Circana: Craft Declines Accelerate in Final Weeks of Q1; YTD Dollar Sales -4.5%, Volume -5.7%

Craft off-premise declines accelerated last month, which should come as no surprise to anyone keeping up with March scans and data reports.

In the last four weeks (ending March 23), craft beer dollar sales declined 5.1% year-over-year (YoY) and volume, measured in case sales, fell 6.4%, in Circana-tracked off-premise channels (total U.S. multi-outlet, plus convenience), according to the market research firm’s latest monthly report.

Note, off-premise scans are just a snippet of beer data and do not capture all beer sales.

Over the last 12 weeks – a.k.a. the first quarter of the year – craft dollar sales declined 4.5% and volume declined 5.7% versus the same three-month period in 2024. The segment also lost a slight share of the total beer category: dollar share -0.2 points, to 10.09%; volume share -0.1 points, to 7.04%.

Craft declines also outpaced total beer trends (-2.6% dollar sales, -4.4% volume) in the L12W. In the L4W, total beer dollar sales declined 2.5% and volume 4.2%.

Additionally, craft recorded the second largest dollar sales decline within the beer category in the L4W, behind only domestic premium (dollar sales -6%, volume -7.1%).

Craft’s declines were even steeper in grocery, with dollar sales and volume declining 6.6% and 7.7%, respectively, in the L4W. Through Q1, craft beer dollar sales have declined 5.5% and volume has declined 6.5% in the channel.

Craft holds the third largest share of beer dollars in the grocery channel (18.24%, -0.85 points in the L4W), and the fourth largest share of volume (12.01%, -0.58 points YoY). Total beer dollar sales in grocery stores declined 2.3% and volume decreased 3.6% in the L4W.

Convenience was the one channel where craft declines decelerated versus 2025 trends. Dollar sales declined 1.8% and volume declined 3.2% in the L4W, a slight improvement over year-to-date (YTD) figures: dollar sales -2.2%, volume -3.8%.

Craft also gained share of total beer dollar sales (+0.4 points, to 6.47%) and volume (+0.06 points, to 4.42%) in the channel in the L4W.

Eight of the top 30 craft brands in multioutlets recorded YoY dollar sales gains in the L4W, including:

No. 2 Kirin-owned New Belgium’s Voodoo Ranger Imperial IPA (dollar sales +3.3%, volume +2%);
No. 3 Voodoo Ranger Juice Force (dollar sales +8.5%, volume +7.1%);
No. 4 Sierra Nevada Hazy Little Thing (dollar sales +0.4%, volume -0.2%);
No. 6 Anheuser-Busch InBev’s (A-B) Elysian Space Dust (dollar sales +9.8%, volume +16.6%):
No. 10 Voodoo Ranger Tropic Force (dollar sales +45.6%, volume +46.76%);
No. 15 A-B’s Goose Island Tropical Beer Hug (dollar sales +26.7%, volume +25%);
No. 18 A-B’s Wicked Weed Pernicious IPA (dollar sales +39.7%, volume +48%);
No. 26 Georgetown Bodhizafa IPA (dollar sales +9.6%, volume +5.8%);
No. 29 Rhinegeist Truth IPA (dollar sales +0.4%, volume -0.5%).

Of the eight, half recorded a deceleration in growth in the L4W versus YTD figures, while accelerated gains were recorded by A-B’s top craft offerings Elysian Space Dust (dollar sales +6.2%, volume +8.7% YTD), Goose Island Tropical Beer Hug (dollar sales +24.7%, volume +22.9% YTD) and Wicked Weed Pernicious IPA (dollar sales +30.6%, volume +22.9% YTD); and by Georgetown Bodhizafa IPA (dollar sales +2.1%, volume -2.9% YTD).

Two other top 30 craft brands remained in the black YTD despite declines in the L4W, including No. 8 A-B’s Kona Big Wave, with dollar sales increasing 0.5%, volume declining 2.6% YTD (L4W dollar sales -3.4%, volume -7.5% YoY); and No. 21 Molson Coors’ Blue Moon Light, with dollar sales increasing 3% and volume increasing 1.7% YTD (L4W dollar sales -1.2%, volume -2%).

