Daily Briefing Newsletter

Ya gotta love when the CPG industry listens to the demands of the people, and finally cuts out the middleman to make all of our lives that much easier and more fulfilling. Yes, Zoe’s darty crowd will no longer have to mix their CRYSTAL LIGHT and vodka themselves, as the KRAFT HEINZ people have indeed read all of your letters (Zoe, please tell Donny to cool it on the postcards), and finally giving us 3.8% ABV Crystal Light Vodka Refreshers!

📉 January 2025 Shipments -8.7% YoY; 🫧 Jiant Wants to be Hard Tea’s Olipop; 🌑 Blue Moon Denver Brewpub to Close; 🍹 A Round With Austin Cocktails Founders; 📰 WellBeing Deal; Saugatuck Closures;🥉 Circana: 3 of 10 Segments Post Growth; 🚫 ‘You Can’t Fucking Make Beer Legally in DE’; 🖐️ Constellation’s Rule of Five Hard Punch

With the aluminum & steel tariff situation due to the new Trump administration, it looks like it may be time for the beer biz to get creative. Well, at least with packaging – gonna make the leap and say the brewing equipment market may have plenty of existing options.

Tilray Ceases Large-Scale Production at Revolver; Boston Beer Boosts Executive Pay +3%-8%; DISCUS: 2024 Spirit Sales Flat; People Moves at the BA and Mass Brewers Guild; Circana: Bev-Alc in Red Ahead of Super Bowl; ‘We’re Confusing the Hell Out of Shoppers.’

Regardless of who wins the big game tomorrow, Kansas City is clearly coming out ahead – at least in terms of how much money they’ll have left after party shopping. Here is the average price of a sixer in each city …

Let’s start this week’s newsletter with a PSA going out to all Greek yogurt magnates, or anyone else out there with $1.75M in their wallet who wants to own a legendary San Francisco beer bar.

Meet Brewbound Pitch Slam winner Hurray’s Girl Beer; FIFCO Rrvamps Seagram’s Escapes; news from Molson Coors, Fair State & Night Shift; Owl’s Brew collabs with Chelsea Handler.

So, just me … or did #DryJanuary journalism about people taking a break or lessening alcohol consumption at the start of a new year turn into straight up anti-alcohol propaganda this year, real quick?

This week’s beer goes out to one of beer’s all-time greatest pitchmen, Mr. Bob Uecker, who died this week at the age of 90 … and they just don’t make ‘em like Bob anymore. He’s of course known for the Major League movies and Mr. Belvedere in the ’80s, and to an older demo as one of the top Tonight Show guests ever (with 100+ appearances). Plus, he also called BREWERS games in Milwaukee for 54 seasons. 🤯

Welcome to the beer biz, TKO. Yes, on the day that the owner of the WWE (and UFC) announced that it became a minority investor in Real American Beer, the beer’s top spokesperson had a … less than favorable launch night appearance on NETFLIX WWE RAW.

So – who’s ready for 194 non-alcoholic beer stories in a 2-week period!? 🥳 Enjoy this very brief sweet spot between folks moving on from their “Top Holiday Drinking Recommendations!” missives and into their “People don’t drink anymore!” stories.

This week’s beer goes out to GUINNESS! I assure you that the actual shortage of the good stuff in Britain as Christmas approaches is entirely unrelated to my trip there earlier this month (if it was one of my London trips when I was in my 30s – maybe).

This week’s beer goes out to Oktoberfest beers for kicking pumpkin beers’ a**es during this fall seasonal uh, season. Lester Jones shared this nice chart here from the folks at FINTECH in a webinar last week illustrating the dominance (well done on the Beerfest addition there – who says data nerds don’t have fun?).

A-B Believes in the Strength of Total Portfolio; A Round With PR Expert Kevin York; BI: October Beer Supply Nearly Flat; Massachusetts’ Redemption Rock to Close; CinBev to Acquire Taft’s Brewing; Yuengling Adds Illinois; and Craft Gains Share of On-Premise Dollars.