Total beverage-alcohol dollar sales increased +9.3% during Labor Day weekend compared to the prior week, market research firm IRI reported.

In part one of this three-part Brewbound Voices series, CODO Design’s Isaac Arthur and Cody Fague share excerpts from their new book on Brand Architecture, The Beyond Beer Handbook. Part book, part quiz, and part choose-your-own-adventure-style novel, The Beyond Beer Handbook is a purpose-built tool for helping expand your brewery’s portfolio and build a more resilient business.

Craft dollar sales declined -5.9% year-to-date through August 20 in multi-outlet plus convenience channels, according to Bump Williams Consulting (BWC), citing NielsenIQ data.

A group of investors has acquired Willie’s Superbrew after a tumultuous several months for the Boston-based hard seltzer brand. The acquiring group, Superbrew Acquisition Corporation (SAC), is led by Amos Beason, managing director of Charlotte, North Carolina-based Seward Capita

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.