Welcome to Brewbound’s Inside Look at the Beer Business for the week that was … Saturday, June 15, 2024.

Beer, it’s what’s for Father’s Day. Or at least it is compared to spirits and wine, as 76% of folks planning to buy bev-alc for the big day this weekend will buy beer, according to market research firm Numerator.

Wine and spirits weren’t even close at 36% each, and both got a real stern look from Dad when they were mentioned at the dinner table last night 😬.

PLUS: Nothing like being “that guy” and getting a jump on your GABF competition plans this year – registration is now open here.

AND: Come to the beach 🏖️ with BREWBOUND in mid-December! (we’re still waiting to see if BREWBOUND can make Baby Shocktop’s deal to appear this year – Cora runs a hard bargain, and has a pretty airtight napping clause that also makes Justin very jealous).

BREWBOUND Live is returning to Marina del Rey, CA, on Dec. 11 & 12 for 2 days of insightful conversations and analysis, plus top-notch industry networking opportunities. 

New speakers recently announced:

• Mary Mills, consultant for 3 TIER BEVERAGES;
• Arthur Moye, owner and CEO of FULL CIRCLE Brewing;
• Kaleigh Theriault, director of thought leadership, beverage alcohol vertical at NIQ;
• Brian “BK” Krueger, VP of business development and portfolio strategies at BWC

Outside of the whole “Travis Kelce, 2023 BUD LIGHT spokesperson” thing, gotta say this looks like a pretty good match. 

While no 💰was disclosed, Jason & Travis are now the “largest investors” in the business (I assume that means financially as well as physically), and the guys will be involved in all aspects of the business … including “national expansion efforts.” 👀

The beer was of course born in Covington, KY at BRAXTON Brewing, just across the river from where the brothers went to college in Cincinnati, although the brand was sold to Andy Sauer last year.

GARAGE BEER sold $1.6 million worth of beer in the off-prem so far this year though May 18 (+196%), and yes, get ready for a lot of stories around this in about 3 months.

I guess in retrospect, this shouldn’t be too shocking – or at least ATHLETIC should have been one of the top suspects in the case of the mystery buyer situation for the Miramar, CA facility.

Especially as it’s pretty much right next door to ATHLETIC’s existing San Diego facility, so the commute should be real easy 🛴. The BALLAST POINT taproom at the location will remain open for the next 18 months or so that ATHLETIC takes to renovate the building.

It adds another 150K BBL of annual capacity for ATHLETIC, and takes its total capacity to the 1 million BBL mark. No word on a price tag here.

Here’s what we got – the hits keep on coming here in CIRCANA off-prem craft sales in 4-wk period data:

• Thru April 21: -3% YoY
• Thru May 19: -5.5%
• YTD thru May 19: -2.9% 

But, volume (in case sales) actually improved in the latest 4-wk period:

• Thru April 21: -4.7% YoY
• Thru May 19: -1.7%
• YTD thru May 19: -2.7% 

WHAT GIVES, YO: Craft seems to have gotten the message that your beer is too expensive, as average price per case dropped -$1.65 in the L4W ending May 19.

This moved the total price per case trends YTD from +$0.67 as of the week ending April 21, to -$0.08 YTD by May 19 👀.

FIGUEROA BREWING CO

Director of Brewing Operations – Buellton, CA

SARENE CRAFT BEER DISTRIBUTORS

Warehouse & Logistics Supervisor/Manager – Bridgeport, CT

RUSSIAN RIVER BREWING CO

Brewer – Windsor, CA

REST IN PEACE

Here’s how things are going at America’s largest beer manufacturer, A-B (according to CIRCANA data):

• L4W ending May 19: sales -1.8%, and volume -2.8%
• 2024 to date through May 19: sales -8.7%, and volume -9.4%

Over at MOLSON COORS:

• L4W ending May 19: sales -7.1%, and volume -8.3%
• 2024 to date through May 19: sales +6.6%, and volume +5.4%

Over at CONSTELLATION:

• L4W ending May 19: sales +5.7% and volume +4.5%
• 2024 to date through May 19: sales +6.5%, and volume+5.1%.

Look, I’m trying here … so -4.3% for April domestic tax paid shipments (12.3M BBL) is gonna have to do. That’s at least a large improvement from March (-13.6%, although that could still be adjusted).

Beer at home’s CPI was at +3.1% for May according to the latest government data, which had the overall CPI at +3.3%. Beer at home was also +0.5% month-over-month, better than April (+0.7%) but not as good as March (-0.5%). 

Meet the new “official beer of the Premier League” as DIAGEO set a 4-year deal with the world’s biggest “don’t call it soccer” football league, and the deal gets an assist from GUINNESS 0.0 as the “official non-alcoholic beer of the Premier League.”

No word on a price tag here for the partnership.

Jess has a brand new interview with BURIAL Beer Company’s Doug Reiser, discussing the new rooftop wine bar (yes, BURIAL also makes wine 🍷) and creating “immersive experiences” at its venues.

PLUS: The BREWBOUND trio (now with 100% more Jess) dive into:

• What ANCHOR needs next to get back on its feet
• What to take away from the latest numbers at VOODOO RANGER
• AND: Listen in as 3 people who live nowhere near NYC discuss the authenticity of BROOKLYN BREWERY’s newest TV ad entry set in Brooklyn (I mean, I’m right here!), a spot that also curiously does not include the brewery itself (couldn’t fit one “walk by” shot in there?)

• SCHILLING CIDER is entering the hard lemonade game, with 3 SKUs – one at 6.9% ABV and two at 8.4% ABV. The company is investing $100K upfront in the new endeavor. 
• BALLAST POINT had 2 rounds of layoffs since it sold its Miramar, CA facility to ATHLETIC, according to San Diego Beer News, although the number of folks affected is not disclosed.
• FIFCO is closing down its LABATT Brew House brewery and taproom in Buffalo, NY, after 5+ years of existence. 
• Hulk Hogan has started his own REAL AMERICAN BEER, which will have distro across 17 states. Pretty sure I can guess most of them. The brand’s CEO Terri Francis cited the opportunity here, saying beer “doesn’t need to stand for anything.” Yes, a beer called … REAL AMERICAN BEER definitely fits the bill of sending no message about what it stands for.
• DE breweries making less than 5K BBL a year can now self-distribute up to 1.5K BBL. DE craft breweries had their lowest year of output in 2023 since 2013. 

This week’s beer is going out to the fianceé who somehow figures out what the right moment would be to bring up this idea for their impending nuptials.

MILLER HIGH LIFE and PLANTERS are teaming up to give you … what I’ll certainly call a wedding you’ll never forget, whether as guest or member of the wedding party (assuming you don’t have a peanut allergy).

Just as little girls dream about, all across America, Mr. Peanut himself will walk you down the peanut shell-covered aisle (sorry, dad) at your favorite dive bar. Plus, the transportation to your nuptials will be courtesy of something called the Nutmobile, which … uh, Justin suggests I just leave that one there. #goodcall

The MILLER folks will chip in a beer tower and toast, as well as a dive bar snacks buffet, and there will be something described as a peanut-flavored wedding cake so yeah – bring a back up option. 

The contest is now open here through June 25, so maybe submit your application first on your own, so you can just feel the true “excitement” when you break the news to your spouse-to-be when you’ve won. Be sure to have your camera rolling, if only to include the moment in this newsletter 🙏.

Slainté!  

-Sean McNulty 

(you can always reach me here on LinkedIn)