Welcome to Brewbound’s Inside Look at the Beer Business for the week that was … Saturday, October 18, 2025.

It’s amazing the effect that a week with 3 major beer industry conventions in a row has on the typical industry news cycle 🥴 (this just in – everyone needs a nap), so let’s go check in on our wine friends!

Or at least the WSJ did for a piece called “California’s Wine Industry Is in Crisis,” so hey -- beer finally catches a break! Er, except for this NY Times opinion piece about “saving beer” this week that … well, I'll just say I’m happy I don’t spend any time on Beer Twitter anymore.

But yes, it seems consumer frugality trends are hitting winemakers in California as much as they are in the beer business, with $20 a bottle seeming to be the limit for most consumers these days.

Combine that with signs of reduced consumption habits, and some grape growers are seeing several million dollar losses this year. So craft beer biz, maybe send some cans to your wine friends in solidarity – according to the monthly NBWA BPI numbers, I know ya got some spares in the warehouse.

PLUS: Here are your 2025 GABF winning beers, even if most of them will never be in your fridge. Zoe has an analysis here along with the recipients of the BA’s awards this year.

THEN: Justin has you covered on the key messages to come out of the NBWA presentations, including tensions between A-B INBEV and some small local distributors over selling outdated BUSCH LIGHT Peach, potentially resulting in terminated relationships.

AND: Here are the latest insights into on-premise trends in a new exclusive Q3 report from CGA by NIQ and BREWBOUND, just for you people! 

“It’s a way for people to connect and to spark conversation and to spark friendship, spark some type of connection.

That's the biggest thing we should all be preaching right now. We should all be enjoying beer with our friends. And if we get to doing that, it will take care of itself.”

THREES BREWING

Area Sales Rep – Hudson Valley, NY

LONE PINE BREWING

Territory Manager – Greater Boston Area

KANE BREWING

Brand Manager – Northwest NJ

TARGET is the latest to hop on the “intoxicating hemp beverage” train (warning – it may not show up on time) in its home state of Minnesota, which has seemingly become kind of the ground-zero for the products.

10 stores in the state will be adding THC bevvies to start.

ALSO IN WEED: 

BOULEVARD is adding THC-infused seltzers in its QUIRK brand line under the name Berry Jane, available in 5 and 10 mg SKUs at 25 calories per can.

• NOT WEED NEWS: BOULEVARD’s Space Camper IPA is now its top-selling beer, taking the crown from Unfiltered Wheat.

• Kylie Jenner’s SPRINTER 100 calorie vodka soda brand raised $4M, as part of a $12 million round it is raising. It also raised a little over $12M back in March 2024. 
• BREWDOG layoffs hit its U.S. operation this month, although numbers were not available. The company lost nearly $50M last year, and nearly $200M over the past 5 years.
• MAINE BEER CO. founder Dan Kleban suspended his campaign for the U.S. Senate about a month after entering the race, saying the timing wasn’t right and endorsed Gov. Janet Mills for the position.
• Oakland, CA’s TEMESCAL BREWING filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this month. It’ll remain open and cited that sales “are strong and trending upward,” but that mounting debt became “overwhelming” ... so bankruptcy was the best option to try and find a way to the other side.
• TIVOLI’s Outlaw Beer is now available in North and South TX via ANDREWS DISTRIBUTING. 

We’re less than 2 months out from BREWBOUND LIVE – time to get those tickets for December! #Protip: If Jess asks you if you want a beer, and then asks if you want it “Jersey style” – whatever you do, definitely do not say yes … as intrigued as you may be.

The team is also bringing back the one-on-one meetings with retailers and distributors once again (including WHOLE FOODS, BREAKTHRU, TOP TEN LIQUORS and HEIMARK so far) and assembling a great round of speakers already, with a lot more to come!

• Sophia D’Angelo, founder and CEO, Boston Experiential Group;
• Kaleigh Theriault, director of bev-alc thought leadership, NIQ;
• Andrew Hummel, director bev-alc vertical, CGA;
• Rosalie Kennedy, director of marketing, Athletic Brewing;
• Sam Hendler, co-founder and CEO, Hendler Family Brewing Company;
• Bourcard Nesin, analyst – beverages, Rabobank;
• Jon Halper, owner and CEO, Top Ten Liquors;
• Nick Firestone, CEO, Firestone Walker;
• Leah Wong Ashburn, owner and CEO, Highland Brewing;
• Kevin George, CMO, Garage Beer;
• Van Sharma, co-founder, Rupee Beer;
• Whitney Stevenson, president, JuneShine.

SO: Book your hotel room and tickets here.

This week, the BREWBOUND trio are live on tape from Vegas, diving into their weeklong bender beer conventions activity at GABF and NBWA and the industry takeaways at each … and Jess and Zoe both definitely sound like they need a time out.

The team dives into:

• “Liberal” pours at GABF in the spirits section
• How Jess outlasted Zoe on the GABF floor #Millennial>GenZ
• Jess bustin’ a move after hours on the dancefloor (well, after her typical hours, not Vegas hours)

THEN: Justin sits down with NBWA board chair Rebecca Maisel to discuss her call for freedom for “undue supplier influence” and why distributors are questioning their supplier relationships. 

LISTEN HERE! Or just search “Brewbound” on your podcast listening platform of choice. And leave a review and rating, would ya? (Good ones only, plz)

This week’s beer is going out to the human spirit! Which apparently did not like being blindsided by AI north of the border.

A company called BEST BEER was involved with this year’s prestigious Canadian Brewing Awards (yes, best flannel is also a category – why do you ask, eh?), where days into the competition, judges were unexpectedly told to use a new AI-powered system from BEST BEER for their notes instead of the competition’s existing system.

The app then took the judges’ tasting notes and turned them into a description of the beers … and as BEST BEER was planning to launch a consumer-facing app using AI to connect drinkers with beers, presumably using the judges’ work, well – let’s just say there were a bunch of stern, but still politely worded exchanges over the matter.

Thus, the CBA recently announced that current management is “stepping away from running the CBAs and returning the company to its original founders.”

So, way to stand up for defending your beer drinking palate acumen, Canadian judges! Only humans can totally determine what the best IPA is after tasting 60 in a row while also acutely describing the tasting notes for each one.

Slainté!

-Sean McNulty 

(you can always reach me here on LinkedIn)