Brewbound readers in 2021 sought out news about fallout from the revelation of widespread gender-based discrimination and sexual harassment, the ups and downs of the hard seltzer segment, mergers and acquisitions and the crunched supply chain.
While 2021 was the first full calendar year of Brewbound’s subscription model, some stories, such as those stemming from the industry’s reckoning with sexual harassment, appeared in front of the paywall. They are denoted in the following list by an asterisk.
A simple question asked on Instagram by then-Notch Brewing production manager Brienne Allan (@ratmagnet) on May 11 – “what sexist comments have you experienced?” – opened the floodgates for beer and hospitality workers to share their encounters with discrimination, hostile workplaces and sexual assault.
A chain reaction of personnel changes at several breweries followed. This story, the first of many Brewbound published on the fallout, detailed the decision of Tired Hands Brewing co-founder Jean Broillet to step down from the brewery’s daily operations, the termination of employees from Modern Times Beer and Connecticut Valley Brewing and Hill Farmstead founder Shaun Hill’s response to allegations made against him.
Coors Seltzer Dries Up: Molson Coors Ceases Production of Hard Seltzer Brand
Coors Seltzer ran dry in July after Molson Coors told wholesalers the company was ceasing production of the product – which had launched in September 2020 – and asked them to sell through remaining inventory. Instead, the company said it planned to focus on its more successful hard seltzer brands, Vizzy Hard Seltzer and Topo Chico Hard Seltzer.
Nelk Boys’ Happy Dad Hard Seltzer to Add Massachusetts, Rhode Island Distribution via Atlantic
Canadian YouTube stars the Nelk Boys launched Happy Dad Hard Seltzer in California in June and began eastward expansion. Packaged in standard 12 oz. beer cans, the brand preaches “no more skinny can bullshit,” and has used its online presence – with more than 6.6 million YouTube subscribers – to draw huge crowds of supporters at launches and meet-ups across the country.
This story detailed the August announcement that Atlantic Beverage Distributors would sell the brand in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The addition followed the exit of Jack’s Abby from Atlantic’s Massachusetts portfolio, which caused the wholesaler to lose a “significant portion of Atlantic’s total beer sales,” according to court documents.
Modern Times founder and CEO Jacob McKean resigned from his role after the San Diego craft brewery was named several times as a hostile workplace in the social media outpouring of women’s experiences with sexual harassment and other job-related abuses.
“In order to navigate us out of this extremely difficult moment, we need leadership with the skill and experience to handle it effectively,” McKean wrote. “It’s time for a change.”
The company began a search for a new CEO, and in September appointed board member Jen Briggs to fill the role in the interim.
Sonic Branded Hard Seltzer Line Could Make Coop Ale Works a Player in the $4 Billion Segment
Oklahoma City-based COOP Ale Works partnered with fellow Oklahoman brand Sonic Drive-In to launch a line of co-branded hard seltzers that match the fast food giant’s popular soft drinks, which rolled out to Sooner State retailers in May.
During its first week in market, Sonic Hard Seltzer captured 17.2% of the hard seltzer segment in Oklahoma and settled into an 11% share in the weeks that followed, COOP Ale Works president Sean Mossman said. By studying the launches of new hard seltzers with familiar brand names, such as Bud Light Seltzer and Michelob Hard Seltzer, COOP had planned to reach a 5% share and produced accordingly.
Since then, the bubbly beverage has been introduced in Texas, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Arizona in two variety 12-packs. COOP has switched its package format from standard 12 oz. cans to sleek/slim 12 oz. cans and tweaked its flavors to bring them closer to the experience consumers have at Sonic.
Truly Punch on the Way in May; Boston Beer Sees Opportunity as Big as Lemonade and Iced Tea
Boston Beer Company announced Truly Punch in March, a fourth flavor platform for Truly Hard Seltzer teased two months ahead of the brand’s launch. At the time, executives believed Truly Punch could be the next big thing in hard seltzer, rivaling the brand’s Lemonade and Iced Tea offshoots.
From its May launch through the end of November, the Truly Punch variety pack reached $162.3 million in off-premise sales at retailers tracked by market research firm IRI. It became Truly’s third-best selling pack, behind Truly Lemonade Hard Seltzer variety pack ($295.2 million year-to-date through November 28) and Truly Berry Hard Seltzer variety pack ($203.6 million year-to-date through November 28)
Dollar sales of the Truly brand family have reached $1.18 billion at multioutlet retailers and convenience stores year-to-date through November 28, according to IRI. At +36.5%, Truly has doubled the hard seltzer segment’s (+17.5%) dollar sales increases in 2021. Year-to-date through November 28, off-premise hard seltzer dollar sales have reached $4.29 billion
Deschutes Brewery Acquires Neighboring Boneyard Beer in Bend
Deschutes Brewery made its first acquisition in the 32-year-old craft brewery’s history in March when it acquired fellow Bend, Oregon-headquartered craft brewery, Boneyard Beer.
