Explore the world of craft beer, from performance reports and innovation tactics to the state of the industry and breaking news.
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.
Craft’s rolling four-week losses improved to start 2025, according to the most recent report from market research firm Circana. The segment’s off-premise dollar sales declined -3.1% and volume, measured in case sales, declined -4.6% in the four-week period ending January 26 (L4W) at multi-outlet grocery, mass retail and convenience stores (MULO+C). That marked an improvement over the prior four-week period (through December 29, 2024), when craft dollars declined -5.1% and volume declined -6.5%.
Craft Collective and Homegrown Distribution have merged to form Craft Collective Homegrown Distribution (CCHGD) with statewide coverage in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, the companies announced today.
The word of Brewbound Live 2024 could arguably be “focus,” which was highlighted in the panel discussion that kicked off Day 2 of the business conference last month in Marina del Rey, California.
Milwaukee-based brewpub The Explorium is taking over Good City Brewing’s four taproom locations, according to On Milwaukee.
Two New England legacy craft houses are merging in a deal that unites 14 brands. The parent companies of Harpoon and Smuttynose – Mass. Bay Brewing Company and FinestKind Brewing, respectively – have merged to form Barrel One Collective, the companies announced today in news first shared with Brewbound.
Cynthia Fisher, the wife of Boston Beer founder and chairman Jim Koch for more than three decades, will one day inherit his controlling interest in the company, Koch told the Wall Street Journal.
Allagash Brewing is returning to Colorado for the first time in almost 20 years. The Portland, Maine-headquartered, Belgian-inspired brewery will have statewide distribution through Elite Brands.
Chicago-based Funkytown Brewery’s mission is to bring more people into craft beer. Now it’s creating a physical space to be the homestead of that mission. Funkytown has made a deal to acquire a building near the United Center that the Black-owned craft brewery plans to transform into a taproom and beer garden.
When is a marketing strategy not a marketing strategy? Can social media alone sustain a brewery? What makes public relations different from other tactics in the marketing toolkit? Kevin York, founder of the eponymous craft beer-centric communications agency, tells it all after a decade in business.
Breweries in the Mecklenburgs both old and new are uniting to deliver a black beer for Black Friday. Charlotte-based Olde Mecklenburg Brewery (OMB) today announced its first-ever international collaboration with Störtebeker Braumanufaktur, a craft brewery in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
Sapporo-Stone Brewing will cease the exporting of Stone beers in January 2025, a spokesperson for the company confirmed. Stone exports its products to 50 countries via a network of international distributors, according to its website.
Dennis Peek, the CEO of Heineken-owned Lagunitas Brewing Company, will end his term leading the craft brewery at the end of 2024, the company announced Thursday. Peek ascended to the top job at the Petaluma, California-headquartered brewery in February 2020, just weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of the on-premise channel and upended the craft beer industry.
In the final installment of 2024, 3 Tier consultant Danelle Kosmal shares a trio of insights on industry growth, with NIQ off-premise data through November 2. Hot topics include Halloween spending, craft light beer and seasonals, spirits-based ready-to-drink cocktails (RTDs) and more.
Upper Hand Brewery, opened by Bell’s Brewery founder Larry Bell in 2014, is about to change hands. Kirin-owned New Belgium acquired Escanaba, Michigan-based Upper Hand when it merged with Bell’s in 2021.
Kirin-owned New Belgium Brewing and Bell’s Brewery both built their foundations on amber ales. More than three decades later, their portfolios look a little different, in very intentional moves to stay relevant with the rapidly changing bev-alc market, CEO Shaun Belongie shared during Beer Marketer’s Insights’ seminar, held this week in New York City.
