Welcome to Brewbound’s Inside Look at the Beer Business for the week that was … Saturday, October 26, 2024.

Apparently the U.K. beer scene saw MILLER LITE’s revival of Less Filling, Tastes Great and said, ‘Hey let’s do that for craft beer!’

Yes, the great BA independent seal debate of 2018 (which seems like it might as well have happened in 1998) has reared its head across the pond in 2024 (wait, I thought they were supposed to be 5+ hours ahead of us?).

The U.K.’s best BA equivalent, SIBA (Society of Independent Brewers & Associates) is looking to brand beer from its members not as craft beer, but rather “indie” beer, to further differentiate it from craft labels owned by “big beer” (BEAVERTOWN, CAMDEN etc).

While I certainly appreciate the effort, can we just fast forward to learning that the drinkers who already know which brands are owned by “big beer” don’t need a label, and the ones who don’t know … DGAF about an “indie” beer label, much less learning what “indie” means exactly?

Man, why doesn’t wine seem to have these problems?

1. BROOKLYN BREWERY is launching its “Calling All Makers” program, giving out $10k each to recipients across five categories (and a trip to NYC, and to answer your question – yes, beers always cost this much):

• Food and drink innovation, judged by Brooklyn brewmaster Garrett Oliver;
• Entrepreneurship, judged by Brooklyn co-founder Steve Hindy;
• Arts, judged by illustrator Lauren Martin;
• Music, judged by Saidah Blount, executive director of long-running music festival BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!;
• And activism, judged by Stacy Lentz, co-owner of the Stonewall Inn and co-founder of the Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative
• Enter here by Dec. 31!

It may only be the end of October, but I feel confident in giving the 2024 Craft Beer WTF 🤬 Award to this development – Justin, is it too late to add one more category to the BREWBOUND Awards in December?

Now, bear with me here – but I’m literally writing this all out so I understand this … as much is humanly possible. I will note that it took all 3 BREWBOUND reporters to write the full story on the site this week.

To recap: 

• 2022: MODERN TIMES closes 5 locations, scaling down to 3, enters bankruptcy.
• Oct. 2022: MAUI BREWING closes deal to buy MODERN TIMES for $15M in the auction process that was a 2022 Craft Beer WTF 🤬Award nominee #BreweryX.
• CRAFT ‘OHANA is formed, putting MAUI and MODERN TIMES under the same business, run by MAUI honcho Garrett Marrero.

Then:

• Sept. 2024: ‘OHANA shuts down the MODERN TIMES Port Loma brewing and coffee facility, moves production to contract at ALESMITH.
• AND: MT’s brewing and coffee equipment is set to be sold at auction on Nov. 7.

Which brings us to this week at the end of Oct. 2024:

• ‘OHANA will “not be involved” in the daily operations of MODERN TIMES anymore, so it can “focus and double down” on the MAUI biz.
• Josh Landan’s brand house WINGS & ARROWS will oversee the MODERN TIMES beer biz going forward.
• ‘OHANA will “retain an interest” in MODERN TIMES – I’m assuming this means financial and not like, just following it on INSTA.

NOW: Wait 🙋‍♂️, wasn’t WINGS & ARROWS part of its own partnership with NINKASI called GREAT FRONTIER HOLDINGS, with Josh as the CEO? Clearly that’s involved, right?

Nope. Turns out – Josh is no longer the CEO as of 6 months ago or so, and NINKASI co-founder Nikos Ridge is running that show.

• But GREAT FRONTIER still has a licensing and distribution agreement for Josh’s ASHLAND HARD SELTZER and will do so in the Pacific Northwest later this year, and WINGS & ARROWS still has an investment in GREAT FRONTIER. I’m just gonna leave that there.

THEN SEPARATELY: CRAFT ‘OHANA also sold MODERN TIMES coffee and hospitality business to a local San Diego businessman, Duncan Ward.

• Ward will take on the existing MT San Diego taprooms.
• He also announced that a new MT coffee and beer taproom location will open in West Hollywood next year.

THE PARTING GIST:

• MAUI BREWING / CRAFT ‘OHANA now seems to have very little to do with MODERN TIMES, which it bought just 2 years ago in arguably the most contentious brewery auction of all time … which followed one of craft beer’s bumpiest bankruptcies.
• WINGS & ARROWS is overseeing the MODERN TIMES BEER biz in some sort of partnership with ‘OHANA – doing the distro/sales and managing beer production … which is done at ALESMITH.
• W&A does not seemingly have anything to do with the MODERN TIMES taproom business however (or coffee), which is now owned by another dude … who has said very little about the taprooms, other than he’s opening at least one in L.A.

Honestly, my biggest concern here after writing all of this is that somehow I may have bought one of the properties involved here and missed that part entirely.

Craft beer, I hate to tell ya – but you’ve become just like your #CorporateBeer dad, no matter how much you prided yourself on railing against doing so 10 years ago.

This is a really #goodread looking at the 2024 economics of the contract biz … which ain’t what they used to be, as DORCHESTER is stopping its longtime contract brewing business that it started when it opened in 2016, and will solely focus on its own beer.

It also hit pause on the merger with AERONAUT Brewing that was announced back in December. They’ll revisit the idea sometime in 2025.

The nomination submission process for the 2024 BREWBOUND awards is open until November 1! Submit your choices here on the following categories

• Craft Brewery of the Year
• Large Brewery of the Year
• Beyond Beer Company of the Year
• Person of the Year
• Rising Stars
• Best New Products

REUBEN’S BREWS

Sales Director – Seattle, WA

FIDDLEHEAD BREWING

Cellar/Brewer – Shelburne, VT

SEATTLE CIDER CO.

