Cider

Hard cider remains one of a handful of beer segments to record consistent year-over-year (YoY) growth in off-premise scans, and that growth is accelerating, according to new insights from consulting firm 3 Tier Beverages.

More than two years after Blake’s Hard Cider, Austin Eastciders and Avid Cider Co. merged under the Blake’s Beverage Co. banner, the companies have found a rhythm that helped make Blake’s the “fastest growing” independent cidery in the U.S.

Members of the American Cider Association (ACA) elected two new and four returning representatives to the trade group’s board of directors last month.

The beverage-alcohol landscape has “radically” changed over the last decade, but small and independent producers – both in beer and hard cider – are primed to take advantage, Brewers Association (BA) president and CEO Bart Watson shared at CiderCon last week in Providence, Rhode Island.

Hard cider was one of three beer segments to record consistent growth in 2025, escaping the declines that plagued most of the category as beverage-alcohol tackled increased supply costs, consumer purchasing shifts and numerous macroeconomic headwinds.

Seattle Cider’s production facility and taproom will close next month, the company announced today in a press release officially announcing the sale of the Seattle Cider brand to fellow Pacific Northwest craft cider 2 Towns Ciderhouse.

Here are some news items that were initially reported in the Brewbound Insider Newsletter January 5-6, including updates from Uncle Nearest, NIQ, Blake’s Beverage and more.

2 Towns Ciderhouse is preparing to add one more town to its name. The Corvallis, Oregon-based hard cider maker will acquire Seattle Cider’s brand, joining two of the most prominent cider names in the Pacific Northwest.

Boston Beer’s transformation from a craft brewer to an adult beverage company, which began in earnest about a decade ago, is looking like an even better bet as traditional beer’s declines outpace those of the beyond beer segment.

The Brewers Association (BA) awarded 347 medals to 273 breweries and cideries Saturday during the trade group’s Great American Beer Festival (GABF) in Denver.

In its 157-year history, Martinelli’s has become a staple in many U.S. households; from its squat 10 oz. apple juices that fit conveniently into kids’ lunch boxes, to its green sparkling cider bottles that allow consumers of all ages to toast and celebrate without booze.

Craft wasn’t the only segment to record some improvement in recent scans, according to the latest monthly report from market research firm Circana.

A legal dispute between two Pacific Northwest cider brands is bringing into question what defines a “recipe” and how airtight – and specific – agreements between bev-alc brands and their manufacturing partners need to be. Schilling Cider has filed a civil complaint against Incline Cider and its parent company Compass Brands, LLC, alleging Incline breached a “recipe agreement” and shared confidential information with a competing company

Schilling Cider’s Excelsior Imperial Mango, the No. 2 hard cider in the Seattle-based company’s lineup and the “No. 1 fruited cider” in the U.S., is now “climate neutral.” As of this month, “any greenhouse gas emissions generated through the cider’s entire lifecycle” – from the production of Imperial Mango to its “disposal” – are entirely offset