Welcome to Brewbound’s Inside Look at the Beer Business for the week that was … Saturday, August 17, 2024.

The nice things about hosting a massive political convention in your state capital are that you get beers named after you … and that the mayor does most of the work anyway.

Yes, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker held events to welcome two new “JBeers” to the Chicagoland area as part of the DNC coming to town:

• A West Coast IPA from SKETCHBOOK (nice nod to Kamala Harris’ home state), 
• A Mexican lager from ALTER (which of course nods to uh, Tim Walz’s … Minnesota lineage).

The beers will also be on sale inside the UNITED CENTER for the DNC this week.

Although to note, JB’s stated preferred drink is a … KETEL ONE on the rocks with blue cheese olives.

AND: Let’s put a positive craft beer story up top here today! PA’s NEW TRAIL hasn’t had a down month in its 75 months of existence (it launched in 2018 – just savin’ ya a little Saturday math there).

86% of sales are in PA, followed by MD (7%), NJ (6%) and just-launched WV (1%). 2023 BA production numbers were at about 39k BBL total, +33% YoY, and NIQ has 52-week off-prem sales at +21.7% through the week ending July 13, with volume +39%.

Jess has more for ya here on what’s working for them and the path ahead.

GET A ROOM!: The discounted room block for BREWBOUND Live at the Marina del Rey Marriott Hotel in December is now open! If you get the room next to Justin – good news! You don’t need to use your AC, because the overflow from his igloo of a room will keep you nice and cool too.

PITCH AWAY!: Applications to compete in this year’s Pitch Slam competition are also now open through September 30 here.

Confirmed speakers include:

• 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; 
• Rebecca Maisel, GULF DISTRIBUTING SVP of legal and government affairs 

PLUS: Beer and other bev-alcohol brands can participate in retailer one-to-ones. Leaders from WHOLE FOODS, EXTRAMILE CONVENIENCE and other businesses will be available for private, pre-scheduled meetings. Brands will be selected at each retailer’s discretion. REGISTER HERE.

Sorry, hold on a sec – I think MONSTER is on line 2. But yes, TILRAY has now bought the craft brands that America’s two largest brewers no longer want.

It’s adding four of MC’s craft brands to its lineup (no price was disclosed, but let’s figure this was not “buying high”), and 2023 sales trends are noted in parentheses according to BA numbers: 

• TERRAPIN (80k BBL, -11%, peak was 2019 at 105k BBL)
• HOP VALLEY (75k BBL, -21%, peak was 2021 at 110k BBL)
• REVOLVER (28.5k BBL, -5%, peak was in 2018 at 41k BBL)
• ATWATER (15k BBL, -3%, peak was in 2015 at 48k BBL – pre MC)

ATWATER is the only brand whose sales are in the black YTD in 2024 through July 13, according to NIQ off-prem data (+7%).

These breweries produce 98% of their beer at their own locations, making for a pretty clean split from the MC infrastructure – the deal should close by the end of the month. 

The smaller of the 4 breweries here, REVOLVER and ATWATER, give TILRAY a brand & brewery presence in new states of TX and MI. TILRAY already has a large presence in GA (SWEETWATER) and the Pacific Northwest (10 BARREL, WIDMER and RED HOOK), the respective homes of TERRAPIN and HOP VALLEY.

TILRAY now has 16 craft brands in its purview, with 20 breweries across the U.S., producing 1M+ BBL of beer a year.

MC is sadly also shutting down its in-house AC COORS division in Colorado, which has made craft beer for the local CO market since 2007.

LAWSON’S FINEST LIQUIDS

Director of Brewing & Operations – Waitsfield, VT

SINGLECUT NORTH

Brewer – Clifton Park, NY

SOUTHERN BARREL

Yes, the big guy is now an investor in the business, and he’ll also be the spokesperson for the new 11% ABV Blueberry Lemonade varietal coming May 2025.

The size was not disclosed – err, meaning the 💰(I’m sure he’s still 7’1”), but he’ll get royalties from that Blueberry Lemonade line, which will then be invested into the company as equity.

Also ahead – a $38M marketing investment, and a Watermelon Lemonade flavor next spring as well. The brand is averaging triple-digit sales growth so far this year.

Oh beer, you so pricey 🤑. Beer at home sales were +4% in July, vs. the overall +2.9% CPI for the month. It also doubled the overall +2% rise for all of bev-alc at home (spirits +0.4%, wine +0.8%).

Beer was also higher away from home at +3.1%, vs. +1.9% for spirits, and +1.8% for wine.

Heck, even Justin put up a “Sean, please stop stealing my beer!” sign on his garage fridge. That Justin – such a kidder 😂.

NIQ’s VP of alcohol industry thought leadership Jon Berg joins the pod this week to talk all about:

• The growth in “flavor first” offerings and the RTD category
• What’s up for slumping craft beer sales
• His outlook for the bev-alc business for the rest of 2024 as we head into fall.

PLUS: Justin & Zoe discuss:

• The latest MONSTER numbers
• CBC’s lacking 2024 attendance
• A thorough look at the Bahamian beer biz (Zoe, did you expense this trip??), and Zoe trying to explain the concept of a tan to Justin.

• The Kremlin put the kibosh on A-B’s deal to sell its Russian business (yes, it still owns it 2+ years later) to Turkey’s EFES, according to a local report.
• MN’s FAIR STATE has emerged from the bankruptcy process, according to Twin Cities Business.
• NEW BELGIUM laid off 7 folks from its sales & marketing group as part of a restructuring.
• A-B has sold wholly owned distributors in Boston, MA, and Canton, OH.
• Oregon hop production was -18% in 2023, mirroring the trend on a national level.
• SIERRA NEVADA is collabing with BRAUEREI GUTTMAN for its 6% ABV Festbier this year. It’s also pouring the gas on its N/A beer biz – now the 4th largest N/A craft brand – with a large expansion into variety packs in the year ahead.

This week’s beer is going out to the state of Missouri. Or well, mostly the residents of Kansas City. OK, fine, mainly to one resident, that being Travis Kelce … whose GARAGE BEER is now available in the state where his NFL team plays.

So get ready for videos of shirtless Jason Kelce (is there any other kind?) chugging beers with fans in the parking lot, and I’m sure some other very creative marketing endeavors (don’t you worry Kansas – that distro is coming very soon as well, and shirtless Jason Kelce clearly knows no borders).

But, we’ll see if Travis can make Taylor’s deal to hold a can in the luxury box for the season opener on September 5 (she is notably taking all of September off from tour dates – how is this tour still going btw??). 

Fine, maybe just wear a T-shirt? Headband? Good luck, Travis.

Slainté!  

-Sean McNulty