Domestic beer shipments are off to a rocky start, declining -8.7% compared to 2024, per the latest domestic tax paid estimates compiled by the Beer Institute. Insiders are 

digging into the early year data, including struggles in top beer states, import growth and much more.

Insiders are also:

• Getting to know the founders of Austin Cocktails;
• Reading about Jiant’s hard tea ambitions;
• Finding out details of the planned closure of Molson Coors’ Blue Moon Denver brewpub;
• Seeing which 3 segments are growing so far this year;
• And peeping a mysterious new hard punch from Constellation Brands.

Plus, checking out today’s news From the Wire, and getting a sneak peak at Dogfish Head Sam Calgione’s keynote address from today’s New England Craft Brew Summit in Portland, Maine.

Insiders also have access to the Brewbound Newsletter Archive, including previous newsletter-exclusive Insider content.

Become a Brewbound Insider today!

Or, be in the know on all food and beverage news from Brewbound, BevNET and NOSH with Insider All Access.

Domestic beer shipments are off to a rough start in 2025. 

U.S. beer shipments declined -8.7% year-over-year (YoY) in January 2025, as brewers shipped 10.55 million barrels, according to estimates of domestic tax paid shipments from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), shared by the Beer Institute (BI). The decline amounted to more than 1 million fewer barrels being shipped YoY. 

The numbers are a stark reversal from January 2024 when shipments increased +2.9% (more than 11.55 million barrels) and February 2024 when shipments grew +9.6% (more than 12.1 million barrels), before a big drop off in March (-15.8%, to 12.4 million barrels).

Become an Insider to go deeper into the numbers, including state shipment declines and import growth.

Gain cutting-edge insights from industry leaders, explore new technologies, and hone your skills at the Craft Brewers Conference, April 28-May 1 in Indianapolis Learn more

The hard tea segment operates similarly to soda, with one or two leading national players, and a handful of regional winners. 

With that analogy, and Boston Beer Company’s Twisted Tea equating to a Coke or Pepsi, California-based hard tea maker Jiant believes it can be hard tea’s Olipop – a flavor-forward, ingredient-focused functional brand that connects with new and lapsed consumers.  

Co-founder and co-CEO Larry Haertel Jr. told Brewbound: “Sure, we want to capture some share from the big yellow tea company, but we also want to bring new consumers to hard tea who might not be drinking hard tea right now, or might no longer be drinking hard tea because they've aged out of the product or category for whatever reason.”

Insiders can read more, including why Jiant wanted a lower ABV hard tea offering, what’s on deck for 2025 and an update on its LA fire relief efforts. 

Molson Coors will close the Blue Moon brewpub in Denver’s River North Arts District at the end of the month, Brewbound has confirmed. The Denver Post first reported news of the closure. 

The closure coincides with the expiration of Molson Coors’ lease on the 26,000 sq. ft. space after nearly 9 years. 

Become an Insider to read more about Blue Moon’s 2025 so far and future plans.

Sisterhood is powerful, especially for Kelly Gasnik and Jill Burns, founders of Austin

Cocktails. The sisters started the spirits-based RTD cocktail brand in 2012, helping to spearhead the current wave of canned cocktails. 

Constellation Brands first invested in the brand in 2018 as part of its Ventures program’s Focus on Female Founders initiative, and followed with a full acquisition in 2022. We chatted with the founders about how they would’ve spent their time and energy differently as a startup, what lessons they learned in the acquisition process, and why building a company is not a straight line.

Insiders can read more from Jill and Kelly about their acquisition experience and lessons learned as entrepreneurs.

The Brewbound team is hitting the road and heading to the Craft Brewers Conference on April 28 – May 1 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The Brewbound trio will be on the ground, covering all the latest news and presentations coming out of the conference, as well as hosting live podcast interviews at the Brewbound booth (#512).

Make sure to stop by our booth #512, where Brewbound will be chatting with brewery founders and owners, beverage entrepreneurs and c-suite leadership across the industry. Whether you’re a business vet or just starting out, we’d love to meet you and hear what’s new.

How to Connect with Us:

• Stop by our booth (#512): We’re excited to set up our Brewbound Podcast studio at BrewExpo America and engage with brewery leaders and industry suppliers. Swing by to meet our team, watch a podcast interview recording, participate in social content, and walk away with a T-shirt.
• Submit your news: Have news or updates from your brewery? Our team is covering the event and would love to hear from you. Submit your news here.
• Contact us to set up a time to chat: Want to schedule time to connect or be part of our coverage? Reach out to us at news@brewbound.com.

World Brewing Alliance CEO Justin Kissinger dishes on the global beer market, non-alcoholic beer trends, the rise of West African ancient grain fonio and emerging markets in the latest episode of the Brewbound Podcast. 

In addition, Kissinger dives into the dietary guidelines that are under review and may be revised. He also shares his favorite places in the world to drink beer.

Listen here or on your preferred podcast platform.