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Jessica Infante
Managing Editor, Brewbound
Jessica Infante joined Brewbound in 2019 after nearly a decade in a variety of marketing roles in the craft beer industry. Prior to that, she was a daily newspaper reporter at the Jersey Shore. Jess holds a bachelor’s degree in magazine journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University and a master’s degree in integrated marketing communication from Emerson College. She is a certified Cicerone and lives in Salem, Massachusetts.
Sierra Nevada has identified craft beer’s biggest villain and thinks it has a plan to defeat it. In a James Bond-themed presentation during its wholesaler conference at its campus in Mills River, North Carolina, the country’s No. 2 craft brewer by volume armed its wholesalers with a “license to sell” and a specific mission to tackle what it’s calling the Vortex – the self-perpetuating cycle of beer volume declines at retail that lead to distribution declines, which create more volume losses.
Two of the beer category’s largest growth vendors reversed trends in the four-week period (L4W) ending August 9, according to the latest monthly report from market research firm Circana. Worsening grocery channel losses pushed No. 1 Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B) into decline in the L4W, accelerating a pattern that began in July.
As it bolsters its core seasonal craft beer lineup with occasion-driven variety packs, 38-year-old Great Lakes Brewing Company (GLBC) also has several irons in the beyond-beer fire. Earlier this month, Great Lakes announced the launch of aSplash, a ready-to-drink (RTD) canned cocktail produced in collaboration with Columbus, Ohio-based Watershed Distillery, the Buckeye State’s largest craft spirits producer.
Great Lakes Brewing is cruising into Oktoberfest season with wind in the sails of its famed seasonal franchise. The Cleveland, Ohio-based craft brewery streamlined its variety pack offerings for 2026, moving to occasion-driven seasonal packs that rotate quarterly and static themed packs.
TailGate Brewery is beating the odds amid a stubbornly down period for craft beer. TailGate’s distribution business – which it bolsters with nine taprooms in Tennessee – has increased 40% year-over-year (YoY) in the first half of 2026, the Nashville-based brewery shared in a recent press release.
Contract-focused joint venture B3 Beverage looks much different from when it launched last year. Philadelphia’s Yards Brewing has made it official with the platform, which has taken final steps to acquire it. However, other founding member breweries have since departed.
Rhinegeist Brewing’s Cincy Light line has crossed categories with the debut of Cincy Splash, a vodka-based, ready-to-drink (RTD) canned cocktail. The vodka sodas are available in three flavors: Pineapple, Black Cherry and Peach. The 4.5% ABV, 100-calories drinks are packaged in 355 ml slim cans and sold in single-flavor 4-packs and variety 8-packs, according to a press release.
The price of a drink at a bar or restaurant has gotten more expensive more quickly than most other things, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Another craft platform is taking shape in Minnesota. Minneapolis-headquartered Fulton Brewing has struck a deal to acquire the brands and distribution rights to Bemidji Brewing, a 14-year-old craft brewery based in the downtown district of the city that bears its name.
Losses in beer and wine continued to drag overall beverage-alcohol sales in the latest weekly report from market research firm Circana. Total bev-alc off-premise dollar sales declined 2.2% year-over-year (YoY), to $1.452 billion in Circana-tracked off-premise channels (total U.S. multi-outlet plus convenience) in the week ending August 2.
Regional and local craft beer may be on the chopping block for many distributors in the next year, according to the latest survey from Tamarron Consulting. Tamarron’s annual Brewer Partnership Compass (BPC) – a comprehensive survey of 170 wholesalers about their relationships with leading suppliers and plans for the coming year – revealed that 57.6% of respondents plan to “de-emphasize and/or reduce SKUs” of regional craft beer.
Two craft-centric distributors will swap territories in a dual acquisition deal in New York and New Jersey. Sarene Craft Beer has acquired the New Jersey business of Remarkable Liquids, which in turn has acquired Sarene’s business north of New York City.
Total U.S. beer industry supply declined 2.1% year-over-year (YoY) in June, according to the latest volume report from the Beer Institute (BI). That figure – which includes data for domestic tax paid shipments, imported beer and state-level shipments – outperformed year-to-date (YTD) volume, which declined 3.9% YoY through the end of June.
