Brewbound Podcast

Stout Collective founder and CEO Matt Tanaka walks us through expected design trends for 2025, including why he believes mascots and maximalism will be a feature of beer labels in the new year. Tanaka also breaks down the goals and experience of Stout Collective’s BOPP Beer Design Conference, held annually in Chicago. He shares how his firm tries to keep the conference fresh and the conversations uninhibited. But first, Brewbound reporter Zoe Licata shares insights from the Beer Marketer’s Insights summit in New York City. Zoe recaps New Belgium CEO Shaun Belongie’s energetic presentation, highlighting the addition of Mini Ripper 7.5 oz. cans of Voodoo Ranger Juice Force and Tropic Force, the occasion smaller cans are meeting, the launch of alcoholic sports drink LightStrike, some shade for amber ales and an admission that the reformulated Fat Tire didn’t go well. Listen here or on your preferred podcast platform.

Several new high ABV offerings are on their way to convenience store doors in 2025. The Brewbound team discusses the latest slate of offerings from Molson Coors that trades on three of their established brands: Blue Moon Extra, Topo Chico Max and Simply Spiked Bold. The team ponders the timeliness of new singles hitting convenience and the prospects for these. Jess, Zoe and Justin also discuss the latest news, including JuneShine’s non-alcoholic kombucha play, job openings at the Brewers Association and California Craft Brewers Association and why the numbers say your brewery will likely survive. Plus, deep thoughts on greetings and F1. Listen here or on your preferred podcast platform.

When should you refresh your packaging? Or do a total rebrand? Or should you just stand pat? CODO Design’s Isaac Arthur explains the choose-your-own-adventure decision tree beverage-alcohol companies should consider when tweaking the look of their products or the feel of their brand. Arthur walks through the gut check breweries need to do on each of these decisions and what they should know going into the process. Arthur also gets into whether there are some products that are too iconic to touch, how nostalgia may factor into redesigns and what CODO might do for a certain San Francisco brewery rising from the ashes. Plus, the Brewbound team talks Labor Day and muted post-pandemic wholesaler beer purchasing in August. Listen here or on your preferred podcast platform.

What legal issues should be on brewers’ radar? Nichole Shustack and Isabelle Cunningham from the bev-alcohol practice team at law firm Nutter, McClennen and Fish join the Brewbound Podcast to share what to watch out for this year and beyond. The team discusses the impact of non-alcoholic brands crossing over into bev-alc, direct-to-consumer sales, potential regulations on adult non-alcoholic beverages and other state legal updates. Plus, the Brewbound team reconvenes to break down the latest headlines, including Colorado’s Left Hand Brewing’s efforts to raise money for a brewery platform, another sale of San Francisco’s Magnolia Brewing and BeatBox Beverages’ big deal with Shaquille O’Neal. Listen here or on your preferred podcast platform.

Beverage-alcohol’s growing “fourth category” of flavor-first offerings are quickly becoming a “mega category,” NIQ VP of alcohol industry thought leadership Jon Berg shared on the latest edition of the Brewbound Podcast. Berg explains how the collective of ready-to-drink offerings such as flavored malt beverages, canned cocktails, hard seltzers and other flavor-forward offerings have shifted the fortunes of bev-alc for the year, while the best case scenario for beer, wine and spirits is likely a flat year. He also dishes on the tension between value and volume, slumping craft sales, channel outlooks and brand life cycles. Plus, Zoe is back with a beer report from the Bahamas. She and Justin discuss their travel schedules, the decline in attendance for this year’s Craft Brewers Conference and Monster’s bev-alc struggles. Listen here or on your preferred podcast platform.

Following a long July 4 holiday weekend, the Brewbound team shares how they celebrated Independence Day. Jess provides a Jersey Shore report, including whether there was enough Surfside supply. Zoe shares the results from her July 4 darty on how newer beverages such as Surfside, Sun Cruiser, The Beast Unleashed, and Happy Thursday performed with the under 30 crowd. She also notes the prevalence of High Noon in Boston’s party districts. Then the conversation turns to social media platform TikTok opening its platform to beverage-alcohol advertisements. Jess explains why now and what bev-alc companies should consider. The team also discusses non-alcoholic beer maker Athletic Brewing’s $50 million equity financing round and rumored valuation.   Listen here or on your preferred podcast platform. And please like, rate, review and subscribe to the podcast and hit the notification bell to make sure fresh episodes keep hitting your feeds.

The Brewbound team catches up on the latest news, including Allagash’s first foray into non-alcoholic adult beverages with Hop Water. Justin, Jess and Zoe discuss why this seems on brand for the Portland, Maine-based craft brewery, and why it may be a better entry point than NA beer. Jess then shares why some cannabis users say they are drinking less, with a lot of caveats. Zoe shares her experience at the Boston Celtics victory parade and thoughts on C’s guard Derrick White’s duck boat adventures. Zoe also breaks down her feature on the state of hard kombucha. The show wraps with a conversation on whether the spicy trend has fully taken hold in bev-alc. Listen here or on your preferred podcast platform.