Welcome to Brewbound’s Inside Look at the Beer Business for the week that was … Saturday, September 28, 2024.

Ah, this just in – New England loves IPA! OK, did we really need to interrupt my GIF searching for that? 🙄 That’s like telling me Justin keeps free beer in his basement fridge (see ya around 5 p.m. boss – don’t worry, I’ll let myself in).

But yes, it seems the Northeast region is responsible for all of those “IPA is dominating U.S. craft beer sales” headlines that the rest of the country has to repeatedly endure, according to a BA report:

1. Delaware: 69% of craft beer 💰 spent is on IPA
2. Connecticut: 69%
3. Vermont: 65%
4. Pennsylvania: 64%
5. New York: 62%

As for the lowest rates?

1. Wisconsin: 25% (👋Spotted Cow … and MILLER LITE)
2. Kansas: 26%
3. Utah: 29%
4. Arkansas: 34%
5. Louisiana: 34% (👋ABITA)

As for New Jersey – Jess tells me the most popular style was Nunyabizness.

BTW: Here’s where to blame for 2023’s -1% decline in craft beer volume, according to BA numbers:

• Midwest: -6%
• West: -2%
• South: -2%
• Northeast: +1%

So, you’re welcome for all of that Northeast IPA buying. Jess has ya covered here as to which tiers of breweries (regional, taproom etc) are causing the greatest declines in each region.

HEY YOU 🫵: Going to the NBWA Annual Convention in San Diego tomorrow? 

Come have a toast – if you sing the first 2 lines of the IOWA STATE fight song, Justin will give you a free beer. OK, fine, they’re all free – but Justin will also give you a heartfelt wink when he hands you one.

• Join for a happy hour at THE LOST ABBEY! Enjoy some beers and apps with the Brewbound gang from 4-6 p.m. tomorrow, Sunday, September 29 (conveniently between NFL games and before the NBWA’s opening night party!) – register for the free event here.

ALASKAN BREWING CO

Sales Representative – Minneapolis, MN

BREWDOG

Field Commercial Manager – Cleveland, OH

HI SIGN BREWING

Anyone able to find some optimism with a 31 total beer score from the NBWA’s monthly distributor survey? Yeah, me neither.

As always, above 50 means wholesalers intend to order more of a product in the month ahead, below 50 means less. Well, at-risk inventory was at least below 50 at a 47 🥳.

Outside of imports – no one’s ordering more of anything … and the only segment to show an improvement YoY is FMB/hard seltzer, which I think pretty much says it all.

As for craft, with a 21 score – I think we’re just a few ticks away from distributors just giving craft beer away at this point

Three news items at craft beer’s favorite “hey, u still buyin?” text recipient this week … so let’s lay ‘em all out here.

• TILRAY is launching 4 different new, 5mg THC-canned drink brands in October across 9 states – click here if you want to try and remember their names for some reason. Keep me posted who wins.
  
• TILRAY is scaling back production at its BRECKENRIDGE BREWERY Fort Collins, CO brewery to distribute it across other TILRAY brewery locations, and more layoffs are thus expected at the company.
• NO-LI and TILRAY settled their lawsuit over the name Big Juicy, which TILRAY attempted to put on a beer from REDHOOK. No word on the settlement, but the matter is closed. They also said I could keep my Big Juicy tattoo, which is good because its location would have made it very painful to remove 🤫.

Non-alc MICH ULTRA Zero anyone? Let the jokes fly about how close the beer already is to water – but tired humor aside, this new NA entry is coming in at 29 calories (ATHLETIC Lite is 25 calories).

So, it looks like the braintrust at A-B had a pow-wow, oh … 2+ years after pouring a bunch of money and resources into BUD ZERO, and said, “Hey wait – what if we did this with like, our most popular and growing brand … instead of one that is in secular decline?”

See folks? They got there eventually, and a kudos to intern Kevin for the idea – free case of BUD LIGHT NEXT is coming your way buddy! MICH ULTRA Zero launches in January (Kev knows his way around a sales research report). 

Question is, do you give this prime NFL Playoffs ad inventory time?

Brewbound’s 2024 Best Of Awards are open for nominations here. 

If you see an entry for “Tastes Great or Less Filling?” – know that I was sadly not paid by MC to do so, but just couldn’t resist the temptation.

