Beyond Beer

The Boston Beer Company’s Truly Hard Seltzer will launch its Wild Berry flavor on draft nationwide on March 2, replacing the unflavored Truly on Tap draft offering that rolled out in August. Figueroa Mountain Brewing Company has laid off at least eight employees, according to the Full Pint.

Truly Hard Seltzer sales boosted the Boston Beer Company’s fourth quarter revenue to an all-time high of $301.3 million, but it wasn’t without cost, as profits took a hit due to expensive third-party contract production.

The hard seltzer category could reach about 10% of the beer market in the next few years, according to research reports from two leading financial services firms. Meanwhile, FIFCO USA has stopped production of Pura Still, the 95-calorie, 4.5% ABV spiked still water brand after less than two years, according to a memo sent to wholesalers this week. Finally, Iron Heart Canning, the country’s largest mobile canning service provider, announced today an agreement to acquire Michigan Mobile Canning.

Chris Hollod wants to be known as one of the most active angel investors in the alcohol space. After about a decade of making investments with billionaire Ron Burkle and actor Ashton Kutcher, Hollod, a Los Angeles-based venture capitalist, struck out on his own in 2019 and has shifted his focus from investing in tech companies such as Airbnb, Uber, Spotify and Warby Parker, to investing in consumer packaged good companies, specifically “alternative alcohol” companies.”

Molson Coors Beverage Company reported nearly $10.6 billion in net sales for 2019, a decline of 1.8% compared to 2018. In a press release, Molson Coors Beverage Company president and CEO Gavin Hattersley called 2019 “a challenging year” for the company.

The parent company of Brizzy Seltzer Cocktails has filed a lawsuit against Molson Coors Beverage Company in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, alleging that the second largest U.S. beer manufacturer’s Vizzy Hard Seltzer name “is nearly identical to Brizzy in sight, sound and appearance” and infringes upon its trademark.

With the help of technology from Austin, Texas-based Earthly Labs, the Denver Beer Company is launching a program to share the excess carbon dioxide produced during fermentation with the Clinic, a cannabis company, to stimulate marijuana plant growth.

Cider category dollar share shrank in 2019, however, the growth of regional and local producers proved to be a bright spot, Danny Brager, senior VP of market research firm Nielsen’s beverage alcohol practice, shared Thursday during the American Cider Association’s (ACA) annual CiderCon conference in Oakland, California.

Sunday’s Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers in Miami marks the first major beer-drinking occasion of 2020. In 2019, U.S. consumers spent $1.2 billion on beer at off-premise retailers in the two weeks leading up to the game between the Los Angeles Rams and New England Patriots, according to market research firm Nielsen. Those sales were roughly flat, though, down 0.5%, compared to 2018.

Making good on its promise to invest $100 million by 2028 in businesses founded or led by women, Constellation Brands today announced a minority investment in Press Premium Alcohol Seltzer through its Focus on Female Founders program.

After posting a 6% decline in volume in 2019, Durango, Colorado-based Ska Brewing has refreshed its packaging and launched a hard seltzer line, with plans to to release a low-calorie IPA and open a brewery and distillery in Boulder, in an effort to find new avenues to grow the business.

The CANarchy Craft Brewery Collective shipped 14% more beer to distributors in 2019, bringing the total volume for all seven brands to 480,000 barrels, the company announced.

Mark Anthony Brands has selected Glendale, Arizona, as the location of its $250 million West Coast production facility.
The maker of White Claw and Mike’s Hard Lemonade first revealed plans in the fall to invest $385 million to build two new production facilities, including a plant in New Jersey.