Pontoon Brewing has officially divorced from Bevana Partners as part of its reorganization under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

In the latest installment of Brewbound’s A Round With – a weekly Insider-exclusive Q&A series with industry leaders – Atomic Clock co-founders Colleen and Brian Quinn chat about their vision for their new brewery and what has led them to start their own venture.

With a flood of news over the last couple of days, the Brewbound team breaks down the latest stories, including the Teamsters and Anheuser-Busch InBev reaching a tentative agreement on a new five-year contract, Boston Beer Company’s CEO succession plan, and PepsiCo’s Blue Cloud Distribution pivoting from wholesaler to brand licensor.

Beer ordering improved slightly in February, but remains in contraction, according to the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) in the latest Beer Purchasers’ Index.

Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B) recorded double-digit shipments and depletions declines for its U.S. business in 2023, drawing to a close a tumultuous year for the company, A-B reported today.

3 Tier Beverages’ Mary Mills and Stephanie Roatis break down the early year data, including positive cider trends in convenience, non-alc trends, hard seltzer rationalization and much more. They also get into the growing trend of private label hard seltzer and whether anyone can break through the hard coffee curse.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters and Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B) have reached a tentative agreement on a new five-year contract that the union said will raise pay, improve health care and retirement benefits and provide job security for its members at A-B’s U.S. 12 breweries, the Teamsters announced on social media Wednesday evening.

Boston Beer Company reported its 2023 full-year and fourth-quarter earnings amid a flurry of news, including that CEO Dave Burwick will retire, a Nike exec will supplant him and that its Hard MTN Dew brand will shift to beer wholesalers from PepsiCo’s erstwhile Blue Cloud Distribution.

Boston Beer Company CEO Dave Burwick will step down and retire from the company’s board of directors, effective April 1. Michael Spillane, a Nike executive and lead director on Boston Beer’s board of directors, will supplant him.

Hard MTN Dew is transitioning to Boston Beer Company’s beer distributor network and will expand to all 50 states, outgoing Boston Beer CEO Dave Burwick said today during the company’s full-year and Q4 earnings report.

Boston Beer Company’s shipments and depletions declined -6.2% and -6%, respectively, in 2023, the company reported today in its full-year and fourth-quarter earnings report.

This time last year, Brewers Association (BA) chief economist Bart Watson warned that the U.S. hop supply was becoming “unsustainable,” and predicted a drop in hop production in 2023.

As speculated last week, the next challenge for the proposed $24.6 billion merger between Kroger and Albertsons is coming from the federal government. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) today announced it has filed a lawsuit to block the merger in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, alongside a bipartisan group of nine attorneys generals from Arizona, California, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Wyoming.

Eight Elite Light Lager is expanding to Oklahoma this week, its first distribution move outside of Texas since launching in 2022. Entering its third year, the super premium lager brand backed by Monday Night Football broadcaster and former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman is now on shelves in the Sooner State via the Molson Coors network.