After working hard to earn its name in a tough category, Chicago-based Luna Bay is now working harder to shed it.

Legislation in progress across several states aims to bring beverages infused with intoxicating hemp into regulatory frameworks akin to alcohol’s three-tier system.

🍻 A Round With Meli Founder Samara Oster; 😮 RNDC Rocked By Brown-Forman Exit; 🤝 Two Roads, Yards & Bald Birds Partner; 📰 CBC 2026 and a Michigan Distro Deal; 🗣️ Almanac CEO: ‘I Hate the Word Taproom’; 🌵 Beer Mail: AriZona Hard with Vodka

Samara Oster would prefer consumers to meet Meli with “no expectations” of how it might taste. Meli (4.4% ABV) is brewed with 100% organic quinoa sourced from small farms in Bolivia, making it gluten-free.

Three East Coast craft breweries have teamed up to launch a new multi-facility contract brewing platform. B3 Beverage Company is a joint venture from Stratford, Connecticut-based Two Roads Brewing, Philadelphia-based Yards Brewing and Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania-based Bald Birds Brewing.

The country’s second-largest distributor, Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC) has been shedding suppliers at an alarming rate, with another major national loss announced today. Following Brown-Forman’s exit from RNDC in California this month, the whiskey giant will now follow suit in other states.

Editor’s Note: 3 Up, 3 Down with 3 Tier Beverages is a quarterly insights series available exclusively to Brewbound Insiders, via the Chicago-headquartered, bev-alc-focused consulting and data firm. In this latest installment of 3 Up, 3 Down, 3 Tier consultant Danelle Kosmal analyzes data trends in flavor-forward bev-alc, high ABV offerings, pricing and more.

The team at 3 Tier Beverages breaks down hot trends in bev-alc heading into the summer selling season on the latest edition of the Brewbound Podcast.

Nearly two months after the sale of its distribution business and future taproom rights, Great Divide Brewing is shuttering its Denver locations.

Total bev-alc dollar sales declined -2% both year-over-year (YoY) and week-over-week (WoW) in Circana-tracked off-premise channels through May 18, according to the market research firm’s latest weekly report.

Nearly three-fifths of Brewers Association (BA) defined regional craft breweries (57.02%) beyond the top 50 recorded production volume declines in 2024, according to annual data shared by the trade association in the May/June issue of the New Brewer magazine.

Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B) has revealed its new energy drink line Phorm Energy, as the beer giant seeks to make its presence felt in a category that has become increasingly important, and unstable, to beer distributors in recent years. Using the tagline “We do the Work,” Phorm Energy aims to deliver “energy, hydration and focus” through a zero-sugar, four-SKU line of 16 oz cans in four flavors.

Highland Brewing founder Oscar P. Wong, known as the “Godfather of Asheville Craft Beer,” has died at age 84, the Asheville craft brewery shared today.

🍻 Big Beer Craft Production -4%; New Belgium Overtakes A-B; 📈 28 of Top 50 Craft Breweries Record Volume Growth; 🎙️ Bonus Pod: NB2A’s Kevin Asato; Yonder’s Caitlin Braam; 🗣️ ‘Big Alcohol has to Change with Them; 💰 A Look at Middle Tier M&A