In Wednesday’s Brewbound Insider newsletter, gains made by domestic tax paid beer shipments in May were all but “wiped out” in June, according to Beer Institute chief economist Andrew Heritage. Insiders are also reading about attendance at the 2024 Craft Brewers Conference, the impending closure of J. Wakefield’s taproom and Lawson’s market expansion.

Who says endorsements are just for athletes? Kudos to the MOLSON corporation for finding a creative way to work beer into Olympics sponsorship! 🍻 And more importantly, a congratulations to the parents of 9 Canadian Olympians who are now getting a 💰, TV time and most importantly – free beer (😱) as part of their new endorsement contracts during the Paris games.

How is beer doing at the halfway point of 2024? Brewbound reporter Zoe Licata shares highlights from not one, but two mid-year beer reports. Zoe breaks down the Brewers Association’s mid-year craft report, as well as a total beer overview from the National Beer Wholesalers Association and Fintech halfway through 2024.

Congratulations beer, you did it! Beer was chosen as the alcoholic beverage of choice for the summer (66%) over wine (54%), liquor (50%) and cocktails (43%) in a brand new survey of 2,087 LDAs. What’s that? Who paid for the survey? Well, I mean is that really important? OK fine, it was the BEER INSTITUTE (who enlisted MORNING CONSULT to conduct it on its behalf), but I’m sure they totally would have released the results even if wine had come out on top, ahem.

Three years post-pandemic, the beer industry’s performance is still “erratic,” National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) chief economist and VP of analytics Lester Jones said during a webinar on Tuesday.

Almost Friday Media, the comedy meme account turned digital media empire that has long celebrated the vaunted opening of a beer at the closing of the workweek, had a drinker base long before it had a beer brand.

Gonna open this weekend’s newsletter with an invitation to the Brewers Association to join me for a pint in NYC (you’re buying – uhh, Justin insists), as the BA just published a report that asserts that the price of a pint on-premise has tracked below the rate of inflation for the past 3 years. It also cites an average pint price of $6.85 as of the end of 2023. So, come to NYC and let’s have a couple of craft pints to toast to that – just make sure you bring more than $20.

Long-time Brewers Association (BA) president and CEO Bob Pease will retire on June 30, 2025, after 32 years at the trade organization representing small and independent craft brewers, Pease and the BA announced last week.

Some say there’s no such thing as bad publicity … but I feel rather confident in saying this wasn’t a July 4 holiday product placement spend from Coors.

The number of craft beer drinkers who are drinking less craft beer than they were a year ago has surpassed the number of those who are drinking more for the first time since the Brewers Association (BA) started asking this question in its annual poll in 2015.

Following a long July 4 holiday weekend, the Brewbound team shares how they celebrated Independence Day.

Molson Coors-owned Leinenkugel’s is making its flagship Summer Shandy a year-round offering. Leinenkugel’s president Tony Bugher and John Leinenkugel discuss why the move represents the company getting out of its own way, how big the brand is for its business and how they plan to support the brand in the colder months.

The Brewbound team catches up on the latest news, including Allagash’s first foray into non-alcoholic adult beverages with Hop Water. Justin, Jess and Zoe discuss why this seems on brand for the Portland, Maine-based craft brewery, and why it may be a better entrypoint than NA beer.

While it’s nice to be the official beer of a sports league … it’s apparently another thing to supply beer for player celebrations. I mean, we’re not made of money, folks. So alas, the only visibility that MICH ULTRA had in the CELTICS locker room celebration after winning the NBA Finals was … some signage in the background, as players celebrated with MILLER LITE, CORONA, HIGH NOON and even Boston’s own JACK’S ABBY.