The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for beer increased +4.9% in August 2022 compared to August 2021, its highest point since April, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Brewbound’s Brew Talks conversation and networking series heads to Denver, Colorado, next month to examine strategies for building national accounts teams and sales, as well as explore how craft grows sales and share beyond its most popular style, IPA. Hours before the Great American Beer Festival kicks off, Brewbound will host its final Brew Talks meetup of 2022 at Cervantes Masterpiece featuring networking, beers and beer business discussions from noon to 3 p.m. MT on Thursday, October 6.

Off-premise trends are looking “challenging” for craft beer, Brian “BK” Krueger and Dave Williams of Bump Williams Consulting (BWC), shared during a Brewers Association (BA) Collab Hour last week.

Scout Distribution announced today that it will acquire Classic Beverage beverage-alcohol portfolio in the greater Los Angeles territory, covering LA, Santa Barbara, Ventura, San Luis Obispo, Orange, Riverside, Kern and San Bernardino counties. The transaction is expected to close in November.

Football is back and so are draft sales, according to on-premise data firm BeerBoard. Draft beer consumption nationwide increased +21% during the NFL’s opening weekend (Thursday, September 8-Sunday, September 11), compared to the same period in 2021.

The Brewbound team discusses the closure of TRU Colors, the craft brewery that hired rival gang members to work together but whose mission was marred by violence. The team also looks at two big distribution deals, including Reyes entering its 10th market, and Allagash’s future plans to move its taproom.

Ashland Hard Seltzer is on pace to double its volume in 2022, with expectations to exceed 500,000 cases (around 36,300 barrels).

Heineken UK has acquired full ownership of Beavertown Brewery, four years after purchasing a minority share in the London-based company.

Allagash Brewing Company has agreed to purchase a 7-acre plot of land in Scarborough, Maine which will house a new tasting room, opening in 2024, the brewery announced today.

The largest total beverage wholesaler in the Pacific Northwest and a Southern California-focused independent distributor are linking up to start a distribution operation in Idaho this fall.

TRU Colors, the craft brewery that aimed to end street violence by employing rival gang members, will cease operations on Friday, September 9. In a lengthy Facebook post, founder and CEO George Taylor II outlined the Wilmington, North Carolina-based brewery’s struggles, which have included violence and quality control issues that led to a delayed first commercial batch.

Michigan’s Bell’s Brewery continues to fill out its distribution map as part of its goal for national distribution. The Kalamazoo, Michigan-based craft brewery will add Northern California and Montana this month. The brewery’s beer is now sold in 44 states, plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. The Northern California expansion will begin on Friday, September… Read more »

New Yorker staff writer Charles Bethea discusses his story on TRU Colors in Wilmington, North Carolina, A Brewery’s Anti-Violence Mission, Complicated by a Killing. Bethea deep dives into TRU Colors’ struggles to balance its stated mission to end gang violence by hiring rival gang members with its for-profit mission to first sell beer.

The Yellowstone universe has expanded into the cold boxes and warm shelves of Texas – with more states to follow – in the form of craft beers and ranch waters from 6666 Grit & Glory. The products are the result of a collaboration between Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan, 101 Studios CEO and producer David Glasser and beverage incubator L.A. Libations.