I hope all of you reading this in Colorado today are enjoying that extra cup of coffee to help your brain remember where you left your shirt, and also find that little something extra in the tank that’s needed to get through the final day of pouring today at GABF in Denver. It should also help perfect that smile and nod when Jess says, “Hey buddy, how about you fill that glass all the way up like a real pour?” when she visits your booth.

One of the largest retailers in the country is dipping its toe into the intoxicating hemp beverage category. In its home state of Minnesota, Target has stocked the shelves of 10 stores in the Twin Cities region with intoxicating hemp drinks from 10 different brands, marking a potentially seismic shift in distribution for the category.

Check out these news items initially reported in the Brewbound Insider Newsletter October 8-10, including headlines from Stateside Vodka, the Beer Institute, Sierra Nevada and more.

B3 Beverage Company is adding Heavy Seas Beer, Maryland’s biggest craft brewery, to its growing platform, the companies announced Thursday.

When nearly everyone is in decline, success has to be measured by whomever has the smallest losses. And those winners within beverage-alcohol are the companies with the most focused portfolios, according to Bump Williams Consulting’s (BWC) latest monthly report.

The Brewers Association’s (BA) 43rd Great American Beer Festival (GABF) kicks off tonight at Denver’s Colorado Convention Center, bringing together nearly 438 craft breweries, and even more craft beverage producers.

Tilray Brands’ 2026 first quarter – covering the all-important summer selling season – was “flat” due to the cannabis and craft beer platform’s Project 420 cost-savings initiative, Tilray chairman and CEO Irwin Simon shared Thursday during a call with investors and analysts.

Tonya Cornett thought she would end her career at 10 Barrel Brewing. She had joined the Bend, Oregon-based craft brewery in 2012, piled up competition medals for her beers and created a following at the brewery. She thrived as the brewery’s R&D brewmaster before and after its 2014 sale to Anheuser-Busch InBev.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has announced an executive order to ban all intoxicating hemp products in the state, effective Tuesday October 14.

Nearly two weeks after closing its restaurants indefinitely, brewpub chain Iron Hill Brewery has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey.

Long-time Anheuser-Busch InBev sales leader Jake Kirsch will take over as president of its U.S. beyond beer business, effective January 1. Kirsch supplants Fabricio Zonzini, who has led the division since November 2019.

How do you create memorable experiences that will attract today’s drinkers and keep them engaged with your brand? Brewbound Live 2025 will explore experiential marketing with case studies from Athletic Brewing Company’s partnership with Boston Experiential Group.

Beer is in the midst of “a fun crisis,” New Belgium Brewing CMO Rebecca Dye Yonushonis declared during the company’s distributor convention in Fort Collins last week.

A pair of Iowa craft breweries are formalizing their existing partnership. Waterloo-based SingleSpeed Brewing is acquiring the intellectual property of Coralville-based Backpocket Brewing and its sibling brand Peace Tree Brewing.