Editor’s Note: The below news items were initially reported in the Insider version of the Brewbound Newsletter between August 25-26. Become an Insider today to get earlier access to what’s going on in the industry.
Trump Peels Back Biden Order on Competition in Bev-Alc Industry
President Trump issued an executive order (EO) August 13 revoking the Biden administration’s 2021 executive order calling for an examination of competition within the U.S. alcohol industry.
The Biden era EO called on the secretary of the treasury, the attorney general and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) chair to assess competition in the U.S. beer, wine and spirits industry and issue a report. Those officials were tasked with assessing threats to competition and barriers to market entry, including unlawful trade practices, patterns of consolidation and unnecessary regulations.
The Treasury’s report, published in early 2022, drew a mix of reactions across beer industry trade groups, as has Trump’s latest decision to revoke Biden’s EO.
In a statement to Brewbound about Trump’s decision, Brewers Association (BA) president and CEO Bart Watson wrote: “The Brewers Association remains committed to educating policymakers on how they can enhance competition in beverage alcohol and believes the subsequent Treasury Department report on competition in the markets for beer, wine and spirits contains a variety of non-partisan suggestions to improve the playing field for small and medium-sized producers.”
The Beer Institute (BI), which represents the nation’s largest beer manufacturers, opposed “any new federal alcohol regulations.” In a statement published last week, BI president and CEO Brian Crawford commended Trump for revealing the Biden EO, which he claimed would have added “new regulations on top of an already highly regulated industry and threatened to stifle U.S. manufacturing and innovation.”
The National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) has been encouraging the Trump Administration to rescind Biden’s EO for several months. In a newsletter sharing the latest news, the trade group characterized the Treasury’s findings as “mischaracterized facts about beer distributors and the state-based regulatory system.”
Lester on the Gallup Survey: ‘These Results are not Unprecedented’
NBWA chief economist and VP of analytics Lester Jones weighed in on the Gallup survey results that revealed a record-low 54% of Americans claim they drink alcoholic beverages.
In a LinkedIn post, Jones noted that consecutive years outside of the long-running trend of around 63% “is troublesome for many in the industry.” However,“these results are not unprecedented for this survey and relatively small sample size of 1,000 respondents.”
Jones also pointed to the survey’s margin of error.
“With a margin of error of +/- 4 points over the past 45 surveys (taken over the past 86 years) that puts the 2025 response in the same range as 18 other surveys over the poll’s history,” Jones wrote. “That’s 40% of the time that people have reported ‘statistically’ similar responses for their ‘occasions to drink alcohol.’”
He admitted that the survey’s results “signify a challenge for the industry,” but the history shows the industry can overcome it.
“Then again, I can’t help but wonder if drinking without an ‘occasion’ for some is statistically different than having to find an ‘occasion’ to drink for others?” he continued.
Jefferies: Boston Beer Bringing More Production In House Comes With a Cost
Boston Beer Company has moved around 80% of its production in-house in the first half of 2025, Jefferies analyst Kaumil Gajrawala wrote in an analysis of the company’s recent 10Q filing.
The shift is significant compared to 56% in-house in 2021 and 69% in 2024.
The transition has come with a cost in the form of shortfall fees to its contract partners. Boston’s shortfall fees amounted to an 8.5% earnings per share (EPS) drag in Q2 and could be a 14% drag this year, Gajrawala wrote.
He pointed to the decline of Truly Hard Seltzer as triggering much of those fees, although he noted “sequential improvement since Q2” and “stabilizing” trends for Twisted Tea.
Twisted Tea family dollar sales (-3.6%) and volume (-5.5%) are in the red year-to-date (YTD) through August 10 in Circana-tracked off-premise retailers. Those declines have accelerated in the last month (-7.5% dollars, -9.4% volume).
The Truly family remains down double-digits in dollar (-14.6%) and volume (16.5%) YTD. Those trends improved in the last four weeks (-9.3% dollars, -10.4% volume).
City Brewing makes up “the entirety” of Boston’s contract volumes, and the Samuel Adams brewer paid City $6.5 million in the the first half of fiscal year 2025. The company is anticipating an additional $11 million in shortfall fees this year and $22 million in 2026.
The worst case scenario ($2.99 EPS headwind vs. $1.58 guide) is unlikely since trends for Truly and Twisted Tea would have “to significantly deteriorate.” Thus, Jefferies is maintaining a “hold” rating on Boston Beer’s stock (SAM) with a $230 price target.
Garage Beer’s Spooky New Campaign (With Some Familiar Faces)
Spirit Halloween is now open across the country and spooky season is back.
Kelce brothers-backed lager brand Garage Beer is leaning into Halloween with limited-edition 12-packs (original and lime) featuring artwork by original Goosebumps illustrator Tim Jacobus. The imagery includes a ghoulish rendition of Jason Kelce alongside a masked companion – who could pass for Jason’s brother and active NFL tight end Travis, hiding behind a mask to avoid violating the league’s regulations around players directly endorsing alcoholic beverages.
This also marks the first time either of the Kelce brothers has appeared on Garage Beer packaging since the duo acquired ownership stake in the brand in 2024.
The special packaging is part of Garage Fear, a fall campaign that includes a limited-edition adult comic book release, Garage Fear: The Cursed Can; 11×17 posters of Jacobus’ artwork; and a Garage Fear pop-up haunted house at Field of Screams in St. Louis. The campaign will continue with an animated short featuring the Kelce brothers in September.
Garage Beer is on pace to sell more than 4 million cases this year, owner Andy Sauer told Brewbound earlier this year. Catch up on the story here.
Heineken Spreads L0VE.L0VE Nationwide
Heineken 0.0’s specialty L0VE.L0VE bottles and cans are returning with a larger presence this year.
The NA beer’s limited-edition packaging, created in celebration of the US Open Tennis Championships, is expanding nationwide this year, and will be supported by “immersive activations” across NYC, Heineken USA CEO Maggie Timoney shared last week on LinkedIn.
Heineken L0VE.L0VE bottles and cans were first introduced exclusively at the 2024 US Open and sold out within the first week of the two-week sporting event, sparking a 25% increase in Heineken 0.0 sales at the tournament, Timoney shared.
This year’s tournament, which kicked off its main events Sunday and will continue through September 7, is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of fans to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens. This year’s Fan Week, held in the week leading up to the event, drew a record-breaking 239,000-plus attendees, the US Open organization reported.
Heineken 0.0 is the company’s 2nd largest brand behind Original, and the only brand within Heineken’s top four to record growth YTD in NIQ-tracked off-premise channels (dollar sales +2.5%, volume +10.8%), according to data shared by 3 Tier Beverages (data ending July 12).