Welcome to Brewbound’s Inside Look at the Beer Business for the week that was … Saturday, September 27, 2025.

It’s time for one of golf’s greatest traditions, as the sport of the people (who have a lot of money) tees off all weekend with the biennial Ryder Cup.

The PGA is actually making all food & drink free of charge this weekend (don’t tell Justin – I told him hot dogs were on me for his birthday). Although the … $750 tickets for the weekend sadly do not cover booze.

So, I’m afraid you’ll still need to shell out $15 for beers – assuming you still have a few bucks left after you get off your $1,575 helicopter ride from NYC out to the middle of Long Island (is it frowned upon to BYOB on one’s private helicopter ride?). 

Then again, if you’re booking one of those … perhaps you’re going with a $29 mimosa instead. 

THEN: C-store craft beer sales are +1.5% in the L4W ending September 7 in CIRCANA data, vs. a -1.9% number for total beer in the sector. Although craft c-store volume was still in the red at -0.9%.

AND: If you’re up for a hang with the BREWBOUND gang for the pod in Vegas at NBWA Oct. 13 & 14, email ‘em a note at podcast@brewbound.com. Note that Jess and Zoe will be coming from GABF, so Justin will likely be asking most of the questions.

PLUS: Here’s just some calming Oktoberfest b-roll, in case you want to feel like you’re in Germany right now.

HIGHLAND BREWING owner, president and CEO Leah Wong Ashburn will give the keynote address at the BREWBOUND LIVE SoCal confab in December.

Tickets and info here!

Meet the DRIVEN COLLECTIVE, a new de rigueur brewery platform combining two breweries that already have a history, as T&C has brewed its beer at ASLIN since the early part of 2025 (T&C shut down its brewing facility in the Bronx last year).

TORCH co-founder John Dantzler will become CFO for DRIVEN, with ASLIN’s Andrew Kelley as CEO. TORCH’s co-founder Joe Correia will be leaving the company.

The platform will have 7 taproom locations (5 ASLIN and 2 T&C) with ASLIN’s Alexandria, VA brewery as the main production facility for both. To note, T&C will still do some small batch brewing at its SoHo taproom.

ASLIN made over 25k BBL in 2024, according to BA numbers, with TORCH & CROWN at just over 2k BBL in a BA estimate, although the brewery says the number was 5k BBL. 

Man, the beer biz moves fast in 2025.

Feels like I just mentioned the closure of 3 IRON HILL locations 🤔 … ah, turns out I did – it happened on Sept. 10.

This week, the Mid-Atlantic brewpub chain abruptly announced that it was closing its doors at the other 16 locations across 5 states, shutting down all own-premise operations with little to no warning given to employees.

A bankruptcy filing is expected, with the business hoping to “secure new sources of funding,” but no further details were offered.

IRON HILL was founded in 1996, and was the 4th-largest pub brewery in the country by volume in 2024 at 13,750 BBL (flat YoY), according to BA numbers.

MELVIN BREWING

Head Brewer – Alpine, WY

FORT GEORGE BREWERY

FOH Manager – Astoria, OR

KONA BREWING HAWAII

MOLSON COORS named chief strategy officer Rahul Goyal as its next president and CEO as of October 1, and he will also join the MC board. The 2025 MC sales trends YTD:

• Sales: -5.6% YoY
• Volume: -6.9% YoY
• Dollar share: -0.51% YoY

This new $3.2B deal for the FIFCO Central America & Mexico businesses (including the Costa Rican IMPERIAL brand) is expected to close in H1 2026 pending shareholder and federal approvals.

As for the FIFCO U.S. biz, sorry bud ☹️. It’s not included here and FIFCO is “exploring strategic alternatives” for the business which houses LABATT USA, GENESSEE, SEAGRAM’S Escapes and more.

Nothing else to report at this time on what’s ahead for that division or potential buyers … other than to note that HEINEKEN N.V.’s CEO said on an analysts call that the company has “no interest in getting exposure to the mainstream segment in the U.S.” after he finished quietly laughing about the idea. OK fine, that last part is just how I imagined what occurred on the other side of the call.

