Welcome to Brewbound’s Inside Look at the Beer Business for the week that was … Saturday, September 20, 2025.

Well, I’m not saying the beer biz is desperate, but it seems pumpkin and Oktoberfest beers have a legitimate competitor in the 2025 Seasonal Creep Award competition (trust me, you don’t wanna know what the award is).

GREAT LAKES made an announcement for their Christmas Ale on … September 10. Yes, it seems its annual “First Pour” event will take place on Thursday, October 16. For a Christmas beer.

Couldn’t even wait until we were at least 2 months out, GREAT LAKES? October 25 is even on a Saturday this year! 

Well, I guess we should at least be happy they're waiting a whole 11 days after Oktoberfest ends, and I hope Mother Nature gives you a balmy, mid-October 70-degree day in Cleveland to put the cherry on top of this event in return, good sir. 

PLUS: Yeah, it turns out that Minnesota liquor store posting on LinkedIn about selling all of those THC SKUs may have been a decent canary in the coal mine. MN beer volume was -6.3% in H1 25, with craft near -9% YoY – both far worse than national trends, according to BMI. 

AND: It’s time for another 3 Up, 3 Down from the folks at 3 TIER BEVERAGES, including a look at the latest sales insights around 6-packs; NA beer excl. ATHLETIC; craft stouts; and much more.

THEN: Here’s a 2025 RTD growth battleground snapshot of the biggest growth brands YTD through August 16 according to NIQ sales data cited by BMI (HIGH NOON still rules the category, naturally). Listed in order by 💰 sales size:

• CUTWATER: +39% YoY to $237M (11.9 RTD market share, +1.5 points)
• SURFSIDE: +162% YoY to $160.5M (8.1 RTD market share, +4.3 points)
• BUZZBALLZ: +66% YoY to $141M (7.1 RTD market share, +1.9 points)
• SUN CRUISER: +585% YoY to $78.6M (4.0 RTD market share, +3.3 points)

Meet WILD AF BREWING, a collaboration between HARPOON and “innovation brand shop” THE SILENT GROUP, with Mr. Sheen listed as a co-founder (and naturally a spokesperson).

The flagship beer thankfully does not have “Winning” in the title, but instead they went with Cold Gold NA Lager.

They’re doing a “proof of concept” rollout, with e-comm/DTC-only sales to start this year, and hopes of rolling out in IRL locations at some point in 2026. 

Sixers are $14, 12-packs are $27 and cases are $52. 

Yeah, this doesn’t look great. The suit claims that ISLAND co-founders Scott and Meghan Hansen used hundreds of thousands of dollars of investor money for personal use.

ISLAND’s parent company, AMERICAN BEVERAGE HOLDINGS, is also now dissolved as of May 2025, according to paperwork filed with the SEC, although the beer is still in production under a new, unaffiliated owner.

Jess has the full breakdown of all the 🤨 details here.

Turns out, being able to better supply your distributors with your product helps move more product! DOGFISH is already seeing significant gains from its decision to move production of its canned cocktail line in-house to its Milton, DE facility.

DOGFISH canned cocktail sales were +22% YoY for the L13W period ending August 24 in CIRCANA off-prem data. Product supply became an issue in previous summers even during its peak July month, hindering sales growth efforts.

OVER IN BEER: The Grateful Dead partnership has been extended, as the Juicy Pale Ale beer is now on pace to end 2025 as the #2 beer in the DOGFISH portfolio behind 60 Minute IPA, with Sam Calagione noting that the Dead beer does not seem to be cannibalizing 60 Minute sales either.

#FunFact: Half of the beer’s sales come from the on-prem.

LAWSON’S FINEST LIQUIDS

VP Marketing & Innovation – Waitsfield, VT

ALOHA BEER CO

Packaging & Quality Manager – Honolulu, HI

TWO ROBBERS

On-Prem Sales Rep – Philly

JP MORGAN hired former ARLINGTON CAPITAL ADVISORS MD Ryan Lake to head up its beverage M&A team. 

MONSTER BREWING hired Matthew Smith as its new national accounts manager, after he recently ended a stint at LEXINGTON BREWING & DISTILLING. 

• Hard Italian Soda brand BRAVAZZI is targeting 100k cases of sales in 2025, with dollar sales (+33.1%) and volume (+29.3%) YTD through August 9 in NIQ data.
• FEVER-TREE’s U.S. sales were +4% YoY in H1 25 as its partnership with MOLSON COORS also began on the national level in June. Total company revenue was basically flat in the period due to a slight dip in European sales.
• The 21ST AMENDMENT closing will result in 76 layoffs on November 4.
• CARNIVAL CRUISES is adding an adult non-alc drinking package to its offerings called CHEERS! Zero Proof.

We’re less than 3 months out from BREWBOUND LIVE – time to get those tickets for December! Plus, I’m told it’s acceptable to wear your robe down to the event if it’s before 11 a.m., aka the Zoe rule.

The team is also bringing back the one-on-one meetings with retailers once again (including WHOLE FOODS, BREAKTHRU, SUNSET 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.

SO: Book your hotel room and tickets here.

Yes, it’s time to nominate some folks for BREWBOUND Awards to be given out at this year’s BREWBOUND LIVE event.

And the categories are …

• Craft Brewery of the Year
• Large Brewery of the Year
• Beyond Beer Company of the Year
• Person of the Year
• Best New Products
• Rising Stars
• Newsletter of the year

Submit your nominees here!

This week, the BREWBOUND trio discuss:

• The summer that wasn’t in beer sales and taproom consumer trends.
• The latest news in brewery closings, including one involving a clown – like, a real one, not “clown” in the sense of how Justin refers to me.
• How The Summer I Turned Pretty is giving Zoe a taste of what it feels like to join “the olds” someday.
• Jess’ secret to canning fresh tomato sauce. Apparently it’s Sambuca. She also severely underestimates the public judgement factor around drinking in the Philly airport.

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 MOOSEHEAD, and my 19-year-old self is buying. Just make sure to call him Brian and not Sean or his ID won’t match, ya narc. 🤫

Yes, it’s time to pour out a #showerbeer in the dorm showers this week for one of Canada’s finest beverages, as MOOSEHEAD will no longer be putting its beer in bottles … a format I consumed many, many times in my sophomore year of college when I decided it was time to class things up by drinking imported beer.

Needless to say, I was very popular with the ladies … or at least my “friend” named Brian was when he was making a trip for a Friday afternoon haul. 

In retrospect, I’m also pretty certain that the main liquor store near my campus was continually discounting MOOSEHEAD, which may have also led to its popularity in my dorm fridge 🤔 – but I’m sticking with my aristocratic lifestyle narrative from 1995.

However, when only 7% of beer in Canada is now sold in bottles, vs. the 90% rate that existed in the Canada beerbiz in the early ’90s, it’s time to move on.

Thus, farewell MOOSEHEAD bottles 😢 – know that one of you will always live on in the box in my parents’ basement with my college beer bottle collection.

Slainté!

-Sean McNulty 

(you can always reach me here on LinkedIn)