Welcome to Brewbound’s Inside Look at the Beer Business for the week that was … Saturday, April 12, 2025.

Remember the days when the biggest gripes around tax and trade matters was that the TTB wasn’t approving new beer labels quick enough? 

Well, at least #TrumpTariffs are not holding Ryan Reynolds back – he’s now looking to dominate the boxed wine business (gin, it’s been real) and teaming up with the GALLO folks to create an Ugly Estates wine line, whose initial rollout will be in Texas. 

But they’ve already got just the right spokes … dog all set, whom you may recognize from Ryan’s last movie.

AND: Here are your latest CIRCANA craft beer sales numbers, which coincidentally are also ugly:

• L4W ending March 23: -5.1% (volume -6.4%)
• L12W (Q1 essentially): -4.5% (volume -5.7%)

Total beer sales were -2.6% (volume -4.4%) for the L12W period.

SIERRA’s new take on the BLT is going from 9% to 9.5% and adding a “Juicy” label on the can to accentuate the new formulation.

The brand had sales declines in 2023 and 2024, as well as 2025 so far – although it did re-enter the top 30 craft brands list this year.

AND: SIERRA is also launching a new Justin-friendly 4.7% ABV  PILS beer on draft in 30 markets this month, with eyes on an off-prem release later in the year.

The former MC brand will still live on, as will its taprooms, but the beer itself will now be brewed at other TILRAY facilities in Oregon (10 BARREL, WIDMER).

No official word on the number of layoffs involved, but BREWBOUND has heard a number of around 50 folks worked at the facility.

This is similar to what TILRAY did earlier this year with another former MC brand, REVOLVER in TX.

Uh, Western U.S. craft beer – you doin’ OK, bro? Add this Utah shuttering to the above in Oregon, and all of that Colorado activity last week, and I’m getting a bit concerned about the Mountain Time region.

Thus, WASATCH and SQUATTERS beer will now be made elsewhere in the MONSTER system. The SLC brewery and taproom will shut down on May 27, and 25 folks are out of a job.

The BA handed out its annual Industry Awards this month:

• The Russell Schehrer Award for Innovation in Craft Brewing, in memoriam: Ron Jeffries, founder JOLLY PUMPKIN;
• The BA Recognition Award: The North Carolina beer community;
• The F.X. Matt Defense of the Industry Award): Ted Zeller, BREWERS OF PA general counsel;
• BA Mentor of the Year: Shawn Mullen, SAPPORO-STONE director of national accounts, off-premise.

FINBACK BREWERY

Sales Manager – Queens, NY

BOTTLE LOGIC

Shift Brewer – Anaheim, CA

NOTCH BREWING

Heading to CBC in Indy at the end of April? Come by booth #512 and see the BREWBOUND team!

But if you want to talk to Zoe – you’ll have to come to booth #512.5, as she inserted a new clause into her convention rider for her own space (just remember to pull the sheet divider back when you leave – and bring your best F1 takes).

Email news@brewbound.com to reach out about setting a time to chat, and submit your news around CBC here.

The GALLO folks have moved the distribution of Dave Portnoy’s go-to beverage HIGH NOON from RNDC to REYES in California (his new package announcement in January sans-shirt was a curious choice).

Thus as of July 1, the 7th best-selling brand family in the spirits category will have a new handler in one of the country’s largest markets. Dollar sales and volume are both up over 12% in the 52-wk period ending March 22 in off-prem, according to NIQ data cited by 3 TIER BEVERAGES.

BROWN-FORMAN and TITO’S also previously announced departures from RNDC this year.

Nothing quite like a $700M impairment writedown on one’s assets to kick off a year – although this is the company’s FY25 Q3, which covers the Dec-Feb months. Hey, when you run a marijuana division, what is time … man?

Thus, here are your numbers:

• REVENUE: $186M (+1% YoY)
• GROSS PROFIT: $52M (+5% YoY)
• ADJ EBITA (internal profitability): $9M (-11% YoY)
• NET LOSS: $793M

As for beer (which is 30% of TILRAY’S revenue), we’re looking at $56M of revenue (+2.3% YoY).

As for weed (which is 29% of revenue, down from 34% last Q3), that was about -9.5% YoY to $57.5M in constant currency. Although it does have the highest gross margin of all TILRAY businesses at 41% (beer is 36%).

Well, the end of CONSTELLATION’s FY25 – which closed at the end of February #ConstellationTime – has coincided with projection adjustments for the FY26 beer business:

• Beer net sales: flat to +3%
• Wine and spirits sales: -17% to -20%

Outside of the whole Trump tariffs thing – the company also emphasized the potential socioeconomic pressures on the Hispanic market, which comprise about 50% of the company’s beer biz consumer base.

• Former NEW BELGIUM CEO Steve Fechheimer announced he’s taken a CEO role at an undisclosed non-alc beer space startup (w/t “Project Zero”) with former NBB colleague Dana Seldin joining as well. 
• VT’s BEER SHEPHERD is shuttering and sold part of its portfolio to BAKER, including LAWSON’S (which will exit its local distribution biz). 
• Jersey’s CAPE MAY is expanding to its 4th state, that being Maryland. Its beer is already available in NJ, DE and PA. 
• COACHELLA will be featuring The New Bar once again this month, a haven for non-alc beverages at the festival.
• DIAGEO is teaming up with investment banking firm MAIN STREET ADVISORS in a strategic JV that swaps out DIAGEO’s majority ownership stake in CIROC with a majority stake in LeBron James’ LOBOS 1707 Tequila. DIAGEO was previously looking to sell its CIROC ownership, and now will instead focus on worldwide growth for LOBOS 1707.

BEVNET spirits editor Ferron Salniker joins the pod to talk all things DISCUS from the organization’s recent annual meeting, and to share that somehow she’s never been to NJ. Jess -- we need to sidebar on this.

PLUS: Justin and Zoe break down all the M&A activity going on in Colorado these days, takeaways from Oberon Day in MI, and brewery revamps of existing brands. 

Justin also tastes a 9.5% ABV beer and still made it til the end of the podcast without nodding off. Well done, boss!

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 goes out to the Wisconsinite (that’s a word, right? Wisconsonian?) who picked up an old 1950s beer can at an auction this weekend.

But as he paid $111K for it … maybe we don’t crack that exact one open to serve as this week’s beer. I mean, it’d be a shame to ruin his wife’s CHIEF OSHKOSH PILSENER anniversary gift this year. 

So instead – let’s crack open this big guy 👇. Or at least I will at some point this weekend, and a special thanks to the RUSSIAN RIVER folks for the shipment from the West Coast, so I can send a toast to another successful event from the East Coast for keeping one of craft beer’s finest traditions alive and well.

See? Who needs aluminum! 

Slainté!

-Sean McNulty