Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B) outperformed the U.S. beer industry in the first quarter of 2026, the company reported Tuesday. In the U.S., A-B’s Q1 depletions (sales to retailers) increased 0.3% year-over-year (YoY), which the company credited to “beer and beyond beer share gains and an improved industry.” Shipments (sales to wholesalers) declined 3.2%.
Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits’ ambitions for Anheuser-Busch InBev’s portfolio aren’t limited to New York. The wine and spirits juggernaut has struck another deal for a red network distributor, this time for the assets of Eagle Rock Distributing Co. in Colorado.
A pair of big red network distribution deals were announced in the last 24 hours. Anheuser-Busch InBev has agreed to purchase the distribution rights of its brands, as well as “certain craft/NA brands,” from Advance Beverage Company in Bakersfield, California. Meanwhile, Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits inked a deal for independent A-B distributor Clare Rose on Long Island.
Say what you will about A-B, but they don’t take no for an answer! (See BUD LIGHT SELTZER still on shelves, somewhere).
Ten years ago, the Justice Department (DOJ) allowed the world’s largest brewer (Anheuser-Busch InBev) to buy the world’s second largest brewer (SABMiller), but only after imposing rules designed to protect competition and keep the market open. Those rules expire this month. This is what they did, and why their expiration matters.
In the midst of a summer of hard sports drinks and the revitalization of light beer, Goose Island is hoping to steer the conversation toward dark, moody imperial stouts for at least a little bit. The Anheuser-Busch InBev-owned craft brewery has revealed its dessert-laden 2026 Bourbon County Brand Stout (BCBS) lineup. The barrel-aged stout family is traditionally released on Black Friday (November 27 this year).
Lost Coast Brewing founder Barbara Groom is looking for a buyer for her nearly 40-year-old craft brewery. Groom plans to retire after 37 years of running the Eureka, California-based craft brewery, she told ProBrewer.
A leadership shakeup has happened at Pennsylvania’s New Trail Brewing. Founder and CEO David Hertwig is transitioning “into a more strategic role,” rather than daily operations, while keeping his c-suite title.
Kirin-owned New Belgium Brewing – including the Voodoo Ranger-powered New Belgium brand and Bell’s Brewery – now ranks as the largest non-Brewers Association craft beer family, overtaking Molson Coors’ craft brands, according to data released in the trade organization’s May/June edition of the New Brewer magazine.
Anheuser-Busch InBev’s (A-B) Michelob Ultra was Numero Uno on Cinco de Mayo, according to the latest report from on-premise insights firm BeerBoard.
Breakthru Drivers Strike in Illinois & Missouri; Diageo Beer USA Net Sales +9.1%, Global Net Sales +2.3%; Monster Q1 Alcohol Net Sales -5.9%; Hard Seltzers Increasingly Top-Heavy Market; A-B CMO: ‘25 is the New 21’; Molson Coors Reveals Keystone Light Apple Cans.
Check out news items that were initially reported in the Brewbound Insider Newsletter April 27-29, including headlines from RNDC, the Odom Corporation and Constellation Brands.
With recent warmer weather comes an uptick in bev-alc dollar sales, which flipped to positive (+0.5%) in the two-week period ending April 4 – a sequential improvement from -0.8% in the four-week window and -1.2% in the 12-weeks, according to the latest analysis of NIQ data from Goldman Sachs Equity Research.
Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B) has closed its previously announced acquisition of BeatBox Beverages, the companies shared today.
Michelob Ultra Zero is now the No. 1 non-alcoholic beer brand by volume in off-premise scans tracked by Circana for the 12-week period ending February 8, Anheuser-Busch InBev shared this week. A-B hailed the brand as the “fastest-growing” NA beer in the industry. Although Michelob Ultra Zero is the top NA volume brand, it trails Heineken 0.0 in dollar sales.
Strong performance from its standout brands – including Michelob Ultra, Busch Light and Cutwater Spirits – was not enough to offset declines in other areas for Anheuser-Busch InBev’s (A-B) U.S. business in 2025.
On a night when 23% of the Super Bowl ads promoted AI, Americana and beer came out on top in USA Today’s Ad Meter rankings.