The channel shift brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic forced the formerly draft-centric Boneyard to reconsider its business model.
“While we were [a] 100% draft-only brewery, currently we’re probably 80-20 [cans to draft], maybe even a few months back 90-10 cans to draft,” Boneyard co-founder Tony Lawrence told Brewbound. “So my whole parking lot’s filled with kegs. That opened Pandora’s Box, and here we go. Currently, we’re doing about 1,300 cases a day, five days a week, 5,000 or 6,000 roughly at the end of the week and that’s just serving Oregon specifically.”
By partnering with Deschutes, Boneyard gained access to packaging infrastructure and chain retail relationships.
Deschutes’ acquisition of Boneyard was far from the only deal in the craft space in 2021. In April, Firestone Walker announced it would acquire the Cali Squeeze brand of fruited hefeweizens and hard seltzers from SLO Brewing Co. In November, Bell’s Brewery announced it had struck a deal to be acquired by New Belgium Brewing’s parent company, Kirin-owned Lion Little World Beverages. Follow this link for more news about beverage alcohol mergers and acquisitions in 2021.
Fallout Continues as Beer Industry Grapples with Accusations of Widespread Sexism and Abuse*
Breweries continued to respond to allegations of hostile work environments and misogynistic mistreatment of workers in May.
This story detailed the reactions of several breweries, including:
- Philadelphia-based Evil Genius Beer Company, which acknowledged past mismanagement and set forth a plan to improve its internal culture;
- a statement from the employees of Ardmore, Pennsylvania-based Tired Hands Brewing following the announcement of the departures of the brewery’s founders;
- and an announcement from Lemont, Illinois-headquartered Pollyanna Brewing Company that its former president and CEO was dismissed after the company learned of “numerous allegations” of sexual misconduct.
Boulevard Responds to Former Employee’s Accusations of Discrimination
In January 2021, a series of allegations of a toxic workplace that fomented sexual assault and pregnancy discrimination rocked Kansas City, Missouri-based Boulevard Brewing Company.
The revelation began when a former employee shared her story of pregnancy discrimination on a Reddit forum for industry employees. In this story, the first of several, Boulevard issued a statement that it had investigated the incident she described and found “no harassment or discrimination.”
In the days that followed, the company reversed its stance and apologized. Boulevard dismissed its former chief financial officer, and Jeff Krum, president of Boulevard’s parent company Duvel Moortgat USA, resigned.
“As president, one of my oversight responsibilities was to ensure that all our workplaces were free of any form of real or perceived harassment or demonstrations of unwanted attention,” Krum wrote in a letter to employees. “Disclosures of recent days make it clear that this was not always achieved. Any and all failures in this regard are mine alone.”
Duvel Moortgat USA VP of marketing Natalie Gershon, who had served as the company’s communications point person, said she had not been told of the depth of the situation and resigned.
“Like the rest of my colleagues, I was kept in the dark and offered a variety of truth from a seemingly endless bucket of lies,” Gershon wrote on social media. “I did not and would not knowingly cover up a claim of harassment, assault or discrimination.”
Following Krum’s departure, Boulevard founder John McDonald returned from retirement to serve as the company’s interim president. Following the conclusion of a month-long independent external investigation in March, Boulevard announced it had fired three more employees.
In June, the company appointed Seraf De Smedt as Duvel Moortgat USA president and McDonald returned to retirement. Former Boulevard executive Julie Weeks returned to serve as VP of communications and culture, and the company hired Stephanie Walker as its HR director.
Ball Increases Minimum Printed Can Order Size to 1M Pieces per SKU
Ball, the world’s largest manufacturer of aluminum beverage cans, informed customers without contracts in mid-November that minimum quantities for orders of printed cans are increasing to five truckloads per SKU and that the company will no longer provide warehouse services for its customers.
That number of 12 oz. cans would hold roughly 3,084 barrels of beer — more than the vast majority of craft brewers produce in a year.
In addition, some Ball customers were informed of price increases of 28% for printed 12 oz. cans and 19.5% for printed 16 oz. cans.