Sierra Nevada Brewing Company

Sierra Nevada’s strategy to continue 2026’s growth into 2027 involves a portfolio-wide packaging overhaul, the return of major brand campaigns and a meaningful dive into the beyond beer category.

As Sierra Nevada plans to tackle what it calls craft beer’s No. 1 enemy, “The Vortex” – the self-perpetuating cycle of distribution losses that drive volume declines that beget more distribution losses – the brewery has built a multi-faceted innovation slate.

After Sierra Nevada’s brands delivered growth in a challenged craft beer market, the country’s No. 2 craft brewery by volume plans to keep its foot on the gas. Part of stemming volume declines requires recruiting new drinkers into craft.

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.

Check out news items initially reported in the Brewbound Insider Newsletter August 20-21, including headlines from the Brewers Association, Constellation Brands, Sierra Nevada and more.

The story of craft in 2026 has followed the increasingly repetitive plotlines of the last couple years: Volume is down a mid-single digit at the midway point, scans haven’t been encouraging and craft is on distributors’ cut lists. While the public-facing numbers aren’t encouraging, the vibe around craft is different in 2026.

Seven of the 10 largest Brewers Association-defined craft breweries recorded production volume declines in 2025, according to data shared by the trade group in the May/June Issue of The New Brewer magazine.

The summer selling season is upon us, signaling the start of the beer category’s most important stretch. Encouraging early trends this year have given way to a more cautious outlook. More recent trends “signal erosion from the stronger momentum seen in March and early April,” market research firm NIQ noted in a recent report. As the industry hopes the heat creates a summer thirst, here are eight storylines we’re tracking.

Sierra Nevada is taking a cautious approach to the rollout of its next new product launch. Shred Beer Soda will debut in early June at the brewery’s gift shops in Chico, California, and Mills River, North Carolina.

Job cuts at Diageo; Michelle St. Jacques’ landing spot; Victoria and Pacifico’s new lead; Sierra Nevada’s next Little Thing; Modelo’s new creative; and Allagash and Russian River’s enduring friendship.

We’ve compiled our most read stories of the past year, and one company dominated the headlines (with not the sunniest lineup of news): Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B).

Check out new products from Notch, Stem Cider and Sierra Nevada, initially reported in the Brewbound Insider Newsletter.

Sierra Nevada’s willingness to enter new segments and styles hinges on a pair of key factors, CEO Pryce Greenow told Brewbound.

Sierra Nevada is committed to craft brewing. Not that there was any doubt that the family-owned, Chico, California-headquartered brewery is all in on craft beer, despite a downturn in the segment’s trends.