Brewbound Podcast

Days ahead of the Fourth of July holiday, the Brewbound team catches up on beer prices – at home and across the pond – and how Independence Day is stacking up as a heat wave sets in for much of the country.Zoe shares just how different beer prices are in the U.K., learned from her experience seeing Harry Styles and buying drinks at Wembley Stadium. Jess offers an eye on the skies from the Jersey Shore, where only one bev-alc company is flying banner ads over the beaches so far (and it isn’t a beer company). And Justin breaks out the latest grocery circular for a big meat-and-beer promo in Iowa. The trio discusses the latest headlines, including Allagash’s new Maine-centric ad campaign, the World Cup’s impact and just how much Boston misses the Tartan Army and why now is the right time for ready-to-drink (RTD) brands to explore a sale.

Mass Appeal Draught House and Grille opened on the eve of the kick-off of FIFA World Cup 2026 at its neighbor, Gillette Stadium. Hendler Family Brewing co-founder and CEO Sam Hendler joined the Brewbound Podcast to discuss how the multi-branded taproom handled an influx of guests, what Scottish fans prefer to drink (Jack’s Abby House Lager) – and what they’re not drinking. “​​The majority of the audience who's been down there on game day has been the international fan base, and House Lager has been consistently the No. 1 seller, and it's not particularly close,” Hendler said. “We're selling 6 or 7x the House Lager than we are of the top-selling IPA in that taproom right now.”Hendler shared insights into the World Cup-driven boost at the company’s Night Shift taprooms and beer gardens and how they prepared their brands (Jack’s Abby, Wormtown, Masshole Light and Sloop) to stand out in the trade during this high visibility time.In the Boston area, hosting the World Cup and thousands of spectators who have come to support their teams has been a boon for the hospitality industry, particularly beer distributors and breweries.“On the ground, the atmosphere has been fantastic. People have been showing up, people are having a great time, and they're drinking a lot of beer as it goes on,” Hendler said. “There's been so much talk in beer about winning occasions that are beyond what the beer occasion has always been, and the industry still obviously needs work to do on that, because the World Cup, unfortunately, won't last for 365 days a year forever. But it's clear that beer is a winner for this occasion, and it's been absolutely fantastic.”Before the interview, Justin and Zoe discuss the results of the Brewers Association’s annual Harris Poll of consumers’ views on craft beer, recent developments in the ongoing collapse of Republic National Distributing Company and a first impression of Keystone Light Apple.After the interview, stay tuned for a conversation with ArentFox Schiff partner Nichole Shustack, who leads the law firm’s beverage-alcohol practice. She detailed navigational options for suppliers during times of wholesaler consolidation and best practices for the creation of brand platforms. Listen here or on your preferred podcast platform.

Was craft brewers’ 2025 less bad than we thought? The Brewers Association (BA) issued a revision to its annual production report, which places the industry at -4%, up from previously published -5.1%. In this Brewbound Podcast episode, Zoe and Jess break down what the changes mean for the challenged craft beer industry, as well as several middle-tier deals and recent scan data.This week’s featured interviews highlight Victory Brewing co-founder Bill Covaleski and director of brewing operations Joe Slavick, as well as Odell Brewing CEO Eric “Smitty” Smith. Both conversations were recorded during the Craft Brewers Conference in Philadelphia in April.Covaleski and Slavick discussed the Downingtown, Pennsylvania-based craft brewery’s 30-year journey, from its self-distribution in its early days to the formation of its parent company Artisanal Brewing Ventures (ABV) 10 years ago. Victory, which Covaleski founded in 1996 with childhood friend Ron Barchet, distributed its own beer for nearly four years, Covaleski said. The experience inspired Victory to band with fellow Pennsylvania breweries to oppose a bill that would have outlawed the practice – a legislative episode that spurred the formation of the Brewers of Pennsylvania state guild.“It was phenomenally important because no one wanted to pay what they needed to pay for our beer at a wholesale level,” he said. “We had to go out and prove that there was a market for it, and then, all of a sudden, they got it.”Victory was an early trendsetter in craft breweries’ march toward mulit-brand platforms, which have become near ubiquitous. It merged with Lakewood, New York-based Southern Tier Brewing in 2016 to form ABV, backed by Ulysses Management LLC. ABV added Brooklyn, New York-based Sixpoint Brewery in 2018, and Nellysford, Virginia-based Bold Rock Hard Cider in 2019. “From a business standpoint, it hits a lot of different avenues,” Slavick said of ABV’s brand recruitment. “They did a really good job of being selective of who they brought in, when they brought them in.”In 2025, ABV was the 11th largest craft brewer by volume in the country, according to data from the BA. Its output declined 6% year-over-year (YoY), to 238,697 barrels, excluding hard cider and other non-beer offerings. Odell was the country’s 31st largest craft brewery by volume last year, declining 9% YoY, to 89,364 barrels. 2026 opened with a “good Q1” as the Fort Collins, Colorado-headquartered craft brewery focuses its attention on its core offerings, Smith said. “We had a pretty large portfolio and so it takes some time – you can’t cut everything at once,” he said. “It’s been that slow, methodical getting rid of brands, getting rid of packages, putting our emphasis on the right brands at the right time in the right places.”For Odell, that has meant a laser-focused on flagship Odell IPA in 6-packs, 12-packs and 19.2 oz. single-serve cans in the convenience channel. To bolster that beer, the company has also launched Mountain Standard IPA, Hazer Tag hazy IPA and MDRN IPA. 

