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%.
Allagash Brewing is launching its first non-alcoholic (NA) offering this week with the release of Allagash Hop Water. Hop Water will exclusively be sold in 12 oz. can 6-packs at the brewery’s tasting room in Portland, Maine, starting later this week.
Clearwater, Florida-based Big Storm Brewing closed its taproom at Orlando’s Kia Center earlier this month, bringing the former multi-taproom operator to one location, according to the Orlando Business Journal.
Weeks after the death of founder Art Larrance, Portland, Oregon-based Cascade Brewing ceased operations on Monday, the Oregonian reported. Alissa Larrance, Art’s daughter, told the Oregonian that she delivered final paychecks to brewery staff Tuesday, though the brewery’s website says it is “temporarily closed.”
Seasonal trends for onsite brewery sales have remained relatively consistent since January 2021, but “in real terms” – i.e. accounting for inflation – onsite sales continue to decline, according to Brewers Association (BA) staff economist Matt Gacioch, citing data from Arryved.
Urban Chestnut Brewing is a defendant in two lawsuits from lenders claiming the St. Louis, Missouri-based brewery owes them nearly half a million dollars.
The latest installment of Brewbound’s A Round With – a weekly Insider-exclusive Q&A series with industry leaders – features J.C. Hill, founder and brewmaster of Alvarado Street Brewery in Salinas, California.
Crowns & Hops Brewing Company has been selected as the winner of the 13th annual Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream Brewing & Business Experienceship.
Clearwater, Florida-based Big Storm Brewery is in the crosshairs of two different legal battles, one accusing the company of embezzlement and money laundering from an organization that has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Craft beer’s dollar sales declines continued to accelerate through late May, according to market research firm Circana. Craft dollar sales in Circana-tracked off-premise channels (multi-outlet plus convenience) declined -5.5% in the four-week period ending May 19, accelerating from -3% in the previous period (ending April 21).
Following news that Kings & Convicts-owned Ballast Point had ceased production at its Miramar, California brewery and sold the facility to an unnamed buyer, the company has confirmed two rounds of layoffs, San Diego Beer News reported last week.
In the latest installment of Brewbound’s A Round With – a weekly Insider-exclusive Q&A series with industry leaders – Alisa Bowens-Mercado, founder and owner of Rhythm Brewing, discusses her quest to make the Connecticut brewery the first nationally distributed beer brand owned by a woman of color and all the stops along the way, including a pop-up summer beer garden in New Haven and ready-to-drink espresso martinis.
The Brewers Association (BA) separated contract-brewed and alternating proprietorship (alt prop) small breweries for the first time in this year’s compilation of craft production in the May/June issue of New Brewer Magazine.
Adam Beauchamp was named CEO of Creature Comforts last week, a decade after helping found the Athens, Georgia-based craft brewery. Beauchamp discussed his plans for the brewery moving forward, its growth drivers and opportunities ahead.
Brewbound continues to dive into 2023 craft beer production trends from the Brewers Association’s (BA) May/June issue of New Brewer Magazine. Brewbound previously covered top 50 craft, regionals beyond the top 50 and big beer craft. Now, a look at some of the trends in craft’s smaller subsets – taprooms, microbreweries and brewpubs:
