This week was a bit of deja vu, from non-alcoholic beer and higher ABV products aimed at convenience stores, to building out brand families and making partnerships, to filling out distribution maps.
Here’s a look back at the headlines from another busy week.
Deschutes sees a big opportunity in non-alcoholic beer, so the Oregon craft brewery is bringing production in-house later this year. Black Butte Non-Alcoholic is out now – if you can find it – and Deschutes will lean into hop-forward beers once the equipment is up and running. So keep an eye out for a non-alcoholic version of Fresh Squeezed IPA, CEO Peter Skrbek told me.
FMBs are hot in convenience so Boston Beer is releasing a new brand – Slingers Signature Cocktails – in 24 oz. singles in the channel this month. Three malt-based offerings, each 8% ABV and sold in three test markets.
Brand families are all the rage and Lawson’s Finest has added a new member to the Sunshine family: Hazy Rays, a 5.3% ABV New England hazy IPA. Hazy Rays will replace Super Session IPA and become the lowest ABV member of the Sunshine fam. Also of note: Sip of Sunshine 19.2 singles are on the way.
The small brewer playbook in 2023 includes making acquisitions and partnering up – much like sea otters, per Jess – and the latest is Dokkaebier, the Northern California brand inspired by Asian culinary ingredients, which acquired Federation Brewing in Oakland and will take over its brick-and-mortar location.
Also, Lazy Magnolia in Mississippi has new owners.
Bell’s is one state away from national distribution. Of course, they’re saving Hawaii for last. Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Utah and Washington are all getting Two Hearted and Oberon. Welcome to the party, pals.
Cannabis firm Tilray keeps making acquisitions, although the latest isn’t a craft brewery. It’s HEXO, which you might remember as an ill-fated joint venture partner of Molson Coors. As for the alcoholic beverage biz, it was +5.3% in Q3.
Craft beer acquisitions didn’t work out so hot for Constellation Brands, which recorded an impairment charge of $66.5 million related to its craft beer division in Q4 of its fiscal year 2023, per SEC filings. They’re doing just fine with Mexican imports, though.
Non-alc beer maker Athletic Brewing will match the first $100,000 in donations to the Michael Jackson Foundation for Brewing & Distilling’s second annual fundraising campaign. More details in the link.
A scoop for Jess: Heineken USA is cutting draft sales in Vermont, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota for a year. Core packaged brands won’t be affected.
In other HUSA news, Red Stripe canned rum cocktails are on the way.
The price of beer continues to outpace inflation, according to the latest Consumer Price Index.
However, in good news, domestic beer shipments were in the black in February (+5.1%), per TTB numbers shared by the Beer Institute.
On this week’s Brewbound Podcast, Jester King’s Jeffrey Stuffings shares why the Austin craft brewery is opposing legislation targeting drag shows. Dave Infante, editor of independent boozeletter Fingers, joins the conversation to discuss what craft brewery owners should take under consideration when hosting these types of shows. Listen for free.
The Brewers Association revealed its 2023 award winners, including Jess and Rich Fierro from Atrevida Beer Co. The Fierros were present at the 2022 shooting at Club Q, a LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, which resulted in five deaths. Rich Fierro was instrumental in stopping any further violence from happening by tackling and disarming the gunman. Congrats to the Fierros.
Housekeeping note: The full agenda is now available for Brew Talks. Get your tickets now and join Zoe and I and our all-star list of speakers for networking, beers and business chats in Nashville during Craft Brewers Conference week.
Speaking of CBC, check out Jess, Brewbound’s Bryce McDonald and Turn it Up Media’s Chad Melis sharing tips for a great CBC.
And that’s the week. Thanks to Jess and Zoe for all that they do, and thanks to all of you for reading and subscribing to Brewbound Insider. Subscribing helps us do what we do daily and also cover the major events. So thank you all for your support. If you’d like to become an Insider, follow this link.
We’ll be back next week.