Welcome to Brewbound’s Inside Look at the Beer Business for the week that was … Saturday, March 30, 2024.

Where I’ll start with a public service announcement today, here on Easter weekend – make sure you make a detailed map of where you hide the cans of beer for your adult Easter egg hunt today … so that it doesn’t flow into your kid’s Easter egg hunt tomorrow. 🫣

PLUS: After nearly two weeks of March Madness TV ad buying – I’m definitely giving the ad spend crown to CONSTELLATION. 

CORONA and MODELO are by far the biggest presence here on the games in NYC, although I will say MILLER LITE is having a nice showing with the initial spot in the “Tastes Great/Less Filling” reboot.

The BL genie is arguably now taking 3rd place, although uh, some fresh creative here woulda been nice . . . especially given that it’s the last major sporting event TV audience until the NBA Finals in June (gonna go out on a limb and say The Masters isn’t gonna be a big BL-crowd advertising opportunity).

OH: Don’t forget to drop a note to BUD LIGHT to celebrate the one-year anniversary for the social media post that started it all on Monday. Just don’t remind Kid Rock or FOX NEWS, mmmkay? 

BTW: MODELO sales were within $3.4 million of category leader BUD LIGHT ($90.6M to essentially $94M) for the week ending March 17, according to CIRCANA data, about half the size of the gap from just two weeks earlier.

TILRAY seems to be taking the “fast over measured” approach to new product ideation in its new expanded beer offerings era … emphasizing that they’ll get new products to market within a 90-day period – and they’re definitely hitting all the 2024 bangers:

• High-alc: SHOCK TOP is getting lit, err, LIIT, with a 9% ABV LI iced tea-inspired hard tea.
• Non-alc: Meet RUNNER’S HIGH (man, these guys can’t even keep the pot references out of a product with no mind-affecting properties 😶‍🌫️), which is coming in three flavors for consumers with a “a truly athletic mind” 😉: Golden Wheat, Raspberry Wheat and Dark Chocolate, because nothing appeals to folks who presumably care about fitness and calories like a beverage labeled Dark Chocolate. 
• Liquid Dea … I mean canned water: Meet the blatantly named LIQUID LOVE, a new “water-plus proposition” 🤷 coming in 19.2oz cans, that “has a better taste profile” than others in the uh, water space.

Justin has you covered here on the other new innovations, including an NA SKU for MONTAUK, a rebrand for SWEETWATER, and the return of HIBALL as a 10% ABV FMB for sports drink (and high alcohol) enthusiasts.

And yes, remember TILRAY is still a BA-defined craft brewery.

Yes, unfortunately beloved Brattleboro, VT brewery HERMIT THRUSH is going to call it a day on April 7, after a nearly 10-year run.

Essentially changing consumer tastes or “market dynamics” and price/cost demands were at fault for the demise of the sour beer-centric brewery, which launched in 2014 and did 880 BBL of output in 2022, according to BA numbers.

“There’s one story that never gets old to me, and that’s the one where guests reach out to us to host their wedding reception, wedding welcome reception, or engagement celebration. Often, they had their first date here. 

It means a lot that we’ve created a space that connects to people in that way.”

- LEAH CHESTON, co-owner of D.C.’s RIGHT PROPER brewpub in a new edition of BREWBOUND’s Another Round Q&A series, giving a good reminder of the meaning that a brewery space can have in a community over time.

So, next time you see a couple (or potential couple) on a date at your brewery – just something to keep in mind.

KANE BREWING

Director of Brewing Operations - Ocean, NJ

DOWNEAST CIDER HOUSE

Project Manager - Boston, MA

MEANWHILE BREWING CO

Applications are now open for the 13th annual Brewing the American Dream, SAMUEL ADAMS’ brewing and business experienceship program. 

Uh, not Lionel Messi (I mean, he’s unstoppable anyway), but rather the whole burgeoning “hydration drink” category that he is now joining, in partnership with MARK ANTHONY BRANDS.

