Anyone looking for an answer to when craft’s current era of compounding hurdles and declines will come to an end received a reality check Wednesday during Brewers Association (BA) president and CEO Bart Watson’s state of the industry address, held at the start of Day 2 of the Craft Brewers Conference (CBC) in Indianapolis.
Around 10,000 industry members are expected to make the trip to Indianapolis for the 2025 Craft Brewers Conference and BrewExpo America (April 28 to May 1). The gathering takes place against a backdrop of growing headwinds for craft breweries and an overhaul of CBC’s host organization, the Brewers Association.
All major beverage-alcohol industry trade groups have united in opposition of a draft study about alcohol consumption’s effect on health, which was released Tuesday.
The 2022 Great American Beer Festival (GABF) competition awarded 300 medals to the best commercial breweries in the United States. Presented by the Brewers Association (BA), GABF is the nation’s largest professional beer competition and the premier symbol of brewing excellence.
Craft consumers have consistently reported style as the driving factor when choosing a craft beer, but brand has become increasingly more important, Brewers Association (BA) chief economist Bart Watson shared Thursday while revealing the trade group’s annual consumer survey conducted by the Harris Poll.
The rate of craft beer drinkers who say they drink craft weekly has declined -4% since last year, according to the Brewers Association’s (BA) annual consumer survey conducted by the Harris Poll.
The Virginia Craft Brewers Guild (VCBG) could be in the beer distribution business by next summer, it announced last week.
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in June – which overturned Roe vs. Wade, triggering a domino effect that could limit access to abortion and other reproductive care procedures in nearly two dozen states – the Brewers Association (BA) has published a guide to help its members navigate the healthcare ramifications in affected states and support employees.
Brewers Association (BA) chief economist Bart Watson reported last week that indicators halfway through 2022 point to growth between 4% and 5% for craft beer by the year’s end. That estimate is in line with the projection Watson made at the end of 2021, when the industry grew 8% as the on-premise channel began to reopen.
More than two years after announcing her retirement, craft brewing pioneer Carol Stoudt’s eponymous German-inspired brand will be returning to Pennsylvania draft lines in time for Oktoberfest season through a licensing partnership with Philadelphia-based Evil Genius Beer Company.
Halfway through 2022, off-premise scan data of the craft beer segment is “somewhere in between expected and alarming,” Brewers Association (BA) chief economist Bart Watson wrote in an update about craft’s performance ahead of his mid-year review of craft production, scheduled for July 28.
The buyer of Cincinnati Beverage Co. (CinBev) and its portfolio of craft beer brands has finally come forward.
A confluence of factors – the reopening of the on-premise channel, distributed packaging sales, and monetary relief from the federal government – helped boost many of the country’s regional craft breweries to growth in 2021. Nearly four-fifths of the regional craft brewers beyond the top 50 increased production in 2021, according to data published in the May/June edition of the Brewers Association’s (BA) New Brewer magazine.
Following the Brewers Association’s (BA) annual Craft Brewers Conference, general counsel Marc Sorini and federal affairs director Katie Marisic join the Brewbound Podcast to discuss the trade group’s legislative agenda and what’s on the regulatory horizon for the craft beer industry.
As the on-premise began to reanimate after a year of pandemic-driven closures and restrictions, 28 of the top 50 Brewers Association-defined (BA) craft breweries posted volume increases in 2021, according to data published today in the May/June edition of the trade group’s New Brewer magazine. Last year, the BA reported craft beer’s volume declined -9% in 2020 – the first time the trade group that represents the nation’s small and independent breweries recorded a volume loss in the industry’s modern era – and a majority (36) of the top 50 saw their output decline compared to 2019.
Large regional breweries that fall outside of the BA’s definition of a craft brewer collectively produced more than 8.64 million barrels of beer in 2021, a +2% increase on a comparable basis, according to data provided by the trade organization. The BA excludes companies that are at least 25% owned by a larger brewing company from its craft brewery data set and sets a production ceiling for BA-defined craft brewers at 6 million barrels.
Marc Sorini, general counsel for the Brewers Association (BA), and Katie Marisic, BA director of federal affairs, gave members a rundown on pending legislation and new regulations in 2022, during the Craft Brewers Conference (CBC) in Minneapolis last week.
