Welcome to Brewbound’s Inside Look at the Beer Business for the week that was … Saturday, October 19, 2024.

Sorry, Travis Kelce, there’s a new football player in town … or at least there is for BUD LIGHT (then again, buying your own craft brewery certainly raises some issues there).

Thus, Tampa Bay QB Baker Mayfield is the brand new addition to the BL athlete spokesperson lineup, although, gotta say – this creative could use some work IMO (his PROGRESSIVE ads were far better).

Oh, and don’t worry Travis, I’m sure you’ll catch a break in life soon.

OH: 7-ELEVEN may not be merging with CIRCLE K, but 7-ELEVEN is closing down about 444 U.S. locations. Don’t worry, craft beer – I’m sure you’ll catch a break soon … although that one I’m not saying ironically. 

AND: Here is your GABF award winner list. Alas, Zoe and I are not on it – but still worth taking a look at Zoe’s breakdown if you haven’t done so already.

Gotta say, if it’s really the year of the craft lager … you wouldn’t know it from the number of submissions. 🧐 Hazy IPA still outshined everything by far [#OnBrand] and I’m gonna attribute the high number of Oktoberfest and Marzen lager entries simply to the time of year for this contest. 

“Osmoplasticity.”

A term that Jim Koch introduced as a new phrase to use to describe the beer biz at BBC’s annual GABF media brunch this month.

I’m told it was intended to “inspire” people in the industry, which I’m sure is totally what the effect will be.

Well, Tank 7 … it’s been real (don’t worry, they’re still making that beer), but the primary push for 2025 is all about the IPA. Namely, Space Camper and her tasty IPAs, a brand that has seen six straight years of growth for BOULEVARD.

• Space Camper Cosmic IPA sales are +10% so far this year, and are expected to finish 2024 at +30%.

THEN: This being 2024, also expect a non-alc Space Camper to hit shelves in the spring resets … and no 2024 craft brewery bingo card is complete without a light lager, so be on the lookout for BOULEVARD LIGHT in its core Midwestern market.

AND: BOULEVARD is also launching a hard tea varietal under its QUIRK brand. 

BINGO!

Or at least it is for sober celebrities – step aside Dax Shepard … Spider-Man’s in town! Yes, Tom Holland is launching his own non-alc beer brand called Bero (save the extra e for Captain America) backed by an investment firm, IMAGINARY VENTURES, and contract-brewed in CO (they’re also looking for East Coast capacity in case you have some room and ability).

The pasteurized beers 👏 with four SKUs (IPA, wheat, pils and a variety pack) plan to launch in TARGET stores in 2025, with a focus on high-end on-premise accounts and “etiquette sports,” aka golf and tennis, CEO John Herman said. Former A-B exec Jackie Widmann is the VP of marketing for BERO.

They’ll also be available via DTC shipping, and they’re looking to get into the on-prem this year where they can in NYC and LA – Tom knows his demo.

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

Head of Production – Seattle, WA

ALESMITH BREWING

Territory Sales Rep – Orange County, CA

CRAFT BEER MANUFACTURER

The folks who bought ACE CIDER out of bankruptcy have hired the brand’s founder, Jeffrey House, to lead and rebuild it. House also put in a bid during the bankruptcy process.

Gotta say, I’m a fan of the 2025 strategy laid out by Maggie Timoney, head of HEINEKEN’s U.S. business, at the annual sales meeting. Namely – retailers, we’re not giving you any more new products in 2025 that you A) very likely don’t want and B) don’t have room for anyway.

Instead, we are going to sharpen our execution on the fine products we already have in the marketplace that we fully believe in, which includes more HEINEKEN 0.0 sampling and execution on current plans that are seeing success.

As for HEINEKEN SILVER, CMO Jonnie Cahill added a reminder that building a brand is a “marathon, not a sprint,” and that it takes years to accomplish, not say … one or two rounds of shelf resets.

MICH ULTRA said 🍻 to that. Happy 22nd birthday, buddy.

The NBWA’s Lester Jones joins the pod this week to talk all about the importance of the on-premise to craft’s future growth ambitions.

PLUS: Justin and Zoe make Jess jealous by sharing their GABF beer drinking adventures … although, I think with Justin, “beer” may indeed have been singular on Day One  – that altitude adjustment is no joke, folks.

Get the first person account of the largely lauded changes made to the GABF this year and the strangest beers that made it into Zoe and Justin’s glasses … some of which I’m guessing they didn’t finish. 

Listen here!

• Louisiana craft OG ABITA is finally opening a NOLA taproom! Actually, it’s opening a full second brewery location, which will be located on Tchoupitoulas Street in early 2025. It is also now the official craft beer of the NEW ORLEANS SAINTS 🏈.
• ROGUE also rolled out a new Rip City IPA in conjunction with the PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS 🏀.
• San Diego’s ALESMITH has added a hard Traditional Dry Cider to its year-round portfolio. 
• HI-WIRE closed its Birmingham, AL taproom due to the effects from Hurricane Helene, as its Asheville brewing headquarters has lost “nearly all beer and packaging inventory,” and its Biltmore Village facility is still without power or water. The brewery has 8 other taproom locations across 4 states.

The discounted room block for BREWBOUND LIVE at the Marina del Rey Marriott Hotel on Dec 11 & 12 is now open! If you wake up to a beer outside your door in the morning, you’ll know that Jess was getting a head start on getting into the Christmas spirit … and if that beer can is empty, know that Zoe was also getting a head start on her Christmas spirit by playing a mischievous elf.

NEW SPEAKER, WHO DIS? Lindsay Kukle has been added to the pretty killer lineup of industry speakers at BREWBOUND LIVE this December. 

She joins:

• 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;
• 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; 

This week’s beer is going out to high art! Hey, I have a classy side too … as I keep telling Justin when I leave his basement with my weekly stash of refrigerated pilfered fermentation.

But not everyone can recognize it as I can, like say, a Dutch elevator mechanic … who mistakenly threw out what he thought were two empty beer cans lying on the floor of a gallery in Lisse, Netherlands.

Turns out, they were art! The two rumpled cans were thoughtfully painted by artist Alexandre Lavet in 1988 – although in the mechanic’s defense, they were placed in the exhibition “as if they had been left behind during construction,” so that one’s really on Alex in my book.

But hey – who knew I had so much “art” lying around my senior year house in college? The person who painted the Plank Road Brewery totally missed out on many deserved accolades in the ’90s.

Slainté!  

-Sean McNulty