Yeah, it’s still TWISTED or bust, essentially, and craft beer took another hit.

The company wrote off $41.2M from the value of DOGFISH HEAD (2019 purchase price: $300M, with previous impairments totaling $43.5M).

There was an additional $1.4M write-down on ANGEL CITY and CONEY ISLAND – the value of both brands is now … zero. Brands can’t have negative value right? Asking for a friend. Actually, quite a few.

Overall Q3 BOSTON BEER numbers:

• Shipments (sales to wholesalers): -1.9% YoY
• Depletions (sales to retailers): -3% YoY

TRULY woes just keep going, and it’s not really due to overall hard seltzer woes as its declines accelerated in Q3:

• May year-to-date: -22%
• June-September: -23% 
• Overall hard seltzer segment in Q3: -11%
• WHITE CLAW: +2.5%

But TWISTED TEA continues to be the heart of BOSTON BEER in Q3:

• Volume: +18% YoY
• Sales: +20% YoY

And total BOSTON BEER Q3 revenue was +0.6% to $605.5M.

According to CIRCANA data in the L4W period ending October 6, here is the craft beer snapshot:

• Sales: -3.6% YoY
• Volume: -5.4% YoY

BUT: That is up from the very troublesome August L4W period:

• Sales: -5% YoY
• Volume: -6.6% YoY

HOWEVER: Compared to total beer in the L4W ending October 6 👇, yeah it’s a rollercoaster ride out there for craft beer folks:

• Sales: +0.8% YoY
• Volume: -1.5% YoY

FINALLY: 21 of the top 30 craft brands saw sales declines in that L4W period, and actually 5 of those were NEW BELGIUM brands that saw double-digit declines. Zoe has your details here.

CHULA VISTA Brewery co-founder Tim Parker joins the pod this week for a really great, practical conversation about how meditation, mindfulness and taking care of your mental health can help your business in addition to your overall health. Also – what it’s like to build and run a business with your spouse. Loved this convo! 

PLUS: The BREWBOUND crew dive into:

• Why the U.K. is trying to revive a failed effort from the U.S. about 6 years ago
• The list of new products at BOULEVARD (that I’m pretty sure Jess is almost finished reading off just now)
• DORCHESTER Brewing’s #realtalk on the contract brewing business

Listen here!

• BELL’S is opening a new branded restaurant inside the Grand Rapids Airport, where I have also had a beer or two in my day. Ah, #KBS day was a fun mid-2010s tradition.
• C-store operators lowered their 2024 beer sales guidance from +4% for the year back in the Q2 GOLDMAN SACHS survey … to +2% in the Q3 survey. Although craft is expected to overperform at +4% for 2024.
• NEW GLARUS is doing a $55M expansion project to not only add some brewing and distilling capacity plus a new retail footprint, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, but also improve the site’s quite limited parking availability.
• WHITE CLAW had a 65% share of “malt seltzers” in the past 4 weeks, according to Beer Marketers’ Insights. That’s with having 6% of all SKUs in the category.
• NA brewer BEST DAY secured a new round of funding in a Series B round to the tune of $12.5M. The company has amassed $22.5M of funding to date, and its beer is now in 35 states, and on track to move 35k BBL in 2024.
• OSKAR BLUES is rolling out new Dale’s beers in 2025: an Easy IPA (4.9% ABV) and a Designated Dales NA Pils. 
• WA’s GEORGETOWN Brewing bought TIMBER CITY GINGER, which makes both NA and hard ginger beer. No price was disclosed. 

Book your room for BREWBOUND LIVE at the Marina del Rey Marriott Hotel on Dec 11 & 12 is now open! If you open the door to leave your hotel room in the morning and see all of the room service carts stacked in front of you – just know that Zoe did that out of love.

Quite a lineup here folks – all in one place! One year, Justin will let me attend this thing instead of having to “hold down the fort” at the office, even though I’m over 200 miles away from said office.

• Rebecca Maisel, GULF DISTRIBUTING SVP legal and government affairs;
• Lauren Doll-Sheeder, DOLL DISTRIBUTING managing partner;
• Jennifer Grant, MARKSTEIN Sales general manager and VP;
• Zech Francis, BEATBOX Beverages SVP of global marketing;
• Lindsay Kunkle, FORESIGHT FACTORY director, head of U.S. Consultancy;
• Rebecca Dye Yonushonis, NEW BELGIUM BREWING CMO;
• Mary Mills, consultant for 3 Tier Beverages;
• Arthur Moye, owner and CEO of FULL CIRCLE Brewing;
• Kaleigh Theriault, director of thought leadership, beverage alcohol vertical at NIQ;
• Brian “BK” Krueger, VP of business development and portfolio strategies at Bump Williams Consulting;
• Natalie Cilurzo, RUSSIAN RIVER co-owner;
• Peter Skrbek, CEO Deschutes Brewery;
• Lester Jones, NBWA chief economist and VP of analytics; 
• Jennifer Hauke, DRAFTLINE TECHNOLOGIES founder and president; 

PLUS - New RETAILER ONE-TO-ONES!

This week’s beer is going out to SIERRA NEVADA! No, not for yet again releasing Celebration Ale before November arrives (yes, I know why … but still).

The company is donating $1 per BBL of Celebration Ale brewed this year to the NC CRAFT BREWERS FOUNDATION, to support Western NC’s craft brewing community.

It’s also donating $50K to the MANNA FoodBank and Food Connection to help those in need – well done SIERRA.

Now, any chance we can get a special run of Celebration Ale in bottles again 🙏? I’d totally pay extra to bring that one back (the proceeds of which could also be donated!). Just a thought. 🎅

Slainté!  

-Sean McNulty