The BREWBOUND crew definitely went for extra credit this week … doing two pods! Gotta amortize those fancy microphone costs, folks. 🫰

First up is NBWA prez & CEO Craig Purser, giving a preview of the big convention kicking off tomorrow night in San Diego.

Listen here!

Next up, we have NBWA SVP and COO Kimberly McKinnish who dives into all details on MAKING MOVES, the two-day event immediately following the NBWA convention with panels, presentations and networking events to help women advance their careers in the beer industry.

Listen here!

• FX MATT is getting into the mimosa game – it bought OHZA, a MA-based canned mimosa and sangria brand. No word on a pricetag.
• TRULY is also introducing a “brunch pack” with mimosa, bellini and sangria-style hard seltzers … and of course a rosé, because TRULY can’t help being basic (Zoe – that’s the right word, no?)
• A-B is launching GOLDEN ROAD Belgian White (err, made in the U.S.) nationally on draft next year, with sights on becoming the No. 1 player in the on-prem wheat beer game, according to Beer Marketer’s Insights … so look out, SHOCK TOP! OK, fine, more like ALLAGASH and BLUE MOON.
• DIAGEO bought non-alc spirits brand RITUAL ZERO to add to its NA portfolio, which also includes SEEDLIP. No price was disclosed.
• If you have a few bucks 💵 to help – a KICKSTARTER has been launched to help the brewing staff let go by NYC’s TORCH & CROWN brewing, who were laid off without notice, severance or PTO pay out this month.
• The parent company of the ISELLBEER off-prem distributor-centered data tracking firm is being sued by BEHOLD BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE, founded by former COOP ALE WORKS exec Sean Mossman for allegedly lifting trade secrets from the beta version of a new BEHOLD product to incorporate into ISELLBEER’s new product release.
• The parent company of San Diego’s contract-brewed LATITUDE 33 (17K BBL in 2023 according to BA numbers) acquired THORN BREWING (5,400 BBL in 2023), according to San Diego Beer News – although THORN’s taprooms are not included.
• CONSTELLATION picked up +1.3 share points in the off-prem beer category this year through September 8 to 19.51%, according to new CIRCANA data, putting it at #2 behind A-B … and ahead of MC at 18.25%. However, MC beats CONSTELLATION in the grocery channel – CONSTELLATION leads in c-stores.

The discounted room block for BREWBOUND LIVE at the Marina del Rey Marriott Hotel on Dec 11 & 12 is now open! If you see Justin walking around in his robe on your floor on his way to the vending machine, be sure to tell him how sharp it looks – he always takes pride in getting it freshly cleaned and pressed right before he flies from Iowa.

Also – register now here!

NEW SPEAKER, WHO DIS? Here are the latest industry speaker additions to the lineup!

• Rebecca Maisel, GULF DISTRIBUTING SVP legal and government affairs;
• Lauren Doll-Sheeder, DOLL DISTRIBUTING managing partner;
• Jennifer Grant, MARKSTEIN Sales general manager and VP;
• Zech Francis, BEATBOX Beverages SVP of global marketing;
• Rebecca Dye Yonushonis, NEW BELGIUM BREWING CMO;
• Lindsay Kunkle, FORESIGHT FACTORY director, head of U.S. Consultancy.

They join previously confirmed speakers:

• 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 Bump Williams Consulting;
• Natalie Cilurzo, RUSSIAN RIVER co-owner;
• Peter Skrbek, CEO Deschutes Brewery;
• Lester Jones, NBWA chief economist and VP of analytics; 
• Jennifer Hauke, DRAFTLINE TECHNOLOGIES founder and president; 

This week’s beer goes out to Germany on two fronts. First, good on Oktoberfest for selling NA beer at 16 of the 18 tents this year, including WEIHENSTEPHAN – a brewery where 10% of its volume is now non-alc beer.

The second is for the Germans keeping it real when it comes to their world-renowned friendly branding – which was in full effect when naming the “Die Null” district in Munich … which no, is not a cemetery as one may be led to believe. 🤔

Rather, that’s the name the city gave to the non-alc beer garden it set up near its central train station this summer, which translates to … “The Zero,” which is also a totally #FreeIdea for a new ESPN channel name.

Either way, prost 🍻 as you enter your 2nd weekend of beer’s greatest annual celebration, and Americans – remember if your server asks you if you want “Die Null” … it’s far less dire than it sounds. 

Also, I think A-B may have totally missed on a winning name for that new MICH ULTRA NA beer.

Slainté!  

-Sean McNulty