Overall beer category dollar sales declined in Q1 2025 compared to Q1 2024, but those losses were unbalanced between the channels, according to the most recent report from the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) and Fintech. Beer dollar sales reached an estimated $15.8 billion in the first quarter of the year, down about 4% year-over-year (YoY).

Craft mergers in Massachusetts continue apace. Orleans-based Hog Island Beer Co. has struck a deal to acquire Plymouth-based Mayflower Brewing, the companies announced this week. The acquisition brings together two breweries who sit across Cape Cod Bay from one another.

Nearly three-quarters (72%) of American consumers are concerned about a looming recession, and 52% think “the economy will be worse this time next year,” according to a recent poll from insights firm Numerator. It’s an apparently bipartisan dread, Numerator reported.

Craft brewers’ collective production declined 4% in 2024, to 23.1 million barrels of beer produced, the Brewers Association (BA) shared today in the release of its annual craft brewing production report. The trade group representing small and independent craft breweries described 2024’s numbers as “highlighting the new realities of a maturing market in a rapidly evolving environment.”

As some suppliers and wholesalers warm to intoxicating hemp beverages, bev-alc trade group leaders are looking for regulatory parity between their members’ products and the burgeoning segment.

Monster Brewing will cease operations in Utah late next month, the company announced Thursday. Production of its Utah-based brands Wasatch Brewing and Squatters Brewing will shift to other facilities within Monsters’ bicoastal network, according to a statement from Monster Brewing president Ray LaRue.

Beer distributors’ top priority in lobbying visits with congressional members during the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) legislative conference was to push for permanence for lowered tax rates put in place by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).

At a time when brewers are exploring spirits and ready-to-drink offerings as avenues for incremental revenue, Michigan-based spirits producer Benchmark Beverage Company is doing something similar: bolting on beer brands to expand its portfolio.

Republic National Distributing Company’s (RNDC) portfolio in California has shrunk again, as Gallo moves its popular High Noon Sun Sips ready-to-drink (RTD) canned cocktail line to the Reyes Beverage Group.

This week’s A Round With … features Dave Vitt, founder and CEO of Bellingham’s own Kulshan Brewing. In the Brewbound Insider-exclusive Q&A, Dave shares how Bellingham’s beer scene has evolved, how the Kulshan team keeps coming up with unique taproom events and how to stay positive in challenging times.

Another day, another Colorado craft beer deal. Longmont-based Left Hand Brewing and Aurora-based Dry Dock Brewing announced they have merged under the craft-centric, crowd-funded platform Left Hand revealed plans to build last year.

The Colorado-based Wilding Brands platform has grown again. Denver-based Great Divide Brewing has been acquired by the parent company of Stem Ciders, Denver Beer Co. and several other brands.

Anderson Valley Brewing Company (AVBC) has changed hands for the second time in a little more than five years. Wine industry entrepreneur Jason McConnell acquired the Boonville, California-based craft brewery in a deal that closed Tuesday, former owner Kevin McGee told Brewbound.

2025’s drinking occasions just can’t hold a candle to 2024, it seems. In the lead up to St. Patrick’s Day (week ending March 16), off-premise bev-alc sales recorded a -3.9% decline year-over-year (YoY), market research firm Circana reported in its newest batch of weekly data. Holiday shopping delivered a +5% increase week-over-week (WoW).