• 🎙️ Brewbound Podcast: Q1 Beer Trends w/BWC
• 🏷️ Report: Faubourg Assets Go to Auction
• 🦊 Foxtrot, Dom’s Shutter
• 🏆 World Beer Cup, By the Numbers
• 👏 Russian River Donates Brewhouse to NB2A

Bump Williams Consulting’s Dave Williams and Brian “BK” Krueger explore Q1 beer category trends, the stickiness of 2023’s shifts caused by the Bud Light fiasco, the creep up of pricing, regional cider growth and the dampening of Dry January but continued growth of non-alc beer.

They also share what they’re watching for the remainder of the year.

Plus, the Brewbound team reports from the floor of the Craft Brewers Conference in Las Vegas and recap the first day of the largest meeting of craft brewers. Jess, Justin and Zoe also recap the new strategic alliance between Black-owned breweries Full Circle and Crowns and Hops.

Listen here and on all popular podcast platforms.

The assets of New Orleans’ Faubourg Brewing Company will be sold during an early June auction that is expected to net around $2 million, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune. 

Despite a $30 million investment from Gayle Benson, the owner of the NFL’s New Orleans Saints and NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans, and her late husband, Tom, the former Dixie Brewing Company and its large-scale production facility could not be saved. 

The auction will include around 280 items, such as a 100-barrel, five-vessel brewing system and high-speed canning and bottling line, according to the report.

The facility opened to fanfare in 2020 and the Dixie name was dropped due to its connection with the Confederacy, with Benson touting it as an opportunity to uplift New Orleans East.

In September 2022, Faubourg merged with southeastern portfolio company Made By The Water (MBTW) – whose brands include Catawba, Palmetto, Oyster City – with Alexi Sekmakas leading the breweries, with financial backing from his father, Viktoras Sekmakas, a managing director of investment firm Wiregrass Equity Partners. 

After shifting MBTW’s production to New Oreleans in an effort to use the excess capacity at the plant, which was capable of producing around 55,000 barrels annually. The report said “barely 15%” of its capacity was being used at the time. 

Last November, Sekmakas told Brewbound high water and tax bills and difficulty staffing were all factors in the company’s decision to cease large-scale production in New Orleans.

The company transferred 80% of its production to contract brewing outfits IndieBrew in Atlanta, Georgia, and New Realm in Virginia Beach, Virginia, with the rest spread across its small taprooms. Sekmakas also cited staffing issues due to safety in the neighborhood around the brewery leaving many unwilling to work overnight shifts, water bills that exceeded $50,000 and six-figure tax bills for the shift.

Even as this eventually ends, a spokesperson for Benson told the outlet that the Benson Group remained open to investing in other New Orleans brewing operations in the future and is “reviewing and exploring a few other opportunities.”

MBTW was the country's 50th largest craft brewery by volume in 2022, according to the Brewers Association (BA). However, it did not appear on the BA’s list of the top 50 largest craft brewers in 2023, which was published last week.

Outfox Hospitality’s future is unclear after reports indicated that the company has shuttered all its Dom’s and Foxtrot stores earlier this week with a potential bankruptcy looming.

Rumors began to swirl Monday around the Chicago-based company – created via the merger of Foxtrot and Dom’s Kitchen & Market in November – when industry newsletter Snaxshot, citing multiple anonymous sources, reported rumblings of impending closure.

Signs on individual stores indicated they were closed as of Tuesday. Outfox has not responded to a request for comment directly; a post on Dom’s website said that the company has “explored many avenues to continue the business but found no viable option despite good faith and exhaustive efforts.”

The post read: “This decision has not been made lightly, and we understand the impact it will have on you, our loyal customers, as well as our dedicated team members. We want to express our sincerest gratitude for your support and patronage throughout the years.”

Foxtrot operated 18 locations in Texas, Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., along with 15 stores in the Chicagoland area. The company, which offered a mix of fast delivery, upscale convenience, and gourmet grab-and-go foodservice, previously announced plans to open 50 stores by the end of 2024.

Calls to multiple stores either went directly to voicemail or were already out of service; a worker at the Milwaukee & Damen Foxtrot location in Chicago said they were unsure if the store would remain open during normal hours today. Someone who answered the phone at Foxtrot’s Mount Vernon store in D.C. said they were told by leadership on the phone this morning “to lock the doors” and permanently close the store.

