During Boston Beer’s Q1 earnings call yesterday, multi-hyphenate CEO Jim Koch said he thinks the company is “over the hump” as a supplier and remains an “important” factor in the businesses of its wholesalers and retailers, accounting for 10% of gross profits for an average distributor in its network. 

Nevertheless, the company recorded mid-single-digit declines in shipments and depletions in Q1 as gains for Sun Cruiser, Angry Orchard and Dogfish Head could not offset losses for Samuel Adams, Twisted Tea and Truly. Brewbound editor Justin Kendall has all the details for Insiders.

In addition to that story, Brewbound.com and the Brewbound Insider Newsletter has more on these stories for Insiders:

• Molson Coors’ Q1 earnings, including softness for core brands;

• The roll out of Stateside’s Super Lyte, a hard sports-drink refresher;

• The NBWA’s Beer Purchasers’ Index’s return to growth after nearly 2 years;

• Dogfish Head’s Survivor-inspired limited release;

• And the resurrection of OG New Belgium Fat Tire Amber Ale.

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Boston Beer Company has “gotten over the hump as a supplier” and become an “important” part of its wholesalers’ and retailers’ businesses, founder, chairman and CEO Jim Koch told analysts during the company’s Q1 2026 earnings report Thursday evening. 

Koch assessed his company’s place in its wholesalers’ portfolios, sharing that Boston Beer accounts for around 10% of the gross profits of an average wholesaler in its network. 

“That’s meaningful when we’re in their top-five suppliers. We’re important to them, and that’s somewhat amplified by historically we’ve been a bigger part of their growth. And we have a great innovation track record,” Koch said.

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Boston Beer’s first quarter got off to a slow start, with year-over-year (YoY) declines in both shipments (-6.9%), depletions (-4%), and net revenue (-4.4%),  to $433.9 million. 

Boston Beer reported around 1.6 million barrels shipped in Q1, attributing declines to tough comps following Q1 2025 inventory builds for Sun Cruiser and Truly Unruly. 

Go deeper into the numbers

Super Lyte, a vodka-infused, sports-drink inspired refresher, from the makers of Surfside, has depleted 120,000 cases in its first 5 weeks in the market, with a forecast to hit 1.5 million cases this year.

“We fully believe that this will be the single biggest launch of any RTD in history,” Stateside CEO and co-founder Clem Pappas shared on stage at Beverage Forum on Wednesday in Manhattan Beach, California.

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Molson Coors recorded single-digit volume declines during Q1 2026, which also saw its net sales increase 2%, to $2.351 billion, the company reported Thursday morning. 

Shipments declined 2.9% YoY, while depletions declined 3.1%. Those declines were slightly offset by a 3% increase in price and sales mix.

The Americas business unit slightly outperformed global results. Shipments declined 2.7%, brand volume declined 3%, and price and sales mix contributed 3.1%. However, brand volumes were softer in the U.S. (-3.5%) “driven by lower share performance in [Molson Coors’] core and value segments. 

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Following 21 months of contraction, the NBWA Beer Purchasers’ Index (BPI) has finally returned to expansion driven by “an increase in expected distributor demand.”

The April 2026 reading of 59, along with an at-risk inventory index of 48, pushed the beer industry into “expansionary territory heading into the summer.”

Boosting those trends were YoY increased readings for every beer category segment for the 2nd consecutive month.

Dive deeper

After a week of good (dare we say sunny?) vibes in Philadelphia, the Brewbound team regrouped to put a bow on the 2026 Craft Brewers Conference (CBC). 

Jess, Zoe and Justin discussed the overall feel of this year’s event compared to the previous 2 CBCs in Indianapolis and Las Vegas, as well as the Brewers Association attempting to change the narrative around craft beer. They discuss president and CEO Bart Watson’s nudge to tell some of the more positive stories around craft beer, and his own attempts during the State of the Industry speech.

Plus, the trio explored RNDC’s fire sale this week, as the distributors struck deals with Martignetti for 11 control state markets and Columbia Distributing for certain wine and spirits brand rights in WA and OR, as well as an agreement in AK. 

Then, we bring you a trio of PA-centric interviews, with Carbon Copy co-founder Brendon Boudwin, Brewers of PA executive director Hannah Ison and Love City Brewing co-founder Kevin Walter. 

Listen here 

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