Stay informed on the latest beer industry, legislative, government affairs and legal news, including updates on the Brewers Association and NBWA. Understand the evolving beverage alcohol regulatory and legal environment that can directly impact your distribution, retail efforts, intellectual property, packaging and ingredients.
Submit Legislative News
If you have insights into recent regulatory or legislative news related to the beer or beverage-alcohol industry, please submit your news to your team.
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.
Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits (SGWS) has consistently charged independent retailers as much as 12% to 67% more than national and regional chains for the same products, according to newly unsealed redactions in the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) price discrimination case against the distributor.
TRVE Brewing to close; Australian PE firm bids $3.75M for Alamo Beer; Trump delays tariff implementation until August; Patagonia and Deschutes update packaging, plan to launch co-branded IPA; Beer Institute/Morning Consult survey results.
President Donald Trump signed a sweeping omnibus package dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” into law on July 4. Included in the legislation are provisions that benefit businesses such as beer distributors.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has vetoed a bill that would have banned intoxicating hemp products in the state, sending the hotly debated issue back to the Legislature through a special session tasked with producing “strict, fair and legally sustainable” regulations.
The legal sparring between exporter CraftCanTravel LLC (CCT) and Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B) continues. CraftCanTravel sued A-B in federal court last year, alleging that the brewer infringed upon its exclusive rights to export the former Craft Brew Alliance (CBA) portfolio of brands, including Kona Brewing, “to most of the world.”
BA president and CEO Bart Watson addresses the Trump administration doubling tariffs on imported aluminum and steel.
The May Beer Purchasers’ Index (BPI) showed “sequential improvement” compared to the previous three months, with the overall index reading 45 and at-risk inventory hitting 47, falling below the 50 benchmark for the first time since January, the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) shared Friday.
Legislation in progress across several states aims to bring beverages infused with intoxicating hemp into regulatory frameworks akin to alcohol’s three-tier system.
Texas is close to enacting a total ban on THC and THCA hemp products, as a law outlawing manufacturing, sales and possession heads to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk for final approval.
The results of Molson Coors’ Q1 in fiscal year 2025 (FY25) were in stark contrast to the first quarter of 2024. Q1 net sales declined 11.3% year-over-year (-10.4% on a constant currency basis), the company reported Thursday morning. A year ago, Molson Coors reported 10.7% YoY (+10.1% in constant currency) net sales growth in Q1.
The U.S. beer industry generated $470.96 billion in economic output in 2024, holding 1.58% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), according to the biennial Beer Serves America study commissioned by the Beer Institute (BI) and the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA).
When her husband told her he wanted to start a brewery, Trillium co-founder Esther Tetreault had a pair of questions for him. “Do you want to be a brewer, which is cool, or do you want to start a business in craft beer?” she asked JC Tetreault.
The Brewers Association’s Craft Brewers Conference has taken over Indianapolis, and the Brewbound team gives a vibe check on the first day of the largest meeting of craft brewers in the U.S. Justin, Jess and Zoe recap early presentations from BA board chair Leah Cheston, president and CEO Bart Watson and Trillium founders JC and Esther Tetreault and the overarching theme of resilience in the face of adversity.
Last week, Marty Makary, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner, alongside Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., proclaimed the administration’s desire to phase out the use of eight synthetic food dyes by the end of 2026.
First time visiting Indianapolis? Same here. To craft my Craft Brewers Conference (CBC) extracurricular gameplan, I consulted some beer-loving locals and ex-pats for their favorite spots both beer-related and not in Indy/Circle City/Naptown (OK, I also consulted Wikipedia for the city’s nicknames).
