor.com

It’s the latest buzzword of the bar world: sustainability. Brands champion it, marketers co-opt it, and the rest of us pretend we know what it means, if only to feel extra warm and fuzzy while throwing back our favorite cocktail.

But in the quickly changing world of mezcal, sustainability is a lot more than hype. It’s a function of survival. From 2005 to 2015, mezcal sales in the U.S. increased by almost 300 percent, making it one of the fastest-growing spirits in the country and indeed the world. This dizzying uptick in consumer demand comes at odds with an artisanal product that can take years, even decades, to cultivate. Click Here To Read More!

BARTENDER OF THE WEEK Songstress and mixologist Robyn Whitehead

By Becky Montgomery - Florida Weekly Correspondant - keywest.floridaweekly.com

If you haven’t yet stopped into Key West’s newest little upscale bar, the Roost, at 508 Fleming Street between Duval and Simonton, you should. Open for just a month now, it’s a hidden gem you might pass by once or twice before you realize it’s there. It was last known as Baby Cheapee’s, a package liquor store, before becoming the next popular Maria Sharpe incarnation with idea guy/bar manager Chris Shultz at the helm once again. The interior décor is a warm welcome of wood, bar stools with octopus legs, and tables in the front and back for cushy seating. It’s a craft-cocktail bar that offers a small eclectic bar menu (i.e., a salmon plate, caviar and a selection of Pino’s chocolates), local celebrity bartenders, and best of all, they still offer package wine, liquor and beer. Click Here To Read More!

George Clooney sells tequila brand Casamigos for $1 billion

By Sasha Savitsky - foxnews.com

George Clooney has a lot to celebrate this year.

Weeks after Clooney welcomed twins with his wife Amal, the actor announced he sold his tequila brand Casamigos for $1 billion.

"If you asked us four years ago if we had a billion dollar company, I don’t think we would have said yes," Clooney said in a statement to Fox News. Click Here To Read More!