The fact that Messi is “so excited” about the endeavor, which does not have a name or . . . any product description whatsoever is just 🤌 (although in his defense, maybe the excitement he was referring to was directed toward the check 🤑). 

Once again, March saves the beer biz! Well, about as good as it can here in 2024. The NBWA BPI crossed over 50 to 53 no less (take that March 2023!), which is also the highest March reading since 2021.

As always – over 50 means wholesalers plan to order more, under 50 means ordering less.

Heck, even Craft wasn’t in the basement for once – though make no mistake, it was hanging around the door at a 36, above Cider’s 35 and FMB/Seltzer’s 34.

Imports (66) and Premium Lights (53) were the only categories in the positive.

At-risk inventory was thankfully also on the good side of 50 for that indicator, at 47.

This week’s pod is another two-fer! Err, I mean – it’s a five-fer! (sorry ‘bout that Justin, Jess & Zoe) 

• ANDERSON VALLEY Brewing president and CEO Kevin McGee shares how he’s keeping the legacy craft brand relevant, and why he’s entangled in a legal battle with the nation’s largest beer wholesaler.
• FULL CIRCLE owner Arthur Moye explores plans for the SPEAKEASY brand that the company bought last year, and how he’s executing a house-of-brands strategy with those craft brands and SONOMA CIDER.

Plus, Justin, Zoe and noted KIRKLAND wine enthusiast Jessica Infante dive into the SAZERAC/BUZZBALLZ deal, and debate the finer points of mango.

Listen Here!

• Beer sales at bars and restaurants are -0.7%, with volume down -5.7% in the 12-month period through the end of January, according to CGA data. Jess has your breakdown by category in the link.
• SHEEHAN FAMILY COMPANIES sold another branch this month, offloading their CRAFT CT division to MANCINI BEVERAGES (which also bought SHEEHAN’s RI business last year). The deal transfers about 500k cases of volume, though no price was disclosed according to Beer Marketer’s Insights.
• IN and VA made their temporary cocktails-to-go policies permanent this month thanks to new legislation. Seven more states still have temporary policies in place, four years later 🤯, although NJ is the only state who doesn’t have a set expiration date on theirs ... which couldn’t be more Jersey.
• The former owner of MI’s DARK HORSE Brewing, Aaron Morse, was ordered to pay full restitution to former employees for “intentionally and illegally withheld employee retirement contributions and healthcare premiums for his own purposes,” or else face a 20-year prison sentence.

This week’s beer is going out to uh, beer! Yes, the world’s greatest beverage (sorry HI-C Ecto Cooler, it was a close call) finally got an identity this week thanks to an appellate court in everyone’s second-favorite beer court case since the pandemic (STONE-KEYSTONE, you’ll always hold a special place nowhere near our hearts).

That runner-up court case would of course be A-B InBev vs. CONSTELLATION in the whole CORONA Hard Seltzer brouhaha, which was finally put to rest (again), thanks to circuit judges José A. Cabranes, Richard C. Wesley and Raymond J. Lohier, Jr., who upheld a previous court’s decision about what “beer” is that favored CONSTELLATION.

Word is, the three men subsequently went out back and shotgunned KEYSTONE LIGHTs and said something to the effect of thank god we didn’t get that f’in case (err, I should really clarify – that is just what I imagined in my head after reading Jess’ story).

So – slainté CONSTELLATION on now being able to make as much of that 2024 hot-seller that is hard seltzer as you want.

OH: I’d also send a second beer out this week to the BREWBOUND trio, but apparently they don’t need it.

Happy 20th anniversary Pliny 🍻! You guys enjoy the T-shirts and hop goodness (though Justin, maybe split that 10.25% ABV Younger with Mrs. Brewbound?), and I thankfully have two Pliny the Elders still in my fridge courtesy of the checked baggage from my last CA trip to send a virtual toast to you all.

But hey, if one of the shirts you got is an XL 🙋 – I mean come on, it wouldn’t fit you anyway! #justsayin

Slainté!  

-Sean McNulty