• 🎙️ An Exit Interview with Carrie Yunker
• 🐻 Anderson Valley Brewing Sold
• 📰 Headlines From the TTB and A-B
• 🗣️ Teamsters Call for ‘Targeted Tariffs’
• 🚨 Boston Beer’s MTN Dew Code Red
• ⚾️ Coors Light’s ‘Obstructed Brews’

Carrie Yunker ended her more than two-decade run at Bell’s Brewery on a high note Monday – Oberon Day, the annual release of the company’s spring-summer seasonal wheat beer. 

Yunker kicked off the festivities at the brewery’s Kalamazoo taphouse and event space by raising an Oberon flag. Hundreds of Michiganders and fans from neighboring states, many wearing costumes, lined up and waited for hours for the taphouse to open and to drink this year’s Oberon and several special variants. 

For Yunker, who started at the Michigan craft brewery as a part-time receptionist and ended up leading the company as founder Larry Bell’s handpicked successor, Oberon Day was a fitting way to say goodbye as employee No. 50.

Yunker said in this week’s episode of the Brewbound Podcast: “This day is the best of everything. It’s the best of Kalamazoo, which is a city that I love so much. It’s the best of craft beer, which if you throwback craft beer to its heyday, it’s really about bringing people together and community. And what you will see is the streets of Kalamazoo, lined with people wearing teal, wearing orange, drinking Oberon, lighting up not just our account but accounts all over Kalamazoo. 

“It really is this wonderful amalgamation. .... It’s food and fun and family and community and this day represents that, not just here in Kalamazoo, but you see that spotlighted across the Great Lakes.”

Yunker described her time as EVP as “the privilege of my life to lead such an amazing, amazing team and brand.” 

So why step away? Yunker explained that she and her husband became empty nesters last fall, which led to more time for reflection and how she may be able to serve a higher calling.  

“I have lots of dear friends and people that I love who are living in a place where they are fearful. When I think about what I could do and take some of my leadership and my business acumen and potentially apply that in a different way to go do work either in politics or nonprofit to really make sure that people can live and love the way that they like.

“That’s something that really motivates me.”

In the conversation, Yunker discusses taking over for Larry Bell and how their leadership styles differed, guiding the brewery through several milestones and her favorite moments, including an off-the-cuff comment during a TV interview that led to 300 people showing up at the Comstock brewery for an impromptu job fair. 

Listen here or on your preferred podcast platform.

Full Disclosure: Bell’s Brewery covered airfare and hotel accommodations for the Brewbound team to record this interview during Oberon Day.

Gain cutting-edge insights from industry leaders, explore new technologies, and hone your skills at the Craft Brewers Conference, April 28-May 1 in Indianapolis Learn more

Anderson Valley Brewing Company (AVBC) has changed hands for the second time in a little more than 5 years.

Wine industry entrepreneur Jason McConnell acquired the Boonville, California-based craft brewery in a deal that closed Tuesday, former president and CEO Kevin McGee told Brewbound. 

The brewery was listed for sale at $7.9 million in September 2024; however, its sale price was not disclosed. 

McGee told Brewbound: “Jason actually approached me in mid-2024 when he heard a rumor that the brewery might be for sale. He had previously had a winery in the area that did a lot of events and hospitality and was interested in the possibilities that the Beer Park had to offer. He’s a local guy and a good fit and is retaining all the staff, which was really important to us.”

McConnell co-founded Ukiah, California-based Rivino Estate Vineyard and Winery in 2008, and developed the winery into a thriving event venue and destination, which he hopes to repeat with AVBC, he told the San Francisco Chronicle.

McConnell’s plans for AVBC include adding his Boujee sparkling wine brand and a new sake brand to the brewery’s offerings, he told the Chronicle. 

Insiders can read more about AVBC’s recent history and further details from McGee about the brewery’s future.

📝 The TTB has pulled proposed ingredient labeling rulemaking, which could have led to required ingredient disclosures on malt beverage, distilled spirits and wine labels. 

The Brewers Association noted that although the ingredient labelling rules have been withdrawn, proposed rules are still pending on alcohol facts and content and mandatory disclosures for allergens (milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, wheat, peanuts, soybeans and sesame). 

The comment period for those runs through April 17. If approved, rules would be phased in over a 5-year period.

🏳️‍🌈 Anheuser-Busch InBev will not sponsor St. Louis’ PrideFest this year, after participating in the annual LGBTQ+ festival for more than 30 years, KSDK reported. 

Pride St. Louis (PrideSTL), the nonprofit that organizes the annual event, was reportedly “blindsided” by the decision, which has exacerbated already diminished funding due to other sponsors reducing contributions. Funding for the festival, which will take place June 28 and 29, is down more than $150,000 versus 2024, according to a statement released by PrideSTL on social media. 

In a statement shared with KSDK, PrideSTL president Marty Zuniga added: “What really hits home for us is that this is one of the largest employers here in Saint Louis in our own backyard, and that's what hurts us the most. They have also divested from other prides across the country. San Francisco, for one, off the top of my head."

PrideSTL has launched a #45for45 fundraising campaign to raise money for the event, as “cancelling PrideFest is not an option.” Local establishment Rehab Bar & Grill also announced it would stop carrying all A-B products.

- Teamsters president Sean O’Brien wrote in a letter to commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, the Washington Examiner reported. O’Brien pointed to imports claiming nearly a quarter of the U.S. beer market over the last two decades. 

O’Brien wrote: “The U.S. has one of the highest shares of beer imports when compared with other large countries, with beer imports even exceeding foreign imports in other high-profile categories of trade such as automobiles. As you may be aware, the vast majority of U.S. beer imports come from Mexico, where labor costs and wages are a fraction of what they are in the United States.

“Our nation’s trade policy should be driving a race-to-the-top in terms of labor standards across North America, not forcing U.S. workers to compete with low-road Mexican companies that pay their workers pennies on the dollar in a race-to-the-bottom.”

The push comes as Constellation Brands’ Modelo Especial has become the top-selling beer in Circana-tracked off-premise retailers YTD through February 23, leapfrogging Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Michelob Ultra and Bud Light. Modelo Especial holds an 8.76% share of beer category dollars, followed by Michelob Ultra (7.84% share) and Bud Light (7.32% share).

Boston Beer is tapping into another popular MTN Dew flavor – Code Red – for its Hard MTN Dew franchise.

The cherry-citrus offering is now hitting retailers in 24 oz. single-serve cans within the 30-state Hard MTN Dew footprint. The flavor will also become a fixture of the Hard MTN Dew variety 12-pack in May, joining Original, Livewire and Baja Blast.

Boston Beer announced the addition during its Q4/FY24 earnings call. CEO Michael Spillane said at the time that the company expects “growth for Hard MTN Dew in 2025, but it will be a multi-year effort for this product to become a meaningful part of our volume mix.”

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.

Molson Coors is celebrating the start of the 2025 baseball season by rewarding fans who have less-than-ideal views of the action. 

During the Arizona Diamondbacks’ and New York Mets’ home openers (March 27 and April 4, respectively), fans who have obstructed views of the games – e.g. a pole right in front of their seat – can submit a photo of their obstacles to ObstructedBrews.com. If “Coors Light’s AI-powered system” determines the view to be “less than chill,” the person will receive a Coors Light. 

“Because if you’re chill enough to sit in one of these seats, you deserve a chill brew,” Coors Light VP of marketing Marcelo Pascoa said in a press release.