Welcome to Brewbound’s Inside Look at the Beer Business for the week that was … Saturday, March 23, 2024.

So, I guess it’s comforting to know that if you ever get a not-so-great medical diagnosis, the folks at Gear Patrol have you covered.

No, they won’t help with medical advice or mental health resources . . . but rather they have very considerately compiled the list of "24 beers you need to try before you die.” So, have fun using your last days on earth to track down bottles of beer. 

OK, yes, I’m having some fun with this . . . but was there really no better way to position this idea? Here’s to surviving until the one time of year when KANE releases their Mexican Brunch beer in Jersey.

AND: Nice to see the #beerbiz back in sports TV advertising! Quite a wide array of folks are making March Madness buys so far (where the ad prices are a little more manageable than the NFL, at about $200K for early round games – not factoring bulk buying). 

This is not a comprehensive list obviously, but here’s what I saw in my avid viewing across all 4 networks over the first day and a half:

• CORONA and BLUE MOON Light are observationally the big spenders.
• Plus COORS LIGHT (Super Bowl spot), MICH ULTRA (playground basketball spot), SIMPLY SPIKED (pool party spot), BUD LIGHT (genie ad) and a dash of the new MILLER LITE campaign (more on that at the bottom) have also spent some bucks so far.
• Even the rather annoying B-DUBS ads feature a ton of draft beer.
• Although kinda surprised about no KONA sightings so far. 🧐
• ATHLETIC is also getting into the tournament spirit by setting NIL sponsorship deals with seven players who are in the men’s and women’s tournaments this year. 

Nice job #beerbiz!

Good news! I think there is just a little room left on the 4th shelf in the now vastly expanded N/A section at a Jersey liquor emporium I visited last weekend ☝️. 12-16 months ago, I think this section was about one shelf, maybe 2. Not pictured – the cold storage fridge also devoted to N/A to the left.

Anyway – DESCHUTES is taking their new N/A Fresh Squeezed IPA national this year, although the company has been in the N/A game with their N/A Black Butte Porter since 2020.

With new in-house equipment investments, DESCHUTES has an annual capacity of 115K BBL for N/A beer, and this will be their No. 2 sales effort behind boozed up Fresh Squeezed. 

Uh, the program – not like, an actual Cicerone. That would be unusual, and likely illegal. But yes founder Ray Daniels has sold the organization to Master Cicerones Dan Imdieke and Jason Pratt, both alumni of MOLSON COORS. 

Yeah, 2015 Sean, who stood in an OTHER HALF line for well over an hour to buy a 4-pack of double IPA, is definitely doing a double take on this image from a recent visit to the aforementioned Jersey liquor store emporium.

ATHLETIC BREWING

Greater Boston Territory Manager - General Boston area, MA

TONEWOOD BREWING

Shift Brewer - Barrington, NJ

WEST PEAK SPARKLING SPIRITS

I’m not entirely sure why that headline makes me chuckle, but it is what it is. Not a lotta details here, like a price tag, but the deal is for the parent company named SOUTHERN CHAMPION, and a few other smaller brands are included here in the full details from Justin & Zoe.

This week’s pod has 2 guests, for the same low, low price!

• RUSSIAN RIVER co-owner Natalie Cilurzo joins to discuss the plans for the 20th anniversary of Pliny the Younger 🤯 and the economic & cultural impact of the beer, plus some really fun stories from the beer’s early days and info on the return of Pliny for President . . . that I really hope to find on a shelf on my next SoCal trip this summer 🤞.
• CALICRAFT founder and CEO Blaine Landberg and marketing director and brewmaster Thomas Vo join to talk about their new beyond beer, fruit-forward expansion, and the growth strategy for their own-premise business.

Plus, the BREWBOUND gang dives into the CIGAR CITY layoffs and changes, the new DESCHUTES national efforts and giving the aliens all the HARD MTN DEW they want.

Listen Here!

• St. Patrick’s Day moving from a Friday last year to a Sunday this year resulted in a -20% drop in draft beer volume for the weekend according to BEERBOARD. Not taking place during March Madness this year probably also was not helping. Although draft volume for March through the 17th is down a whopping -34% vs. 2023, according to BEERBOARD data 🫣.
• WHITE CLAW is now up to a 62.6 💰 share of the hard seltzer market in YTD NIQ off-prem data through March 2, according to Beer Marketer’s Insights. That’s up from a 57 share for the 52-week period.
• The CALIFORNIA CRAFT BREWERS ASSOCIATION is hoping to get a new bill turned into law, allowing for an improved beer catering permit process to further increase sampling opportunities.
• Hard kombucha brand NOVA set a 5-year deal with the MLB’s SAN DIEGO PADRES for “exclusive kombucha co-branding rights,” branding inside PETCO PARK and making NOVO available at bars in the stadium. 

This week’s beer is going out to . . . me! Yes, while the folks at MILLER LITE continue to ignore my LITE Buns summer BBQ promotion idea to their own detriment, they have finally listened to my long crusade in this newsletter to bring back the “Tastes Great, Less Filling!” campaign!

And I gotta say – Luke Wilson in the Bob Uecker-ish role is pretty great casting (JJ Watt is also involved, as is Reggie Miller, with more to come).  

It’ll be the main MILLER LITE ad campaign for the rest of the year, so here’s to some hopefully creative baseball spots this summer (there’s also a Spanish-language spot with Big Papi and Jorge Posada already), and a fun NFL season in six months.

I still think they should get Bill Parcells for the NFL coach/Madden role – sorry Zoe . . .  I just don’t think Belichick has the uh, charisma, even though he now has the time 😬. 

Slainté!  

-Sean McNulty 

(you can always reach me here on LinkedIn)