Welcome to Brewbound’s Inside Look at the Beer Business for the week that was … Saturday, February 1, 2025.

Where let’s start this week’s newsletter with a PSA going out to all Greek yogurt magnates, or anyone else out there with $1.75M in their wallet who wants to own a legendary San Francisco beer bar. 

What’s that, Donn? No, I’m pretty sure you can’t use previous bar tabs toward your down payment … but I like where your head’s at.

OH: Speaking of Donn, 3 TIER BEVERAGES has a brand new BREWBOUND-exclusive report with NIQ data through Dec. 28, 2024 looking at things such as:

• Beer’s share of wallet growth vs. other categories
• The NA beverage sector
• 2024 dollar sales trends across beer, wine and spirits, and more.

AND: It seems BUDWEISER was actually the A-B brand destined for the regional Super Bowl ad time originally 🤯, but the “overwhelming” response it received to the ad creative made A-B change its mind and give it national time. Hence, yeah – sorry BUSCH LIGHT. I’m pretty sure you’re the Buffalo Bills of national ad time this year.

• The full 1:38 BUD spot is here (before it gets shortened for its FOX airing next weekend). So, who wants a super foamy pint of BUD? Although personally, I’m still trying to figure out how a horse got a keg out of a river.
• And here is the Shane Gillis BUD LIGHT spot, which gets the 👍 from me, particularly the BBQ smoker line.

OH: Just a snapshot into NA momentum in mid #DryJanuary – ATHLETIC’s sales were still +32% YoY for the week of January 19, according to CIRCANA data.

AH: The report that DIAGEO is potentially showing everyone just how “Splitting the G” is really done by studying a sale or spin-off of the GUINNESS business at a valuation of over $10B in a new Bloomberg report … was later denied by the company. Or at least it said a sale was not being explored. The word spin-off was not used.

In other news, I’m exploring a spin-off of this newsletter at the comparatively bargain valuation of $10M. Investors inquire within. Comes with a free GUINNESS oven mitt, authentically purchased in Ireland.

FINALLY: ALLAGASH welcomed 95,850 visitors to its ME taproom in 2024 👏, and in case you had the same question I had – I checked with Justin, and it was not all in a row.

INDUSTRIAL ARTS BREWING CO

Brewer – Beacon, NY

MEANWHILE BREWING CO

General Manager – Austin, TX

COUNTER WEIGHT BREWING CO

OK, this is mainly up here for the GIF – but MC purchased an 8.5% stake in the parent company of the U.K. NA tonics, mixers and beverage brand and is thus now the 2nd largest stakeholder in the company.

Granted, it’s just 3 weeks’ worth of NIQ beer sales data through Jan. 18, but just give us this one, mmmkay?

• Sales: +3%
• Volume: +0.7%

Oh look, CONSTELLATION is leading the way in brand families. How novel. Although look at the +23% in sales on COORS BANQUET! However, MC brand sales are uh, -0.4% in sales.

• TITO’s is moving its Cali business from RNDC to … someone called uh, REYES? Anyone heard of this upstart? It’ll switch on April 1, and RNDC recently announced it’ll be laying off at least 60 folks from its CA staff.
• MN’s FAIR STATE is shuttering its St. Paul brewing facility a year after the company declared bankruptcy, according to Fingers. Its Minneapolis taproom and small brewing facility will remain open.
• Idaho brewery MOTHER EARTH is putting its original Vista, CA brewing facility & equipment up for sale or lease-to-purchase, citing that there’s no longer a need to operate 2 facilities to make its beer.
• Troy Aikman’s EIGHT ELITE LIGHT LAGER has raised $26.1M from investors to date over the past 4 years, including a new $10M Series A round that will fund the business through 2026. 
• CT and AK legislatures are considering bills that would add cancer warnings to containers and signs, respectively.
• FIRESTONE WALKER launched its latest bid for growth – 8% ABV Mind Haze Rage “lemonade-infused turbo radlers” are now hitting shelves throughout the FW distro footprint. The ABV is on the can, the calorie count is not. Regular 6.2% ABV Mind Haze IPA has about 185 calories per 12 oz.
• The self-professed nonpartisan non-profit U.S. ALCOHOL POLICY ALLIANCE has appointed staunch anti-alcohol proponent Mike Marshall as its new CEO. Zoe has a good roundup here of Mike’s previous uh, stances.
• A-B bought its brands’ distribution rights from SOUND BEVERAGE in the greater northern Seattle area to bring in-house in the A-B ONE network. A-B’s volume was about ⅓ of SOUND’s business, according to Beer Marketer’s Insights.

GIRL BEER founder and 2024 BREWBOUND Pitch Slam winner Ray Biebuyck joins the pod this week to talk all things:

• Reclaiming the term “Girl Beer,” 
• Creating the brand’s distinct voice and vibe 
• Attempting to create a discourse about women and beer
• Getting it to stand it out on shelves and social media, and more. 

PLUS: The BREWBOUND gang talk about divorce … er, the beer association kind as the AHA splits from the BA, plus hard times at MONSTER and SAPPORO and a dive into something called “faux-stalgia,” which I say is definitely a term Gen Z created. Thanks, Zoe.

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

This week’s beer goes out to Zoe, who was promoted to Senior Reporter this week at BREWBOUND! OK, fine, Justin I’ll toss you an ATHLETIC for making the right call here too.

I’ll leave aside the irony of the in-house Gen Z correspondent having the word “senior” in her title, but certainly well-deserved. Even if this definitely just killed the chances of Zoe finally saying hello to the weekend columnist on any of her NYC trips this year. She’s way too important for the “GIF Guy” now 😥. 

BTW Justin, any chance I can get a bump up to “Executive GIF Guy” at some point this year? It would mean the world to my mom. Or at least it would get her to stop using finger quotes when asking me how my “beer job” is going (she does it with love ❤️).

Slainté!

-Sean McNulty 

(you can always reach me here on LinkedIn)