An alcohol-free version of Guinness, called Guinness 0.0, will launch in Great Britain and Ireland on October 26 — and the product will come to four markets in the United States in 2021.
Pabst Brewing general manager and president Matt Bruhn said Pabst entered 2020 after a “tough but good” 2019, in which the company led the industry in price at a sub-premium level. He called it a “stabilizing year.” “We headed into 2020 in a really good position,” he said. “We built momentum in Q4 ’19, started to turn some of the trends around volumetrically, launched some cool innovation, had some winners in the back half of ’19. Quarter one 2020 was excellent.”
The Boston Beer Company is still riding a big wave thanks to Truly Hard Seltzer and Twisted Tea. The company — which produces Truly, Twisted Tea, Samuel Adams, Dogfish Head and Angry Orchard cider — posted increases in shipments (+30.5%), depletions (+36%) and net revenue (+30.2%) during the third quarter of 2020.
Craft brewers’ sales improved during the third quarter of 2020, but are still far off from where they were in 2019, according to a new analysis by Brewers Association (BA) chief economist Bart Watson. Combining several datasets tracking on-premise sales, Watson found that Q3 sales fell 22% below baseline, a marked improvement over Q2’s 45% below baseline.
Tourists and a pandemic don’t mix. Salem, Massachusetts-based Notch Brewing announced Wednesday that it would close its biergarten for on-site service beginning Friday through November 1, as its hometown faces a deluge of tourists in the lead up to Halloween.
This week’s edition of the Brewbound Podcast brings together industry experts to share their perspectives on what wholesaler consolidation means for smaller craft breweries and if there’s an end in sight to the disruptions.
Pabst Brewing general manager and president Matt Bruhn believes mainstream beer is facing a “Kodak moment,” Just not in the traditional sense. “We’re at a Kodak moment where the consumer demand is upending the industry,” he explained. “Now if you only have the ability to produce mainstream beer, you’re going to get caught short.”
After six years of contract brewing with partners in the far corners of Massachusetts, Springfield-based White Lion Brewing now has a space to call its own at the city’s Tower Square development. “It’s been a journey, but through perseverance, a good team and good support, we are where we are right now,” White Lion founder Raymond Berry told Brewbound.
Following the announcement yesterday that Danish brewer Mikkeller has shuttered its brewery at the New York Mets’ home Citi Field, Fountain Beverage and EBBS Brewing Company will take over the 10,000 sq. ft. space.
In its first analysis of the U.S. packaging industry, financial services firm Credit Suisse said its medium-term outlook of the industry is “bullish.” The can industry is being strained from several directions, as the COVID-19 pandemic’s restrictions on the on-premise channel has shifted a chunk of Americans’ beer consumption from draft to cans and new product introductions, including those in the $3.49 billion hard seltzer industry, lean heavily toward cans. Additionally, can production has slowed over several years.
Founders of three of Massachusetts’ oldest craft breweries shared insights and advice for the next generation of Bay State craft brewers during the virtual Mass Brewers Guild conference earlier this month. “Expect to work your ass off,” said Jim Koch, founder of Boston Beer.
The New York City outpost of Danish craft brewery Mikkeller has permanently closed after a little more than two years. In a Facebook post this morning, Mikkeller announced that it had made “the difficult decision” to shutter the location at Citi Field in Queens, home of the New York Mets.
Non-alcoholic brand Heineken 0.0 is pushing toward 2 million cases this year, Heineken USA chief marketing officer Jonnie Cahill shared during last week’s national sales meeting.
The Brewers Association (BA) announced the winners of the 2020 Great American Beer Festival medal winners Friday night. Overall, the BA awarded 272 medals to 240 breweries during the ceremony.
