Welcome to Brewbound’s Inside Look at the Beer Business for the week that was … Saturday, February 3, 2024.

Where beer is no longer just for the highfalutin’ folk at U OF GEORGIA football games this fall. Yes, GEORGIA became the latest SEC school to allow the sale of beer throughout the stadium at their home football games, according to The Athletic.

This leaves AUBURN as the only SEC school on the fence – a school which has a brewery on its campus 🤔.

Beer has been allowed in private suites and certain club areas of GEORGIA’s stadium since 2019, but now the hoi polloi will also be able to partake in as many RTDs … I mean, cold beers ... as they like, cheering on the Bulldogs (CREATURE COMFORTS – I’m assuming y'all are getting in on this).

Something I’m sure the school will cheer for as well, since LSU had over $2 million in net beer sales in their first year back in 2019, and TENNESSEE had over $3.2 million in beer sales their first year back in 2022, according to the Knoxville News-Sentinel.

AND: Here’s your beer + football NFL advertising watch across the two NFL conference championship games last Sunday. And you say January beer sales are down, eh? 🧐

• MODELO: two 30-second ads;
• BUD LIGHT: three 15-second Peyton/Emmitt ads;
• MICH ULTRA: two 15-second spots;
• COORS LIGHT: one 15-second super bowl ad/Chill Train preview spot.

Also here is a 30-second COORS LIGHT ad explaining (kinda 🤷) what the heck this Super Bowl Chill Train thing is, and the contest involved. OK, yeah, I still have no idea what kind of research deck and pitch RFP this whole campaign sprang out from.

Bigger picture, I think RBC Capital analyst Nik Modi has a point in his latest report about how the beer category has suffered from “ineffective marketing” and its need to be better at being, ya know, “relevant.”

BUT: Here’s what A-B is bringing for the Super Bowl:

• BUD’s snowy bar Clydesdales spot (although this ad is a minute, and the ad buy is 30 seconds for BUD in the game. It’s also both snowing and sunny out at the same time in this spot 🤯, and did we need to almost send the horses off the side of a snowy mountain to sell this idea?);
• MICH ULTRA’s Messi / Ted Lasso beach spot;
• BUD LIGHT: still 🤷.

FINALLY: PERONI is following in Lewis Hamilton’s footsteps and switching to FERRARI for their F1 sponsorship partner (they were formerly with ASTON MARTIN). 

MONSTER is putting their imprint on their beer business, renaming the business as MONSTER Brewing Company. Well, that’ll be easy to remember.

It also kinda makes sense as The Beast Unleashed and Nasty Beast Hard Tea now account for a majority of the company’s alcohol sales.

+5%

The amount that retailers expect c-store beer dollar sales to increase in 2024, according to the latest Goldman Sachs Bev Bytes retailer survey.

Retailers also think suppliers will continue to modestly take price in 2024, but only to the tune of under +3%. That is, except for A-B – although a majority consensus still thought they would take a little bit as well. Retailers expect a flat sales year for A-B in 2024.

NEW TRAIL BREWING CO

Regional Sales Rep - Pittsburgh, PA

MAPLEWOOD BREWERY & DISTILLERY

Regional Sales Rep - Chicago North, IL

CONNECTICUT VALLEY BREWING CO

Brewer - South Windsor, CT

🤝 GOT A JOB

The Michael James Jackson Foundation for Brewing & Distilling has named former OTHER HALF brewer Breeze Galindo as their new director of operations. MJF founder and chair Garrett Oliver will now shift to focusing on strategic growth. Breeze is also working on opening her own brewery in NY, MI LUNA Brewing.

Well OK, yes technically 2024 is an improvement, but a 43 total beer reading is nothing to take a Super Bowl ad out about (last January was a 38). Although at-risk inventory was down at a 42, a good sign.

As always, any score over 50 indicates growth (ordering more), and under 50 indicates contraction (ordering less).

Plus, every category except below premiums had a higher score than a year ago.

However … the highest category score outside of imports (59) was premium regular at 43, and craft is now officially in the basement, with the lowest category score at 28. 😕

Jess, Justin & Zoe have a sitdown with ALLAGASH’s Naomi Neville as she leaves the craft brewery, talking about building the brand over the last 14 years, what she sees ahead for craft, and for herself.

Plus, the BREWBOUND trio talk about how the rent is too damn high! An increasing narrative for more and more craft breweries, as the 10-year mark for the brewery boom (and associated leases) begins to come into full effect for many businesses.

Then, some essential #realtalk about the beer industry needing to look inward more as it tries to figure out a return to growth, instead of pointing fingers at other sectors of bev-alc for their troubles. A great conversation to check out. Oh, and Justin finally learns who Hannah Montana is 👏.

Listen Here!

VIDEOS!: All of the panels and interviews from BREWBOUND LIVE are up here to watch anytime, including this one on digital marketing strategy and best practices.

$42.41 

The average price of a case of craft beer in 2023 (+3.6%), and up $4.35 since 2020, according to NIQ data analyzed by BWC. See? This is why I still stick with party balls 🫶.

As for craft – IPA still holds the top share slot in craft at 25.9%, although sales are -0.7% vs. 2022 in the off-prem. Justin has ya covered here on how other styles fared last year.

• JUNESHINE received a seven-figure investment from a private equity firm called INVESTBEV. The money will go toward increasing marketing efforts, and expanding the product line. INVESTBEV manages $185 million in assets, and is a firm “dedicated to the adult beverage industry,” much like this newsletter. Now – how do I also get the $185 million part? 🤔
• BOSTON BEER is expanding distro for their very responsibly packaged 8% ABV, 24 oz. Slingers Signature Cocktails FMB into 2 new states (NV and VT), and expanding further into PA and OH – no doubt centering on the high-end restaurant sector. Oh no, wait, they’re going with c-stores.
• ASAHI’s U.S.-based venture arm led the Series A funding round for non-alc retailer THE ZERO PROOF.
• The growth in brewery permits issued by the TTB hit its lowest point since 2011, at an increase of 485 in 2023.
• NEW BELGIUM is closing its San Francisco taproom after nearly 3 years. It previously belonged to Aussie brewery LITTLE CREATURES, which is a corporate sibling at LION LITTLE WORLD, and opened the space originally in 2019.

This week’s beer is going out to true innovation! Sorry hard tea and uh, MILLER LITE (#1970sInnovation), you’ve been replaced by cutting edge pint technology – a pint that fills … from the bottom! 😱

Meet BOTTOMS UP pint technology (what did you think they’d call it?), which is an Indianapolis-based company selling plastic pints sealed with a magnet on the bottom, which when placed onto custom kegerator taps, fill by themselves to a pre-set amount without the bartender needing to stay and hold the glass.

I mean, the case studies really speak for themselves according to Axios, like a pool bar at an Orlando MARRIOTT (Justin’s a regular when he’s in town), whose sales went up $500K in the year after they installed the system. 

Mind you, not in beer – those sales remained flat – but the time freed up from pouring pints allowed bartenders to make more daiquiris and take food orders, which is really what put business over the top. Beer just can’t catch a break, can it? 😒

Slainté!  

-Sean McNulty 

(you can always reach me here on LinkedIn)