Beyond Beer

From the land of Cran-Grape comes… Cran-Vodka? Absolut and Ocean Spray are teaming up to launch Vodka-Cranberry Range, a ready-to-drink (RTD) line coming early 2024, a press release announced today.

Spirits-based, ready-to-drink (RTD) canned cocktail brand Fishers Island Lemonade has agreed to be acquired by Spirit of Gallo, the spirits division of E. & J. Gallo, the companies announced today in a press release.

Athletic Brewing Company’s Upside Dawn Golden will be served on all domestic JetBlue flights starting in May, the company shared today. The partnership marks the first time that a major U.S. airline has served non-alcoholic craft beer at 35,000 feet.

A federal judge has dismissed a proposed class action lawsuit alleging that Topo Chico Margarita Hard Seltzer is deceptively labeled because it is fermented and lacks tequila.

San Juan Seltzer is betting on a new line of imperial hard seltzers called Doubles being “a game changer” for the nearly 5-year-old company, CEO and president Ron Lloyd told Brewbound.

While 23-year-old Smirnoff Ice is around the same age as Gen. Z, the Diageo-owned flavored malt beverage (FMB) brand has been out of the spotlight in the past few years, as younger legal-drinking-age (LDA) consumers have gravitated toward new flashier beyond beer entrants such as Mark Anthony Brands’ White Claw Hard Seltzer and E. & J. Gallo’s High Noon Sun Sips.

When non-alcoholic spirit Drink Monday launched in 2019, it was an exclusively digital brand. But as the company continued to grow, CEO Ken Young began pondering the path forward.

Boston Beer Company is making a convenience play in three markets with the launch of a new high-ABV, single-serve brand: Slingers Signature Cocktails.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for beer both at home (+6.1%) and away from home (+5.5%) outpaced overall inflation (+5%) in March 2023 compared to March 2022, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Constellation Brands recorded an impairment charge of $66.5 million pertaining to what’s left of its craft beer division in its fiscal year 2023 fourth quarter, according to its most recent 8-K form filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Heineken USA has released its first spirit-based portfolio extension of Jamaican beer brand Red Stripe with Red Stripe Rum Drinks. The canned cocktail will roll out in Florida starting today, and is set to hit select markets in the Northeast throughout the spring.

Deschutes Brewery is moving production of its non-alcoholic beer in-house with an investment in Sustainable Beverage Technologies’ BrewVo equipment at its production facility in Bend, Oregon.

Canadian cannabis company Hexo Corp, a former partner of Molson Coors, has been acquired by Tilray Brands, in a deal valued at around $250 million, the company announced yesterday in its Q3 earnings report.

Molson Coors Beverage Company’s previously teased spirits-based Topo Chico offering is now a reality.

In the midst of a bourbon boom, the Kentucky General Assembly has passed a bill to gradually phase out the state’s tax on aging spirit barrels.