An investor contacted by Brewbound’s sibling publication Nosh noted that they had been caught by surprise as much as the rest of the public, stating that they had received notice around the time of the corporate posting. The Outfox team hadn’t been able to raise enough money or cut enough costs quickly enough to keep the business going, the investor said.

More details are available via Nosh. 

The 2024 Craft Brewers Conference (CBC) concluded with the World Beer Cup (WBC) awards ceremony in Las Vegas with 329 winners being selected from 20 countries.  

The Brewers Association, which hosts the WBC, shared the following by-the-numbers breakdown of this year’s competition:

• Entries: 9,300
• Breweries: 2,060
• International breweries: 25%
• Countries: 50
• First-time brewery entries: 436
• Judges: 280 (103 international judges)
• First-time judges: 39
• Judging sessions and days: 7 days, 14 sessions
• Beer style categories: 110
• Beer styles: 172 
• Average number of beers in each category: 54

The BA also shared a list of most entered categories:

• Juicy or Hazy India Pale Ale: 326 entries, with Chicago-based Old Irving Brewing Company’s Breezer taking gold;
• West-Coast Style India Pale Ale: 281 entries, with Long Beach, California-based ISM Brewing’s Western Standard Time taking gold;
• German-Style Pilsener: 221 entries, with Hood River, Oregon-based pFriem Family Brewers’ Pilsner taking gold;
• American-Style India Pale Ale: 213 entries, with Los Angeles-based Highland Park Brewery’s High 6 taking gold;
• And Wood & Barrel-Aged Strong Stout: 198 entries, with Ocean, New Jersey-based Kane Brewing’s Dripping Maple taking gold.

Read the full list of winners here.

The Brewbound Live business conference returns December 11 and 12 in Marina del Rey, California.

Brewbound Live will feature beverage-alcohol industry leaders taking part in business-focused conversations, data presentations, networking and much more across two days at the Marina del Rey Marriott.

Brewbound announced the first speakers for this year’s conference. They include:

• Russian River co-owner Natalie Cilurzo;
• Deschutes Brewery CEO Peter Skrbek;
• National Beer Wholesalers Association chief economist and VP of analytics Lester Jones;
• Draftline Technologies founder and president Jennifer Hauke.

Additional speakers will be announced in the coming weeks.

In addition to the mainstage programming and networking parties, Brewbound Live will feature opportunities for one-to-one conversations between brewers and bev-alc brands and retail buyers from chains such as Whole Foods Market. Registered attendees will be considered for meetings with buyers, as space is limited. Find out more details here.

Register for Brewbound Live 2024.

At Brewbound Live in Marina del Rey, CA on December 11 + 12, beer and beverage-alcohol brands can participate in retailer one-to-ones. Leaders from Whole Foods Market will be available for private, pre-scheduled meetings. Brands will be selected at each retailers’ discretion.

As the world’s leader in natural and organic foods, with a vast network spanning over 500 stores, Whole Foods holds substantial influence in the market. These meetings present a unique opportunity for beer and beverage-alcohol brands aspiring to excel in retail channels focusing on natural and organic products. 

Participating brands can gain invaluable insights and strategic guidance tailored towards facilitating growth within these specialized retail environments.

You must be registered for Brewbound Live to be considered for a retailer meeting. Once you register for the event, you will receive an email with instructions for signing up.

Register for Brewbound Live Winter 2024.

Russian River founders Vinnie and Natalie Cilurzo have donated a 20-barrel brewhouse to the National Black Brewers Association (NB2A), the association announced yesterday at a press conference, held during the Craft Brewers Conference (CBC) in Las Vegas.

Russian River has committed not just to donating the brewhouse, but assisting in trucking and setting up equipment with whichever Black brewer is chosen to receive it, Vinnie shared with press and NB2A members in attendance.

There are now 85 Black-owned breweries in the U.S., less than 1% of the more than 9,600 breweries in operation in the country, according to NB2A executive director Kevin Asato. 

Asato said: “There are 13% Black Americans in the United States. There are 8% of the [Americans] who drink that are Black. How do we get away and allow this industry that we love to only have less than 1% of black ownership in these breweries? How do we let that happen?”

NB2A founding board members Marcus Baskerville (Weathered Souls), Garrett Oliver (Brooklyn Brewery) and Celeste Beatty (Harlem Brewing) also spoke at the event. Look for more coverage soon on Brewbound.com.