Brewbound Podcast

The summer selling season wraps up this weekend with Labor Day Monday, and one of the hottest segments of the summer has been hard sports drinks. Brewbound editor Justin Kendall and senior reporter Zoe Licata dive into the fast-growing segment and how their views have shifted on it over the last year. They look at who is leading the segment now and new entrants looking to fast-follow, including Boston Beer Company. The duo also recap several rounds of layoffs, including Sapporo USA’s wind-down of the Stone Brewing-branded locations in Escondido, California; Mark Anthony’s integration of the Finnish Long Drink and coming sales team cuts; and Diageo’s ongoing $1.2 billion restructuring effort hitting its NYC headquarters. Plus, Justin and Zoe discuss low-ABV beers (and Justin cracks Sierra Nevada’s new Go-Two IPA) and Pabst’s viral stolen beer marketing campaign. Listen here.

Does every beer need a non-alcoholic (NA) analog? The Brewbound team discusses on the latest episode of the Brewbound Podcast.As Molson Coors prepares to launch an NA version of Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy, Brewbound editor Justin Kendall questions whether the product is trend chasing or if consumers are clamoring for it. Managing editor Jessica Infante gets White Claw Zero flashbacks, while senior reporter Zoe Licata offers a different perspective after exploring NA ciders.The trio also analyze recent headlines, including:Samuel Adams taproom workers’ plans to unionize and Boston Beer’s response, so far;And B3 Beverage’s “complicated” partnerships, with a deal for Yards Brewing going forward and others falling through.Listen here.

Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC) is leaving a big unpaid tab. The distributor filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this week, with liabilities between $1 billion and $10 billion, and more than 100,000 creditors.In this episode of the Brewbound Podcast, Brewbound editor Justin Kendall and senior reporter Zoe Licata dive into the bankruptcy filing, as well as the fallout, with many suppliers left wondering if they’ll ever get paid back.Justin and Zoe also catch up on the other big headlines, including the Brewers Association’s (BA) 2026 mid-year report, with projected craft volume declines of 4%. They discuss why the news isn’t all bad – with a majority of respondents reporting growth – and why it’s not all good.The conversation shifts to Boston Beer’s second-quarter results and Sun Cruiser’s growing importance to the company’s bottomline. They also explore Boston’s growing fast-follower innovation strategy, including Rally Dog, a potential hard sports drink challenger brand. Plus, they touch on if beer companies might be walking back their opposition to the spirits industry’s equalization efforts.Finally, seasonal creep is here and real as pumpkin beers are already popping up on store shelves.It’s a quick, fun recap of the latest news. Listen here.

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.