Beyond Beer

Jennifer Lopez is the latest high-profile name to jump into the rising ready-to-drink cocktail category with the launch of The House of Delola, a new Beam Suntory-backed brand of spirit-based, pre-mixed drinks which is set to debut this spring with its first product, Delola Spritz.

In 2017, the Chehalis Tribe, comprised of around 900 members living on just over 11 square miles of reservation in southwest Washington, decided to construct a community-owned restaurant, brewery and distillery. There was just one problem: distilling on tribal lands was illegal.

After launching in Mexico last fall, Jack Daniel’s & Coca-Cola ready-to-drink (RTD) canned cocktails have rolled out in the U.S. The 7% ABV spirits-based RTD, the result of a partnership between Coca-Cola and Jack Daniel’s parent company Brown-Forman, is inspired by the ubiquitous “Jack & Coke” bar call and combines two of the world’s most recognizable beverage brands in one package.

Non-alcoholic (NA) beer maker Athletic Brewing Company produced 170,000 barrels of beer in 2022, which would place it just within the Brewers Association’s (BA) top 20 craft breweries by volume. By the end of 2023, the Stratford, Connecticut-based brewery is expected to be in the top 15.

Not everyone agrees on how to make a margarita, but one thing most cocktail enthusiasts do align on is that the cocktail has mass appeal.

The California Craft Brewers Association (CCBA) has sponsored two bills this legislative session: one that would allow members to produce cider and perry with existing licenses, and another that would restore transparency in beer production data reporting.

Virginia retailers are now required under law to separate alcoholic versions of non-alcoholic brands from their soft drink counterparts.

FIFCO USA has unveiled a new 7.5 oz can for its malt-based beverage line Seagram’s Escapes, aiming to leverage the new format and $1 price point to carve out space at retail outlets and bring in new customers.

Pernod Ricard has made a play for flavored whiskey by acquiring a majority stake in peanut butter flavored Skrewball whiskey, the company announced today.

Double Punch Hard Juice, a new hard juice contender from Philadelphia-based Two Robbers Hard Seltzer, will enter the ring next month. “We’ve been developing this idea for over a year, as a way to bridge the highly sessionable and low-calorie, zero-sugar nature of hard seltzers with the full-flavor full-texture aspects of FMBs [flavored malt beverages] and craft beer,” co-founder and CEO Vikram Nayar said.

A federal jury has found that Constellation Brands’ production of products such as Corona Hard Seltzer and Modelo Ranch Water does not violate the company’s licensing agreement with Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B).

U.S. spirits exports reached a record high last year, driven by American whiskeys and buoyed by temporary halts to retaliatory tariffs, a new report from the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) revealed yesterday.

Not content to rest on Modelo’s laurels as the country’s No. 2 beer brand, Constellation aims to continue to raise consumer awareness, which increased +43% in 2022, VP of brand marketing Greg Gallagher said. “We have a ton of room to grow and we’ll have to continue to find new ways to attract more drinkers,” he said.

On International Women’s Day, we caught up with Women of the Vine & Spirits founder and CEO Deborah Brenner to talk about the challenges women still face in the industry, how companies can make their work environments more inclusive, and why a diverse workplace strengthens the bottom line.