Welcome to Brewbound’s Inside Look at the Beer Business for the week that was … Saturday, January 25, 2024.

So, just me … or did #DryJanuary journalism about people taking a break or lessening alcohol consumption at the start of a new year turn into straight up anti-alcohol propaganda this year, real quick?

Add the Wall Street Journal to the list of major news outlets publishing pieces this month about the dangers of alcohol … and when their headline is tied to a stat about alcohol purchasing from a BERNSTEIN study from uh, 2023, and anecdotal quotes from just 2 drinkers – well I wouldn’t categorize this under a “new news” tab in January 2025. 

I’m not one to defend many current practices in the beer industry (especially ones like the news below the gif), and that 2023 BERNSTEIN study saying 20% of adults make about 90% of all alcohol purchases is an important stat, especially given bev-alc packaging trends … but it’s certainly a journalism trend that deserves a closer eye as we leave #DryJanuary next week and into 2025.

AH, YES: RHINEGEIST announced its top 2025 innovations are higher ABV versions of existing products, including 9.5% ABV Truth Bomb IPA and 9% ABV Imperial Bubbles, both of course available in 19.2 oz. singles packaging (Truth Bomb will also be in 12 oz. can sixers). 

• RHINEGEIST was up to 121k BBL in 2024 BTW, +7.3% YoY.

SO: Let me understand this trajectory in the beer industry – and clearly RHINEGEIST is just one of several in this trend, but:

• This is a business where, if that BERNSTEIN data is correct, most sales are clustered among a smaller group of people, to whom the industry repeatedly tries to sell more products with higher alcohol amounts in them, which – say what you will about alcohol health studies … but I gotta think there is no study in the world that says alcohol consumption in 9.5% ABV, 19.2 oz. packaging is good for your long-term health, thus likely creating fewer bev-alc drinkers in the future.

Just wanna make sure I have the plan straight. 

AND: Look at that, non-alc beer led the way in BREWBOUND’s new “2025 Trends To Watch” report, surveying industry data analysts, retailers and distributors.

PLUS: The TTB proposed new labeling rules for wine, beer and spirits products, requiring them to list:

• Alcohol content
• Calories
• Carbohydrates
• Fat
• Protein per serving

Well, that last one should do wonders for the milkshake IPA business. It also said MILLER LITE finally needs to state whether it Tastes Great, or is Less Filling. This decades-long debate madness has gone on way too long.

There is now a 90-day comment period open for you to add your own jokes.

FINALLY: A-B confirmed that Shane Gillis will indeed be in the BUD LIGHT Super Bowl ad (along with Posty, once again).

• David Beckham will once again be shilling STELLA
• Willem Dafoe and Catherine O’Hara are playing pickleball for MICH ULTRA
• And as I mentioned last week, BUD is going with a small horse.
• BUSCH LIGHT … I’m guessing will get the regional ad time since there was no ad preview offered.

This after a 40+ year relationship dating back to 1982, and the plan is for the American Homebrewers Association (led by Julia Herz) to become independent by the end of the  year, with the BA providing “one-time” seed funding to the AHA.

Jess has further details on what’s ahead here.

As always, I’m clearly breaking news in this column. But here’s how craft beer sales looked in 2024 by style in the off-prem according to CIRCANA data, with 3 categories up in sales (in bold) and … 7 down:

1. IPA: $2.78B (+1.8% in sales, and now at a 49.4% share)
2. Craft Seasonal: $394M (-9.2%)
3. Belgian Wit: $333M (-5.9%)
4. Craft Variety: $302M (-13.6%)
5. Golden Ale: $232M (+1.2%)
6. Craft Pale Ale: $220M (-7.6%)
7. Other Pale Lagers: $137M (+1%)
8. Craft Fruit/Veggie/Spiced: $114M (-2.1%)
9. Craft Bock: $96M (-8.6%)
10. Craft Amber Lager: $71M (-11.5)

Craft lager did show some signs of “becoming a thing” in 2024, although granted at much smaller numbers:

• Craft Pilsner: $57M (+4.5% and coming in at #12)
• Craft Light Beer: $33M (+16.6% and coming in at #16)

Justin has the rest of your details by category here.

Sales were +18% in 2024 according to FIDDLEHEAD’s year-end report, and that’s from its existing 10-state footprint (no new territories were introduced in 2024).

Look out Kelces, THREE FLOYDS is comin’ for ya! Meet their entry into the lager scene – a 4.5% lager made with Indiana corn grits, for all of you corn grits purists out there.

Distro is in IN, IL, WI and MN to start.

MAPLEWOOD BREWERY & DISTILLERY

Marketing Manager – Chicago, IL

WILD GOOSE FILLING

Draft Innovations Sales Manager – Anywhere, USA

BOTTLE LOGIC BREWING

We got about a -4% beer SKU haircut in 2024, after a -3% haircut in 2023. Pretty soon, we may look like this 👴.

This according to BWC data cited by Dave Williams, the man with the sharpest collection of flannels in the beer analysis business. This puts total beer SKUs in the off-prem at about 35K. 

The biggest culprits:

• Hard Seltzer: -12%
• Craft: -6%
• Imports: -6%

AND: Folks seem to have gotten the message (somewhat) about innovation, with new SKUs down nearly -20% in 2024 to 3,542. Hard seltzer, craft and imports led the way in new SKU decline numbers as well.

Zoe has all of your data by category, a 2025 outlook from distributor polling and more here.

Yes yes, we know … that’s off a small base – but the category was close to $1B in sales last year (and grew +$176M), and of course is dominated by beer:

• NA beer (84.4% share,+25.1% in dollar sales)
• NA wine (10.9%, +27.2%)
• NA spirits (4.6%, +86%)

• MONSTER is going to take another impairment charge on its beer business, exact amount TBA (the next earnings report comes out Feb. 26). It already wrote off $48M worth of value from the division in 2024.
• BEERBOARD reported that the rate of sale (ROS) for beyond beer offerings increased +69% YoY in 2024 in the on-prem, as part of its 2024 Year In Review data report.
• SAPPORO-STONE laid off about 2% of its employees this month, and eliminated its e–comm business.
• BOSTON BEER’s HARD MTN DEW is now available state-wide in Texas.

It’s time for the annual pod episode that also rhymes, yes – it’s The Year in Beer!

Justin, Jess and Zoe are joined by Christopher Shepard, senior editor of Beer Marketer’s Insights, and Dave Infante, author of the Fingers newsletter and a contributing editor and columnist at VinePair.

LISTEN HERE! Or just search “Brewbound” on your podcast listening platform of choice.

This week’s beer goes out to France! Yeah, bet you didn’t see that coming either.

Turns out beer is having a renaissance (that’s a French word, right?), especially among younger demos … and surpassed wine in French at-home alcohol sales in 2024 for the first time on record! 

Beer now has a 45% share of at-home bev-alc sales, while wine has fallen from 58% between 2007-2011 to 40% in 2024. Oh wine, sacre bleu! 😱 (Know that I have no idea what that phrase means … but for some reason it does sound like the right usage to me.)

France has also become the leading European country for small and medium-sized craft and microbrewers with 2,500 businesses.

Nicely done French le Gen Z! Vive la révolution de … uh, anyone know how to say beer in French? Ah. It’s just biere.

Slainté!

-Sean McNulty 

(you can always reach me here on LinkedIn)