• 🍀 St. Patrick’s Day Off-Premise Dollars -3.9% YoY
• 💰 Oregon Proposes 8% Sales Tax for Beer & Wine
• 🏟️ Allagash Joins the Mets and Tilray’s Stock Issues
• 🌎 The No. 1 Centennial Hop Buyer
• 🍊 Sierra Nevada Revamps Big Little Thing IPA

2025’s drinking occasions just can’t hold a candle to 2024, it seems.

In the lead up to St. Patrick’s Day (week ending March 16), off-premise bev-alc sales recorded a -3.9% decline YoYyear-over-year (YoY), market research firm Circana reported in its newest batch of weekly data. Holiday shopping delivered a +5% increase week-over-week (WoW).

Circana EVP of bev-alc Scott Scanlon wrote: “We continue to see negativity vs. prior year comps, but as expected, overperformance vs. prior week with help from St. Patrick.”

Dollar sales declined YoY across all mega categories. Spirits were nearly flat at -0.6% YoY, followed by beer (-4.4%) and wine (-5.2%). The ready-to-drink segment – which includes products that fall under beer, wine and spirits – posted modest growth at +0.3% YoY.

With St. Patrick’s Day not delivering a needed YoY boost, hope may be scarce, as the next gathering occasion, Easter (April 20), is still nearly a month away. 

Scanlon wrote: “Upcoming, we are likely to see retracement after this week. The following four weeks have historically held within a fairly consistent trend. Hopefully, consumer sentiment can pivot and broaden alcohol growth beyond a small group of brands from week to week.”

All eyes were on Diageo-owned Guinness, which unofficially owns St. Patrick’s Day. Dollar sales of the Irish stout nearly tripled WoW – $12 million in the weekend ending March 16, compared to $4.8 million in the week ending March 9.

It was a “surge enough to shoot [the] brand to [the] 12th position for the week, behind Heineken,” Scanlon wrote. But Guinness couldn’t top its St. Patrick’s Day 2024 sales, and declined -13.7% in dollars and -16% in volume YoY. 

Insiders can read more about beer and RTD brand-level performance.

Winner of Bevnet RTD Showdown. Best-in-class RTD at the SF International Spirits Competition. Beloved by customers of Whole Foods, Costco, and Trader Joe's. Because of this one ingredient. Learn more

Oregon bev-alc consumers may have to open their wallets and pay sales tax for the first time, should proposed amendments to House Bill 3197 pass. 

Amendments proposed by Rep. Tawna Sanchez were made public Tuesday, and would add an up to 8% retail sales tax on purchases of “malt beverages, cider and wine” in the state, starting with a sales tax rate of 2% of the retail sales price for purchases made on or after July 1, 2026, and increasing to 4% on January 1, 2028; 6% on January 1, 2030; and 8% on January 1, 2032. 

Brewbound previously reported on a draft of proposed amendments, which was introduced March 3. The official amendments were not made public until yesterday (March 26). 

Breweries that produce fewer than 150,000 barrels of malt beverages annually “at the brewery or elsewhere, through any entity owned or affiliated with the brewery,” or produces 15,000 barrels on-site annually, would be exempt from the tax. 

If passed, the change would mark Oregon’s first sales tax on grocery stores and restaurants, as the state does not have a general sales tax. A public hearing for the bill will be held by the Joint Committee on Addiction and Community Safety April 2 at 5 p.m. PST. 

According to H.B. 3197, the money from the sales tax would be primarily used to help curb underage alcohol and drug use: 85% transferred to the Youth Development Division Fund, designated specifically for “alcohol and drug abuse prevention programs developed for youths under the age of 21” and 15% given to state counties.

Insiders can dive deeper into the proposal, as well as comments from groups for and against the amendments and a recap of other recent tax-related moves in the state.

⚾️ Allagash is about to meet the Mets. With the 2025 MLB season just around the corner, the Portland, Maine-headquartered brewery announced it will open the Allagash Alley Bar at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets. The bar is located on the Excelsior Level in section 311.

In addition to the Allagash Alley Bar, Allagash White will be available at concession stands throughout the park. 

Allagash is also an official partner of the United Soccer League’s Portland Hearts of Pine professional soccer club, which will kick off its inaugural season on March 29 and host its first home game in Portland on May 4.

📉 Tilray Brands’ stock (TLRY) is at risk of being delisted on the Nasdaq due to falling out to compliance as its stock price has failed to a maintain a minimum bid price of $1 per share, the company shared in an SEC Form 8-K filing Tuesday. Nasdaq issues the warning when a stock fails to meet the minimum bid price requirement for a period of 30 consecutive business days.

February 7 appears to be the last day that TLRY closed the trading day at a $1 price. The stock opened trading Wednesday at $0.67. Its 52-week high is $2.97 and low is $0.58.

In the filing, Tilray said the notice does not impact its listing on the Nasdaq Global Select market at this time. The company has 180 calendar days to become compliant, meaning 10 consecutive days of a closing price for its common stock of $1 before September 21.

Should Tilray fail to gain compliance, the company could transfer from the Nasdaq Global Select Market to the Nasdaq Capital Market

– The amount of the world’s Centennial hop supply purchased by Bell’s Brewery annually, making the brewery the largest purchaser of the hop variety.

Justin and Zoe took a tour of Bell’s production facility in Comstock, Michigan, on Monday during a break from Oberon Day festivities. 

Sierra Nevada’s Big Little Thing double IPA has been reincarnated as a hazy imperial IPA. The reformulated year-round IPA features a new hop bill – with Citra, Mosaic and El Dorado hops – a higher ABV (9.5%, up from 9%) and refreshed orange packaging.

Revamped Big Little Thing is hitting retail shelves now in 12 oz. cans 6-packs ($12.99), 12-packs ($21.99) and 19.2 oz. singles ($3.19).

Big Little Thing’s changes come as sales (-5.1%) and volume (-6%) have declined YTD through February 23 in off-premise retailers tracked by market research firm Circana. Nevertheless, Big Little Thing is the 27th best-selling craft beer brand across multi-outlet and convenience stores. 

The brand’s trends were a slight improvement compared to 2024 when it declined -9.8%, to more than $12.279 million, per Circana data. 

The struggles of Big Little Thing lag Sierra Nevada’s overall trends, with the Chico, California-headquartered craft brewery’s dollar sales (+4%) and volume (+3%) in the black YTD through the end of February.

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.

Allagash Brewing will celebrate its 30th anniversary this summer, and founder Rob Tod knows where he’ll be and what he’ll be drinking on the brewery’s birthday, July 1 – an Allagash White at the Great Lost Bear, the taphouse that served the first pint of White in Portland, Maine.

Tod tells Brewbound managing editor Jess Infante on the latest episode of the Brewbound Podcast: “I remember it like it was yesterday. That was our very first draftline I shipped eight kegs of Allagash White to Nappi Distributors on June 29, and July 1 I worked at the brewery all day and my plan was to head down to the Bear where I knew it was going on tap at 5 o’clock, and just hang out for a few hours and having a bunch of beers.

“I thought, my work’s going to be done. I’ve spent a year building the brewery. I’ve written this recipe, I’ve brewed the beer. I’m kind of all done.” 

Tod had a pint with the Bear’s owners and was happy with it. He had a second pint and a realization hit him: “I’ve got to get back to work.”

He continued: “I got in my car and I drove right back to the brewery and kept working on whatever I was working on at the time just continuing to build and piece the brewery together. I’ve always felt like the work isn’t done.”

Listen here or on your preferred podcast platform.