• NEW BELGIUM BREWING is investing $20M into the BELL’S business for both taproom improvements ($2M) and facilities upgrades ($18M). 
• BARREL ONE listed SMUTTYNOSE’s brewing equipment up for auction this week, with the period to submit bids opening on October 8. The brewhouse has 75k BBL a year of capacity – perfect for any homebrewer with big dreams.
• MOBCRAFT re-opened in Milwaukee last week under the leadership of former MOBCRAFT HR and finance director Sarah Halstead and her husband Michael, who purchased it for $160k in April. 
• As I’m sure you saw this week – MICHELOB ULTRA surpassed BUD LIGHT to claim the #1 Beer In America title … by volume, which I’m sure was not emphasized and likely not explained properly in 95% of the stories written about this item this week. The MODELO brand family is still tops in sales.
• TITO’S acquired a majority stake in the LALO Tequila brand, launched by Don Julio’s grandson and a friend. No financials were reported. Like TITO’S, it kinda just does one thing – blanco tequila only. 

We’re less than 3 months out from BREWBOUND LIVE – time to get those tickets for December! Plus, if you press the “-1” floor button in the elevator, we’re not responsible for what happens. Just know the password to get in is “Bichsel Rules.”

The team is also bringing back the one-on-one meetings with retailers once again (including WHOLE FOODS, BREAKTHRU, SUNSET and HEIMARK so far) and assembling a great round of speakers already, with a lot more to come!

• Sophia D’Angelo, founder and CEO, Boston Experiential Group;
• Kaleigh Theriault, director of bev-alc thought leadership, NIQ;
• Andrew Hummel, director bev-alc vertical, CGA;
• Rosalie Kennedy, director of marketing, Athletic Brewing;
• Sam Hendler, co-founder and CEO, Hendler Family Brewing Company;
• Bourcard Nesin, analyst – beverages, Rabobank;
• Jon Halper, owner and CEO, Top Ten Liquors;
• Nick Firestone, CEO, Firestone Walker.

SO: Book your hotel room and tickets here.

Apply now to make your best business pitch for BREWBOUND Pitch Slam at this year’s BREWBOUND Live event in December! (gifs optional in your deck)

You’ll not only join a pretty great lineup of former winners in FUNKYTOWN, CROWNS AND HOPS, LUNAR HARD SELTZER, SUNBOY and more, but you also get an industry awareness advertising package on Brewbound.com valued at $10,000.

Most importantly, you’ll be mentioned in this newsletter.

APPLY HERE!

This week, ALESMITH president Brandon Richards joins the pod to talk about espresso martinis. Gotta say, I did not see that one coming – ah, I see it’s a new spirits line under the Speedway brand. That tracks.

Brandon also dives into a growing contract brewing business that he expects will double this year, and what new product levers are working best for ALESMITH.

BUT FIRST: The BREWBOUND trio discuss MC’s new CEO, Charlie Sheen’s beer adventures, the ISLAND BRANDS lawsuit … as well as:

• Jess ditching her family to go drink beer;
• Justin’s daughter encouraging her father to drink more;
• And news I know we’ve been waiting for all week from our new Summer I Turned Pretty correspondent, Zoe.

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 is going out to chimps! Once again, they are showing us how to live the good life.

A new study on the favorite foods of chimpanzees indicates that perhaps it’s the trace amounts of alcohol present in the fruit they eat that may cause the attraction to eating them, vs. uh ... a heightened fear of developing scurvy (🤷‍♂️).

I mean, when you eat 10 pounds of fruit every day … the ethanol adds up!

Plus, given the body weight of chimps – the alcohol seemingly hits them more like Justin in 2025 than Justin in 2005, and provides an experience similar to the effect of having a beer or 2 a day for a human (um, not tallboys -- nice try, craft).

So, take comfort in knowing that the tradition of including alcohol as part of our diet likely predates the existence of our species, although as always – don’t be that chimp at the end of the bar who pushes things by eating 20 pounds of fruit in a day.

Slainté!

-Sean McNulty 

(you can always reach me here on LinkedIn)