The parent offering of the latter, No. 1 craft brand Blue Moon Belgian White, recorded accelerated declines in the L4W, with dollar sales -9.9% and volume -14.7%. YTD, Blue Moon dollar sales and volume were down 6.5% and 9.6%, respectively.

Other top 30 brands in decline YTD include:

No. 5 Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (dollar sales -4.1%, volume -5.1%);
No. 7 The Gambrinus Company’s Shiner Bock (dollar sales -5.9%, volume -5.3%);
No. 9 Heineken-owned Lagunitas IPA (dollar sales -8.7%, volume -11.5%);
No. 11 Boston Beer Company’s Samuel Adams seasonal (dollar sales -2.5%, volume -3.4%);
No. 12 Duvel-owned Firestone Walker 805 (dollar sales -6.6%, volume -9.4%);
No. 13 Kirin-owned Bell’s Two Hearted (dollar sales -5.6%, volume -6.9%);
No. 14 Mahou San Miguel-owned Founders All Day IPA (dollar sales -4.3%, volume -4%);
No. 16 Monster Brewing-owned Cigar City Jai Alai IPA (dollar sales -2.7%, volume -4.8%);
No. 17 Samuel Adams Boston Lager (dollar sales -9.1%, volume -10.3%);
No. 19 Lagunitas A Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ (dollar sales -2.5%, volume -6.1%);
No. 20 Molson Coors-owned Leinenkugel’s Shandy seasonal (dollar sales -2.9%, volume -7.6%);
No. 22 Voodoo Ranger Hoppy Pack (dollar sales -31.6%, volume -32.5%);
No. 23 Voodoo Ranger Juicy Haze (dollar sales -17.8%, volume -18.5%);
No. 24 New Belgium Fat Tire (dollar sales -21.8%, volume -23.3%);
No. 25 Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA (dollar sales -18.4%, volume -18.5%);
No. 27 Sierra Nevada Big Little Thing IPA (dollar sales -4.2%, volume -4.9%);
No. 28 Voodoo Ranger Fruit Force (dollar sales -59.9%, volume -60.5%);
No. 30 Goose Island IPA (dollar sales -17.8%, volume -17.4%).

Within grocery, two Sapporo-Stone offerings cracked the top 30 by YTD dollar sales: Stone IPA and Stone Delicious IPA. However, they recorded opposite growth trends.

Stone IPA, which ranked No. 29 in grocery in Circana’s previous monthly report, moved up to No. 26 in the latest report, thanks to an acceleration in gains in the L4W (dollar sales +6.9%, volume +12.8% YoY). YTD through Q1, dollar sales for the offering increased 2.7%, while volume grew 6%.

Meanwhile, No. 29 Stone Delicious IPA moved up one spot from the previous month’s ranking, but recorded dollar sales declines in both the L4W (dollar sales -2.4%, volume +2.5%) and YTD (dollar sales -6%, volume -4.6%).

In c-stores, No. 28 Fiddlehead IPA and No. 29 Tilray-owned Sweetwater 420 Extra Pale Ale slipped into the top 30. Both brands are down slightly YTD: Fiddlehead dollar sales -0.2%, volume +1.1%; Sweetwater 420 dollar sales -0.2%, volume -0.4%. In the L4W, Fiddlehead declines accelerated (dollar sales -2.4%, volume +0.7% YoY), while Sweetwater improved trends (dollar sales +4.1%, volume +3.8%).

Non-alcoholic (NA) beer maker Athletic Brewing is not classified as craft within Circana’s data set, but is considered a craft brewery by the Brewers Association (BA). The company is the 28th largest beer vendor overall in Circana-tracked off-premise channels, with dollar sales increasing 27.8% and volume growing 30% through Q1.

While Athletic’s Run Wild IPA cracked the top 100 overall beer brands list in Circana’s previous report, ranking No. 96, it fell off in the latest rundown. If included in Circana’s craft set, the offering’s grocery sales alone would rank it No. 19 among the overall top 30 craft brands list.

Within the grocery channel, Athletic would have three offerings in the top 30 craft list: