Welcome to Brewbound’s Inside Look at the Beer Business for the week that was … Saturday, November 30, 2024.

Folks, we’ve had a lot of advancements in craft beer over the years (flaked oats – who knew?), but like many other sectors in life, the folks north of the border are showing us how it’s done.

ONTARIO RACING is celebrating the release of a new UNFILTERED documentary project by partnering with local brewery AVLING to finally create a beer so that you too can feel like a horse when having a cold one. 

Yes, meet UNFILTERED Champion Ale … brewed using the very same high-quality barley that the Canadian champion racehorses eat, eh? And it’s unfiltered so you can cross the finish line at home with the breath of a racehorse, which I’m sure your significant other will love.

“Honey, were you at the track again?” “No, honey, I was out being a Champion.” Eh, maybe make sure the spare winter sheets are handy for the champion living room couch just in case.

AND: SAZERAC has over 500 spirits, beer and wine brands, and has closed 70 deals over the past decade. Somewhere in the distance, TILRAY is giving a tip of the cap -- with TILRAY CEO Irwin Simon telling the WSJ this week that “I’m either real smart, or real dumb” in regards to his craft beer-centric growth strategy.

• TILRAY is on track to sell a little over 1M BBL this year across all of its brands.

HUH: MOLSON COORS is buying a craft brewery. Guys – pick a lane, eh? Although this one is a small one (roughly 500 BBL) near the company’s headquarters in Chicago called CRUZ BLANCA, according to Doug Veliky’s Beer Crunchers newsletter. 

• The company is primarily a taproom/brewpub business, although has also done some contract brewing … actually with former MC brand REVOLVER, so the two companies have broadly been in business before.

Kind of ironic that getting bought by a foreign company is the thing that’s ending one’s international beer distribution 🤔 … but yes, SAPPORO said it is ceasing the international distro of STONE beers come January.

Although when you’re only selling 1% of your beer across 20 territories … and closed your China and Germany locations (oh yeah, remember that one?) – I gotta go with SAPPORO on this call.

This is more to send a prost🍻 to NC’s OLDE MECKLENBURG, who is partnering on a new beer with an even older Mecklenburg. 

The brewery is collabing with Germany’s Störtebeker Braumanufaktur (yeah I totally just cut and pasted that from Jess’ story vs. re-typing it) based in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (yeah, cut and paste there too).

They made a new black lager that came out yesterday (Black Friday), celebrating the German traditions of both breweries. 

The 3rd OLDE MECK location in progress about 15 miles outside of Charlotte should open later in 2025 or early 2026.

The brewery is on track for about 20K BBL this year, which would be +15% from last year, according to BA data. Although dollar sales are -4.5% through September this year, according to CIRCANA data.

STONEFACE BREWING CO

Territory Manager – Massachusetts

BOTTLE LOGIC & ANOMALY

ANOMALY Sales Manager – Anywhere

WILD GOOSE FILLING

“Never say never.”

- CONSTELLATION beer biz prez Jim Sabia at the Beer Marketer’s Insights confab when asked about Super Bowl advertising, saying while there will be no Super Bowl ad for MODELO this year, who knows about the years ahead.

Although he did indicate that you’ll never see a spirits-based brand extension of MODELO, so we can say never about that one apparently.

Well, let’s start with the good-ish news. Total beer was at 50, which is at least +8 points from October, even if it’s at a break-even point overall. At-risk inventory was at 49.

As always, above 50 indicates wholesalers intend to order more of a category, under 50 means less.

Imports continued to be the only category above a 50 at 64.

Below Premium was next at a 50 – the 6th month it has shown growth vs. the year before, which is the first time that’s happened in the history of the BPI … with one more month to go. #ItsTheEconomyStupid

As for craft … just, oof. An 18 is the category’s lowest score ever on the BPI except for April 2020 (14). Gotta feel for any sales reps looking to sell in any new craft products with a distributor right now.

The BREWBOUND crew talk all things:

• BA cuts and executive re-org
• The change at the top at LAGUNITAS
• The change abroad for STONE
• How much suntan lotion Justin should pack for BREWBOUND LIVE in a couple weeks (as well as what they’re looking forward to at the event).

Listen here!

• WREXHAM LAGER from Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney hits shelves in 29 states this week in TOTAL WINE & MORE stores. The brewery’s lineage dates back to 1882 in the U.K.
• Employees at WI’s LAKEFRONT BREWING are seeking employer recognition for their union, which 70% of the brewery’s eligible workers signed authorization to join.

Book your room for BREWBOUND LIVE at the Marina del Rey Marriott Hotel on Dec 11 & 12 is now open! Where, if during a conversation with Jess, she says “Sorry can you excuse me for a little bit? I need to check on something with the production team,” know that she’s totally going to sit by the pool to dip her feet in and get a little sun.

Quite a lineup here folks – all in one place! 

DOGFISH HEAD founder Sam Calagione recently joined the already stellar lineup of speakers:

• Jessica Fierro, ATREVIDA Beer Co owner and head brewer; 
• Christian McMahan, SUNTORY RTD Company North America chief growth officer;
• Satoru Shimizu, SUNTORY RTD Company North America, president;
• Scott Selix, CLIMBING KITES co-founder;
• Aaron Vargas, BACKPOCKET Brewing managing director;
• Amy Cartwright, INDEPENDENCE BREWING co-founder;
• Chris Herron, BEVSTRATEGY LLC and CREATURE COMFORTS co-founder;
• 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;
• Rob Tod, ALLAGASH Brewing founder
• Karen Hertz, HOLIDAILY Brewing founder
• Paul Verdu, WISCONSIN Brewing Co. president
• Day Bracey, BARREL & FLOW Fest founder
• Lindsay Kunkle, FORESIGHT FACTORY director, head of U.S. Consultancy;
• Rebecca Dye Yonushonis, NEW BELGIUM BREWING CMO;
• Mary Mills, consultant for 3 Tier Beverages;
• Julie Rhodes, consultant, NOT YOUR HOBBY MARKETING SOLUTIONS
• 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 Justin, so that he gets me this awesome beer tower for Christmas from the folks at MOLSON COORS, who have outdone themselves this year.

I mean – it’s a total steal at just $250, and made in a very limited quantity (you'd think Justin knows someone at MC to hook this up, right?). 

I can’t wait to see the look in my sister’s eyes when I bring this over on Christmas Day for the family dinner gathering (she’ll understand that I don’t have room for it in my NYC apartment) – although I’m pretty sure my niece in college may be more excited for it.

Either way – a great way to share holiday cheer with family and friends, and just know that the look in their eyes … is one of envy.

Slainté and Happy Thanksgiving weekend!  

-Sean McNulty