The Brewers Association’s Craft Brewers Conference (CBC) rolled into Philadelphia this week – and so did the Brewbound Podcast On Location Studio. In this episode of the Brewbound Podcast, the team shares their early reads on a week in which the vibes seem high compared to previous years. Zoe recaps the opening keynote speech by Unreasonable Hospitality author and former restaurateur Will Guidara, including his hyper-experiential approach to customer service and what a “dream weaver” is and whether you should be concerned that your server is eavesdropping on you. But first, Justin provides details on Firestone Walker and Duvel USA striking an agreement to acquire the Stone Brewing brand and four California taprooms from Sapporo USA – just under four years after the Japanese brewing giant acquired the San Diego craft brewery. Justin, Jess and Zoe dig into what the deal means for craft market share in California, how the combined company plans to approach distribution and which taprooms are on the move, as well as what this means for Sapporo in the U.S. and what happens with the Escondido production brewery. The trio also share takeaways from Brewbound’s party at Love City Brewing. 

How did craft close out Q1 in scans? In this episode, the Brewbound team convenes to discuss the early read on trends in off-premise retailers with the first three months of 2026 in the books. The conversation shifts to the latest platform builders, as Oklahoma City’s Coop Ale Works and Dallas’ Four Corners Brewing have created the Frontier Beverage Collective. Meanwhile, Abita Brewing Company is rechristening itself as the Abita Beverage Group, targeting 170,000 barrels this year, and potential mergers and acquisitions. Then the focus turns to new BrewDog owner Tilray Brands’ Q3 earnings report and future plans with the Scottish craft beer brand in the fold. Justin, Jess and Zoe discuss BrewDog’s identity without its “punk” ethos, which now includes a residency in the Hamptons. The show wraps with a conversation about the “Daycap,” following a Business Insider story on bev-alc brands targeting daytime occasions via some creative marketing to younger LDA consumers. . Is this really a thing with Gen Z? Listen here or on your preferred podcasting platform.

Brewers Association president and CEO Bart Watson believes the Craft Brewers Conference works best when it’s “the big-tent event that everybody is coming to and connecting with.” On the latest edition of the Brewbound Podcast, Watson explained that he views the largest annual gathering of craft brewers (April 20-22 in Philadelphia) in four buckets: Commerce via the BrewExpo trade show, where brewers connect with suppliers and learn about trends; Education, with a host of new voices on the speaker roster this year; Networking, with a more intentional approach and dedicated sessions; And fun. “CBC should be that week where you do all four of those things,” he said. “But you come back recharged, energized with new ideas, new energy.” The BA’s membership base is primarily made up of brewpubs and taprooms, making hospitality and customer traffic “the thing that makes or breaks their businesses,” he explained. “Craft is gonna win or lose with people wanting to come into breweries and then having a great experience or not having a great experience,” Watson continued. As such, hospitality will be a key theme of this year’s event, and the BA has tapped restaurateur Will Guidara, author of Unreasonable Hospitality, to give the event’s opening keynote speech. “He’s like a hospitality business ‘Ted Lasso,’” Watson said. “He really brings a spirit and a positivity that is going to be welcomed in craft right now as people try to lean in, do better, grow in what’s a challenging time but one where many people are still finding opportunities to thrive.” Watson offered more insights in the interview, including the state of the industry. Before the interview, Jess and Justin recap a wild week of M&A, including Molson Coors finally nabbing its spirts-based RTD in Monaco/Atomic Brands and a flurry of big distributor consolidations with Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Reyes Beverage Group and Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC). Listen here or on your preferred podcast platform.

A new year means it’s Brewbound’s annual roundtable conversation with our peers in beer industry journalism. This year, the Brewbound team is joined by Kate Bernot, lead analyst for Feel Goods Insights, and David Steinman, VP and executive editor of Beer Marketer’s Insights. The discussion covers the biggest bev-alc news stories of 2025, including middle-tier consolidation, overall category health and consumer sentiment. Although full-year scan data has yet to arrive, the beer category is poised to finish 2025 with low- to moderate-single-digit declines in dollar sales and volume, if the trends of the first 11 months hold. “We’re looking at decline after decline after decline – it’s something like 30 million barrels down from our recent peak,” Steinman said, adding that “some of that was inflated from the pandemic gains.” “It felt like it was going to normalize at least multiple times over, and it just keeps on declining at this rate,” he continued. “It’s hard to really put a finger on exactly one thing, but it’s easy to look at the broad-brush of impacts on the trends, and it’s just a tougher business now than it really ever has been for a consistent stretch.” The usual suspects of health and wellness trends, Gen Zs’ alleged broad aversion to alcohol and the rise of intoxicating hemp dominate conversations elsewhere, but Bernot posited that there’s something bigger at play. “The story that maybe went under-discussed for me last year was the broader macroeconomic factors going on in the U.S. and the pressure on the average consumer and how that fits into the choices people are making,” she said. “We hear so much about health. We hear so much about cannabis, THC, etc, competing categories. “I just didn’t hear enough about how pressured the average U.S. consumer feels,” Bernot continued. “We’ve known for a long time that well-off Americans are carrying a lot of water for the U.S. economy, but they can’t do it forever, and especially not in general CPG. You can only go out to a restaurant so many times. You only need so many cases of beer if you’re a wealthy family.” In addition to high-level impacts on the beer business, the conversation also explored granular topics, such as the rise of Guinness in the on-premise, seismic shifts in California distribution and Anheuser-Busch InBev’s growing strength in beyond beer. Listen here or on your preferred podcast platform.