Who drinks draft beer these days? 

The typical draft consumer is an older white man who is “relatively affluent" and spends around $201 monthly on dining and drinking in on-premise outlets, according to the latest “On Premise Draft Opportunity” report from CGA, NIQ’s on-premise arm, and Draftline Technologies, a firm that tracks more than 1 million draft beer lines across 40 states and sells products for maintaining draft lines.

Draft beer drinkers are 67% male (33% female), 49% aged 55 and up (15% 21 to 34; 36% 35 to 54) and 85% white (8% Hispanic, 5% Black) with an average household income of $107,000, per a CGA on-premise user survey.

The “highest-spend customers with the most disposable income are the draft beer drinkers,” Phil Thomas, who leads Draftline’s new business development, told Brewbound. He emphasized that knowing who those draft beer drinkers are, and marketing towards those consumers, could be vital for sustaining the industry. 

“Why not target where the money is now, not where you think it's going to be 20 years from now by targeting that younger consumer?” Thomas asked. 

Draftline founder and CEO Jennifer Hauke added that those drinkers are “prime consumers” with “money to spend.” Providing them with good experiences is important because they are knowledgeable about how good beer tastes and won’t return to the account if they have a bad experience, she added.

“We probably have the single best sampling opportunity that exists with draft beer, the single best out of any consumer packaged good,” Hauke said.

The latest findings are largely in line with the demographic data from the most recent Gallup survey, which reported that U.S. drinkers are majority men (57%), white (56%), and 35 and up (56% 35 to 54 as well as 55+) with a household income of $100,000 or more (66%). 

Insiders can go deeper into the report, including the most effective ways of advertising to consumers in bars and restaurants, how much sales increase with tighter cleaning cycles and why variety matters on draft towers.

Maine Beer Co. founder Dan Kleban has entered the ME race to unseat longtime U.S. Senator Susan Collins.

Kleban is the latest candidate to join a growing field of challengers in the state’s Democratic primary to take on Collins, a Republican, in 2026. His campaign website launched today.

Kleban said in a video: “I'm running for U.S. Senate because politicians in Washington, they're making it harder to do what's right for Maine. Donald Trump is trampling on the values of Mainers and tearing this country apart.”

Kleban was laid off from a law firm in 2008 and opened Maine Beer with his brother 1 year later, channeling his frustration with the corporations whose actions led to the Great Recession into building a people-centric company.

He said: “My brother and I, we set out to prove you could run a successful business by doing what's right. We promised ourselves that anybody we hired would get a living wage, employee healthcare fully paid, profit sharing and a retirement plan.”

Insiders can read more about Kleban’s campaign, the growing primary field and Maine Beer’s recent volume gains. 

One of Japan’s best-known business leaders and the head of Suntory Holdings has resigned after a police investigation into the purchase of supplements that may have violated the country’s strict drug laws.

Chairman and CEO Takeshi Niinami resigned before the conclusion of the investigation, the company said at a news conference Tuesday. 

Suntory executives declined to specify the supplements in question. Japanese outlets have reported that the supplements allegedly contained THC, which is illegal in Japan. Niinami told Suntory he purchased the supplement believing it was legal, the company said.

Insiders can read more here.

Pernod Ricard is shaking up its distribution partnerships as it plans to triple its RTD footprint in the U.S. over the next 3 years.

Following a full-year earnings report last week that showed RTD sales up 7%, the French spirits group announced a transformation of its route-to-market strategy that will support a newly created RTD department.

Pernod Ricard is among other major spirit companies rerouting their distributor partnerships following RNDC’s withdrawal from CA this week. The announcement, made in June, has shaken up the distribution landscape and left suppliers scattering to new wholesale partners.

Insiders can read more here.

Bev-alc’s negative trends remained relatively unchanged ahead of Labor Day, according to the latest weekly report from market research firm Circana.

In the week ending August 24, total bev-alc dollar sales in Circana-tracked off-premise channels declined 2.2% YoY, while volume, measured in case sales, fell 3.8%. In the previous week (data ending August 17), dollar sales were down 2.7% while volume declined 4.3%. 

Within bev-alc, spirits remained the only category with YoY dollar sales (+3.6%) and volume (+11.2%) growth. However, the category’s growth continues to slow compared to the previous 2 weeks: week-ending August 17, dollar sales +3.9%, volume +12.2%; week-ending August 10, dollar sales +6.3%, volume +14.7%. 

Beer dollar sales declined 2.9% YoY in the latest week, while volume was down 4.4%, with both figures consistent compared to the previous week (dollar sales -2.7%, volume -4.3%). 

Circana EVP of BevAl Scott Scanlon wrote: “Upcoming, expect to see a surge within the data for Labor Day, although it will be ‘partial data’ with data period ending Sunday vs. Labor Day Monday holiday.

“Almost a certainty we will see a surge within hypergrowth spirit RTDs. The area of focus will be the beer category and how much growth will be realized from the brands to close out the summer season.”

Insiders can read more, including a dive into RTD subsegments’ latest figures and top beer brand family performances. 

🌁 21st Amendment Founders Stepping Back from Daily Ops

21st Amendment (San Leandro, CA) founders Shaun O’Sullivan and Nico Freccia are stepping away from daily operations of the craft brewery 25 years after starting the business.  

O’Sullivan shared the news on his Instagram profile last week: “We’ve brought in a new CEO through a new partnership aimed at bringing in suppliers both inside and outside the beer space, with the goal of developing a broader platform and filling capacity at our San Leandro production facility.”

O’Sullivan did not name the new CEO. As for O’Sullivan, he’s taking time off before exploring future opportunities.  

🤠 Xul Beer to Take Over Southern Grist

Xul Beer Company (Knoxville, TN) is in the process of taking over Southern Grist Brewing and its 2 Nashville locations, the company announced on Instagram last week. 

The company wrote: “In early 2025, as fate would have it, our Southern Grist family in Nashville was figuring out their story for the next 10 years while we were in the heat of our growth phase. In a very short time, the SGB founders collectively agreed that Xul was the perfect fit to pick up the pen to write the next chapter for Southern Grist."

In its own post, Southern Grist wrote: “Southern Grist will always be part of the story, living on in spirit as Xul brings their Knoxville-crafted liquid gold to Nashville."

The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of the year, and Xul will retain Southern Grist’s staff, Knoxville News reported.

Two months after reporting a down Q1, Constellation Brands downgraded its guidance for fiscal year 2026, according to a press release issued today. 

Projected net sales growth for Constellation’s beer division (Modelo, Corona, Pacifico, Victoria) has been shifted to -4% to -2%, down from flat to +3%. Projected beer operating income sank from growth (flat to +2%) to -9% to -7%, due to “impact from lower volumes, operating deleveraging and additional tariffs.”

Insiders can read more about the drivers behind changes to Constellation’s guidance and the company’s recent scan data performance. 

Brewbound Live, our annual business conference for beverage-alcohol professionals returns to Marina del Rey, California, on December 10 and 11.

Tickets are available now for the 2-day gathering of founders, entrepreneurs, c-suite executives, retailers, distributors and suppliers from across the industry. The event will include on-stage conversations with industry leaders, networking and pre-arranged one-to-one conversations with retailers and distributors.

Several speakers and one-to-one participants have been announced, with more on the way. 

Register for Brewbound Live 2025 >>

Brewbound Live is presented by Powered by Sorse, Fast Track Packaging, Strike Visuals, John I. Haas, Can-One, and Tripleseat Software LLC. Sponsorship opportunities are still available for those seeking to elevate their presence beyond participation.

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