Beer Industry News, Insights, Jobs, & Events

Most founders build to scale, but Adam Kost, founder of ready-to-drink brand Dirty Shirley, built to prove. In a saturated market, Dirty Shirley was structured from day one as a market-validation project that was lean, disciplined, design-led and deliberately positioned for an early strategic exit – which it got.

Well, it’s nice to see TILRAY totally learned from the spending warning lessons of the previous BREWDOG ownership era. It’s launching a promotion to give away up to about $1.3M of beer in the UK and Vegas at its branded locations if England, Scotland or U.S. teams make the World Cup Final (although with these remaining odds, don’t get your hopes up too high there, Tartan Army).

Nearly 300 Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC) workers in Illinois are expected to be laid off as the distributor shuts down its operations in the state.

The FIFA World Cup 2026 on-premise boost has emerged from coast to coast, according to the latest report from data firm BeerBoard. Those gains are much steeper in states with the 11 stadiums hosting World Cup matches, often by several orders of magnitude.

Fresh off its launch into the hard soda set with Spiked Pop, Owl’s Brew is shaking up its approach to the mixer category. The brand’s Functional Non-Alcoholic Mixers launched on Amazon this week, blending fruit juice, tea and botanicals with ingredients like L-theanine and vitamin C.

Four Loko-maker Phusion Projects has licensed some of its brand assets to Chuck It LLC for use on intoxicating hemp beverages.

Boston Beer Company and two former sales representatives have reached a settlement in a lawsuit over the company’s use of non-compete agreements, according to a court order filed Monday.

Hemp industry advocates are celebrating the inclusion of pro-hemp language in a recent White House letter to Congress regarding a supplemental budget request.

Mass Appeal Draught House and Grille opened on the eve of the kick-off of FIFA World Cup 2026 at its neighbor, Gillette Stadium. Hendler Family Brewing co-founder and CEO Sam Hendler joined the Brewbound Podcast to discuss how the multi-branded taproom handled an influx of guests, what Scottish fans prefer to drink – and what they’re not drinking.

Rhinegeist’s Cheetah lager is being reincarnated later this summer. This August, Rhinegeist will relaunch Cheetah as Super Lager, in collaboration with grocery chain Kroger, a fellow Cincinnati-based business.

The founders who built NÜTRL into Canada’s top vodka soda are putting that playbook to use again, this time with tequila.

Diageo CEO Dave Lewis is reportedly following through on slashing jobs as part of a reorganization of the struggling alcohol firm. Reports this week indicate that cuts have reached Diageo’s North American business.

Phusion Projects is licensing “brand assets” to another firm that has launched Nine Loko, described as a “flavor first, perception-bending jazzy cannabinoid juice.”

The Zero Proof, a leading adult non-alc beverage platform, today announced the acquisition of The New Bar, a West Coast-based non-alc hospitality and discovery program. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.