Justin Kendall provides daily coverage of the beer industry on Brewbound.com, conducts live-streamed interviews during Brewbound’s events and co-produces the Brewbound podcast. Kendall is a nearly 20-year career journalist who led alt-weekly newspapers in Kansas City, Missouri, and Des Moines, Iowa.
As cider offerings from larger producers have hit a dry spell, those from smaller, regional producers are gaining market share as consumers continue seeking out sweeter alcoholic beverages. For proof, look no further than Virginia’s Bold Rock Hard Cider, which has seen year-to-date dollar sales (through Sept. 25) grow more than 100 percent, to nearly $8 million, according to market research firm IRI Worldwide. That ranks Bold Rock as the sixth-largest cidery – the top five sellers are all national brands – by market share, even though the company’s products are distributed in just nine states.
Less than one week after BrewDog founders James Watt and Martin Dickie announced plans to gamble investors’ money at a roulette table, the Scottish craft beer entrepreneurs appear to have temporarily pulled the plug on the stunt. “The powers that be don’t seem to like gambling as much as we do,” BrewDog wrote in a blog post on the brewery’s website. “We are in discussions regarding the future of BrewDog’s Big Bet. Stay tuned for further updates.”
According to a new study from market research firm IRI Worldwide, alcohol producers shouldn’t ignore Generation X or Baby Boomers in the chase for Millennials’ dollars. Released Tuesday, the study examines generational trends of U.S. alcoholic beverage consumers. The market research firm reported that Boomers (45 percent of overall beer, wine and spirits dollars) and Generation Xers (20 percent of all alcohol dollars) represent too great of a piece of the marketplace to ignore.
In its year-in-review released on Monday, the Brewers Association said more than 5,000 breweries were operating throughout the United States at the end of November.
Last week, more than 200 industry professionals converged on San Diego for Brewbound’s winter session, and videos from every main stage conversation are now available for viewing. If you weren’t able to watch this year’s conference, or if you were hoping to revisit individual presentations, here’s what you’ll find:
Citing volume limitations and a need to focus on its midwestern distribution footprint, Fat Head’s Brewery announced Friday that it would stop distributing to the Florida market next month.
One day after naming Simon Thorpe the CEO of Pabst Brewing Company, chairman Eugene Kashper offered a window into the future of his company’s merger and acquisition strategy during Thursday’s Brewbound Session in San Diego. Thorpe, known for his M&A work as the former CEO of Duvel USA, where he was instrumental in purchasing Boulevard Brewing and Firestone Walker, will be tasked with “fine turning and fixing” Pabst’s partner strategy, Kashper said.
Legalized marijuana is burning the craft beer business, according to Vivien Azer, Cowen and Company’s managing director and senior research analyst specializing in the beverage, tobacco and cannabis sectors. Speaking at the Brewbound Session today, Azer’s was just one of several voices that discussed a craft beer business that has experienced a decade of wild growth but has slowed in the past 18 months.
The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission is striking back against a ruling that had granted craft brewers the right to sell their distribution and territorial rights, according to the Dallas Business Journal.
If Wesley Snipes were an investor in BrewDog, he’d probably give anyone considering the Scottish craft beer maker’s latest stunt a word of advice: always bet on black. BrewDog co-founder James Watt announced “BrewDog’s Big Bet” on Wednesday — a double-or-nothing bet of Equity for Punks USA investors’ money at a roulette table once its crowdfunding campaign concludes in February 2017. The event will be streamed through BrewDog’s Facebook site.
Bad Martha Brewing Company of Martha’s Vineyard has introduced its third IPA, Twin Sirens Double IPA, plus new fall flavors available at Bad Martha Farmer’s Brewery & Tasting Room where it is now collaborating with local establishments on the Island to create specialty destination beers for them. The Company also took home two Bronze Medals and one Silver at this year’s Great International Beer & Cider Competition in Providence, RI.
Nearly one month after being sued by beer importer Shelton Brothers for alleged “unfair and illegal” practices, Massachusetts-based beer distributor Craft Brewers Guild filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on Tuesday. The action stems from a November 4 lawsuit filed by Shelton Brothers, which claimed that Craft Brewers Guild’s illegal pay-to-play practices between 2013 and 2014 had cost the import company $1.7 million in potential sales.
Legalized marijuana is harshing the buzz of three longtime craft beer meccas, according to a new report from Cowen and Company. In Colorado, Oregon and Washington, where recreational cannabis use has been legalized, the beer business is underperforming, according to Vivien Azer, Cowen and Company’s managing director and senior research analyst specializing in the beverage, tobacco and cannabis sectors.
In the latest attempt to raise $50 million to build out its first U.S. brewery in Ohio, Scottish craft beer maker BrewDog announced Monday that it would open a brewpub in any American city where at least 500 people invest in the company’s Equity for Punks USA crowdfunding campaign.
