Headlines

Highland Brewing (Asheville, North Carolina) has rechristened a beer to honor its founder: Oscar’s Oatmeal Porter.

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.

No/low alcohol has reached $6 billion in worldwide off-premise sales, but consumers are still reaching for water and soda over adult alternatives, according to a new moderation report from NIQ.

Beer tops the shopping list for consumers planning to imbibe during Memorial Day weekend, according to insights firm Numerator. Of the 43% of respondents who plan to purchase beverage-alcohol, 75% said they intend to buy beer, followed by spirits (45%), wine (35%), hard seltzer (31%) and ready-to-drink or pre-mixed canned cocktails (20%).

As middle-tier M&A dominos fall this summer, NBWA president and CEO Craig Purser joins the latest Brewbound Podcast to discuss the tectonic shifts in the distribution landscape. Plus, Aeronaut director of programming Deepa Chungi shares how the Massachusetts craft brewery created a booming events business.

Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC) issued WARN Act notices on Monday for nearly 150 layoffs in Oregon, as Columbia Distributing prepares to potentially take over certain wine and spirits distribution rights from RNDC across Oregon and Washington.

Bev-alc declines accelerated earlier this month, despite the Cinco de Mayo holiday, according to the latest weekly report from market research firm NIQ.

After making a splashy debut in 2024, Más+ By Messi, the hydration drink brand co-launched by global soccer superstar Lionel Messi and Mark Anthony Brands, is officially out of the game.

An acquisition that “just feels right to everyone” is in the works in Washington, Bale Breaker Brewing co-owner Kevin Quinn told Brewbound. Yakima, Washington-based Bale Breaker has struck a deal to acquire Seattle’s Cloudburst Brewing as its founder Steve Luke prepares to move to New Zealand, where his wife has taken a job.

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.

Can the skinny spritz become a bar call like the skinny margarita? One brand is betting on it.

Check out news items were initially reported in the Brewbound Insider Newsletter May 18-19, including headlines from Armed Forces Brewing, Barrel One, Big Grove and more.

Winemaking is a slow process, requiring years devoted to growing, harvesting, fermenting and aging before a bottle is uncorked.

Much to the frustration of its producers, the adoption of adult non-alcoholic (ANA) wine is taking a similar pace. Long dominated by sparkling varieties, still varieties of ANA wine are populating the category as mainstream wine brands enter the set, with an ability to scale and open the door to a broader addressable market with less expensive options.