Welcome to Brewbound’s Inside Look at the Beer Business for the week that was … Saturday, April 5, 2025.

Well, I hope your 1,461 pack of MOOSEHEAD beer arrived in time. Welcome to … “The Tariff Era” – a far less beloved (and self-induced) economic period than the “0% Interest Era” of yore. The 2010s really were Camelot.

Although, if we also soon shift to a “10%+ Mortgage Rate Era” like the early 1980s –  maybe that’ll mean BUD and MILLER LITE will also have a resurgence to the dominance they enjoyed in that era! Look folks, that’s the best shot at optimism I could think of here.

It’s either that, or we all find a way to shift back to glass bottles that we all just spent decades moving away from.

WELL: At least the YTD volume trends ending March 15 that BWC is seeing mirror what we saw in the same period last year:

• Beer: -3.6% YoY (it was -3.7% in that period in 2024)
• Wine: -4.4% YoY (vs. -4.3% in 2024)
• Spirits: -2.2% YoY (vs. -1.2% in 2024)

Unfortunately, if you were to then consider the volume loss from the first 10 weeks of 2025 vs. the same period in 2023 … yeah, I’m ruining it, aren’t I?

Although Bump is the one saying that these numbers have “raised some red flags and serious ‘watchouts’ for us,” and listed this 👇 as one of 5 questions people in the industry should be asking themselves right now:

• Is there ANYTHING going on right now that gives you hope for the future?

You know, I love an ALL CAPS …  but Bump, at least put an “of your business” on the end there! 

ALSO: With the state of the craft business where it is – the rebranding business is getting a lot of action, so the folks at CODO DESIGN were kind enough to share this 2025 Beer Branding Trends Review to give some insights into what’s afoot.

WILDING BRANDS is adding to its Colorado-centered portfolio, with GREAT DIVIDE now being business #7. The brewery’s 6 taprooms are included in the deal as well.

Although, WILDING’s Denver Canworks facility will take over production of GREAT DIVIDE ... so the status of the GREAT DIVIDE production facilities with annual capacity of 60k BBL is uncertain.

No word on a deal price here for the brewery that was founded 31 years ago, and had 18.4k BBL of production in 2023, according to BA numbers. It peaked at 43.8k BBL in 2015.

So, is Colorado having an April M&A tax incentive program I’m not aware of? 🧐 Although given that GREAT DIVIDE was making DRY DOCK’s products, this LEFT HAND deal certainly makes sense.

All DRY DOCK products will now be made at LEFT HAND’s facility, and DRY DOCK will continue to operate its taproom in Aurora, CO.

NOTCH BREWING

Business Development Specialist – Notch, MA

WILDING BRANDS

Sales Rep – Colorado Mountain Communities

ALASKAN BREWING CO

Heading to CBC in Indy at the end of April? Come by booth #512 and see the BREWBOUND team!

If you don’t see Justin, Jess or Zoe there – you clearly overshot it and went to #513, and we can’t be responsible for what happens there.

-14.9%

OK, maybe “fun” isn’t the word here. That’s what the BI released for its YoY tax paid beer shipments estimate for February. 

That Feb. number is far worse than the -8.7% YoY reported this January. 

Well, at least February 2024 was +9.6%, so the 2-year comp isn’t as bad. See? That one actually was kinda good news! 

HAND FAMILY COMPANIES bought the businesses to add to a new subsidiary called SUNSET DISTRIBUTING, which will now distribute about 15M cases of craft beer and NA bevvies in the SoCal marketplace as a result. 

• Overall, HAND oversees about 50M cases across its businesses.

No price was disclosed, but this includes some pretty big CA brands such as RUSSIAN RIVER, STONE (obviously), CORONADO, PIZZA PORT, SOCIETE and JUNESHINE, plus NA brands like POPPI and PRIME.

HAND expects SUNSET to join the California Beverage Solution alliance of A-B wholesalers, which STONE DISTRIBUTING was a part of, and is also on the lookout to add more brands.

• Hood River, OR’s PFRIEM is opening its second location in Milwaukie, OR on Monday.
• Bend OR’s CRUX FERMENTATION closed its Portland taproom last weekend, and sold the land where its brewery sits for $4.4M. It’ll lease part of the building back for at least the next 5 years, and invest the sale money in NA beer production capabilities and other facility upgrades.
• WI’s MOBCRAFT appears to have new owners, and a new April 22 re-opening date, according to Urban Milwaukee. The sale price? $160k.
• WA’s REUBEN’S BREWS is opening a 3rd location, this time in downtown Seattle near the waterfront area.
• SIERRA NEVADA sales are +3% YTD through March 15, according to CIRCANA data cited by Beer Marketer’s Insights, with volume +2%. That makes SIERRA the only top 12 beer supplier to be up in both categories – and only ATHLETIC gained more share of the craft segment in that time period.

We’re goin’ to Maine this week! Although if it’s still snowing there I am turning right around … ah no, wait – Jess and Zoe have us covered, with 3 conversations from the MAINE CRAFT BREW SUMMIT:

• MAINE BREWERS’ GUILD executive director Sarah Bryan
• THIRSTY PIG owner Allison Stevens
• ORANGE BIKE BREWING co-founder and CEO Tom Ruff

PLUS: The BREWBOUND gang discuss the big SoCal craft distributor deal and the ANDERSON VALLEY sale.

LISTEN HERE! Or just search “Brewbound” on your podcast listening platform of choice. And leave a review and rating, would ya? (Good ones only, plz)

This week’s beer goes out to, sadly, HOOTERS. Yes, the “best known for our wings” restaurant chain is entering Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Remember, as the gif above reinforces (other than the importance of maintaining proper balance skills) – HOOTERS is a large U.S. chain that has always heavily emphasized the sale of draft beer. 

I mean, is there a large on-premise business that has long specifically emphasized the sale of large pitchers of beer more? (I always think 22 oz. glasses for B-DUBS). OK yes, fine, among emphasizing uh, other aspects of the hospitality experience.

Bankruptcy of course does not mean the business is going away, and rather will just be looking much different (and typically smaller) on the other side – so let’s hope the love for draft beer remains. 

The hula hoop budget may have to get sacrificed though. 

Slainté!

-Sean McNulty 

(you can always reach me here on LinkedIn)