Draft

Draft continues to claw back the share of total beer it lost during the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting on-premise closures and consumer shifts.

Draft beer increased its share of on-premise beer sales by volume to 53.1% in 2025, gaining 0.9 share points year-over-year, according to the latest Draft Beer Report from NIQ and Draftline Technologies. Those gains matched 2024’s, per NIQ’s On-Premise Measurement service, which tracks sales at licensed on-premise accounts across the U.S.

March Madness has brought upsets, buzzer beaters and a boost to some beer brands’ draft sales, according to a new report from on-premise data firm BeerBoard.

St. Patrick’s Day may have fallen on a Tuesday this year, but the weekday timing didn’t stop consumers from celebrating the holiday in the on-premise, according to a report from BeerBoard.

Continued draft declines dragged down bev-alc’s on-premise performance in 2025, according to tech and insights firm BeerBoard’s “2025 Year in Review” on-premise report released this month.

Adult non-alc (ANA) cocktails are gaining momentum in luxury hotels, with one major chain reporting a 32% sales increase over the past three years. But functional ingredients and education still create challenges.

Consumers’ on-premise spending may be strong, but volumes of draft beer and packaged goods declined at bars and restaurants during Q3, according to on-premise insights firm BeerBoard. Draft beer volume declined 1.8% between July 1 and September 30 year-over-year (YoY). Cans and bottles fared even worse, dropping 5.1% compared to Q3 2024.

Draft beer remains the dominating sales driver for taprooms, but breweries may need to expand their menus (and hours) if they want consumers to keep coming back, according to a new report from the Brewers Association (BA), citing taproom point-of-sale data from Arryved.

Beer’s Q1 on-premise sales were a mixed bag, according to the latest data report from tech and on-premise data firm BeerBoard.

Sierra Nevada’s Big Little Thing IPA is getting a second act. The imperial IPA has been reformulated as a juicy hazy IPA with the ABV amped up to 9.5% from 9%. Although Big Little Thing has been a top-30 craft brand in off-premise scans, the brand’s trends have trended down since 2023.

March Madness did indeed extend March Sadness (readers of Brewbound’s weekend newsletter will get the reference). Draft volume during the opening weekend of the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments declined -5.8% compared to the same weekend in 2024, according to on-premise data firm BeerBoard, which reviewed nationwide sales during the March 20-23, 2025, weekend and compared to March 21-24, 2024.

Beer has gained bev-alc dollar share at bars, restaurants and venues, taking from wine and spirits, according to the latest report from CGA, NIQ’s on-premise data arm. For the 52-week period ending January 25, beer accounted for 40.1% of all dollars spent in the on-premise channel, a +0.3 percentage point increase year-over-year (YoY). Ready-to-drink (RTD) canned cocktails increased dollar share +0.4 percentage points, to 1.2% of total bev-alc dollars.

St. Patrick’s Day weekend wasn’t necessarily lucky for purveyors of draft beer, according to on-premise data firm BeerBoard, which published its annual recap of bev-alc performance at bars and restaurants during the holiday.

One of the latest signs that craft beer has entered a new era: Patrons of storied brewpub chains Gordon Biersch and Rock Bottom can now order domestic lagers produced by the world’s largest breweries.