Fort Collins, Colo.-based craft brewer New Belgium Brewing Co. joined the Minds + Machines Pioneer Program for .beer URLs. New Belgium will be one of the first breweries to use and promote the .beer domains, which include newbelgium.beer, nbb.beer, sour.beer, find.beer and more.

Consumer confidence hit a high in the third quarter of 2014 after zigzagging in earlier quarters this year, according to the latest Information Resources Inc. (IRI) MarketPulse survey.

On Friday, Nov. 28, Chicago-based Goose Island Beer Co. will release its Bourbon County Brand Stout (BCBS) line of barrel-aged beers through special beer-centric Black Friday events in nine cities including Boston; Chicago; Dallas; Philadelphia; Phoenix; San Francisco; Los Angeles; and Jacksonville, Fla. Black Friday has become a beer drinker’s holiday and a true reminder that good things come to those that wait, according to the brand of Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev), Leuven, Belgium.

San Diego-based Green Flash Brewing Co. announced that it has acquired Alpine Beer Co., also of San Diego. Green Flash Founders Mike and Lisa Hinkley and Alpine Beer Founders Pat and Val McIlhenney noted that the merger will allow the breweries to join forces to share resources, knowledge and experience.

In honor of Veteran’s Day, Nov. 11, multiple beverage brands are finding ways to salute our nation’s troops and their sacrifices in the days before and after this federal holiday.

More than 20,000 attendees from 60-plus countries were in attendance at this year’s National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) Show, which took place Oct. 7-10 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas.

Blackstone Brewing Co. released its seasonal Pumpkin Ale.

St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch announced its intention to purchase craft brewer 10 Barrel Brewing Co., Bend, Ore.

Stone Brewing Co. introduced a seasonal iteration of its year-round Stone Smoked Porter.

In time for fall, Stone Brewing Co., Escondido, Calif., introduced a new, citrus-rich, chocolaty iteration of its year-round Stone Smoked Porter. Stone Smoked Porter w/Chocolate & Orange Peel currently is available in 22-ounce bottles and on draft at retailers, bars and restaurants in select markets nationwide.