Welcome to Brewbound’s Inside Look at the Beer Business for the week that was … Saturday, October 5, 2024.

Folks, October is upon us – and you can just feel the excitement in the Jess Infante household for the influx of tourists about to overrun Salem, MA, with candy-fueled glee, tacky witch hats, freewheeling money and … noise.

But don’t worry, Jess – SAM ADAMS has ya covered with this new at-home séance kit to escape it all and connect with Salem residents of yore … or maybe even Sam himself! Just be ready for a lotta questions about WTF is going on with all of these things called FMBs and hard seltzers.

SURE WHY NOT 🤷: CACTI is back, and now branded as a hard seltzer and not an “agave spiked seltzer.” A-B is also no longer involved – Travis Scott now owns the business himself, according to the business rep on the floor at the NBWA Annual Convention. 

A-B of course halted the fast-growing brand in 2021, after the tragedy at Travis’ Astroworld Fest. 

So, anyone up for a yellow, fizzy beer? STONE’s new Japanese ownership sure hopes so, as STONE PILSNER will hit shelves nationwide next year, as part of a “return to core” approach the brewery is taking. Enjoy By series – it’s been real ✌️.

The co-founder who left the brewery earlier this year has set up BEVSTRATEGY LLC alongside longtime business partner Seth Herman, and will serve as the Southern wing of IA-based THC drink maker CLIMBING KITES, with ambitions to grow the business further.

The company has set about 20 distribution agreements with A-B distributors so far in the South over the past two months.

As for the shift from beer into THC products, Herron is excited by the vegan and gluten-free aspects as well as the no sugar or calories elements, saying “When we ignore what the consumer tastes are, we’re Blockbuster.” Wait, did something happen to Blockbuster? 🫣

“People have food to put on the table, gas in the car. They go out maybe once for a bite to eat. Alcohol is way down their list now.”

- HEINEKEN USA CEO Maggie Timoney at the NBWA convention this week, laying out a litany of competitive factors she sees hurting beer sales in 2024 … from online gambling, health & wellness trends, video gaming, food, gas and – honestly, I lost track after a while. 

Really hope “reading newsletters” wasn’t on there 😬.

STARR HILL BREWERY

Director of Sales – Crozet, VA

BLACKHORSE BREWERY

Brewer – Alcoa, TN

BREWDOG

As always, CONSTELLATION lives on their own time – so our Q3 is their Q2 for … FY25, because BALLAST POINT changed all of the calendars at headquarters when they were excommunicated and CONSTELLATION still hasn’t recovered from the prank.

The Q2 beer numbers:

• Shipments (sales to wholesalers): +4.6% (vs. +7.6% in Q1)
• Depletions (sales to retailers): +2.4% (vs. +6.4% in Q1)

So yeah, summer wasn’t that great for CONSTELLATION either 😏. Otherwise, here’s your net sales picture for FY25:

• Q2: +6% to $2.5B
• Q1 & Q2: +7% to $4.8B

The BREWBOUND crew are freshly back from the NBWA conference, and boy are their kidneys tired. Actually I’d be surprised if Justin had more than 3 beers a day at that thing, otherwise he wouldn’t have made this podcast … but I digress.

Get all the insight from the floor, how the panels and speeches were received, WTF was up with all of this unexpected gaming and gambling talk, and much more.

Listen here!

According to CIRCANA data, here is your craft sales data YTD through September 8:

• Sales: -3.7%
• Volume: -5.3%

L4W through September 8:

• Sales: -5%
• Volume: -6.6%

This is a North Carolina updates edition:

• NEW BELGIUM’s Asheville brewery “suffered significant water damage” according to a spokesperson, and will need time before coming back fully online … but thankfully the facility was not breached by flood waters, and all of their staff are safe. Unsurprisingly, production delays are expected over the next several weeks. 
• Asheville’s NEW ORIGIN brewing was not as fortunate, as the entire facility was wiped away, and they cannot rebuild on the site. It started a GOFUNDME here if you have the means to help.
• HIGHLAND BREWING is still closed, without power or water.
• HI-WIRE BREWING’s Asheville headquarters was underwater last Friday, and they now believe it is likely a total loss for the brewery.
• BURIAL BEER is also still without water or power, but has hosted a free cookout for the community.

The discounted room block for BREWBOUND LIVE at the Marina del Rey Marriott Hotel on Dec 11 & 12 is now open! If you get a prank call at 1 a.m. asking if your refrigerator is running, know that either Zoe can’t sleep, or Jess’ body clock has gone way off the rails due to not having to live on toddler time. 

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.

Gonna give out two beers this week, and the first goes to Gen Z, because after reading all of the NBWA convention coverage this week – it sounds like they need it.

If you’re looking for what I think is a larger, far more important indicator as to why beer sales and the on-premise continue to have challenges in 2024, four years post-COVID-19 … besides online gambling or uh, buying gas that is – I highly recommend this WSJ read about the social habits of Gen Z, particularly young men.

This stat from the American Time Use survey data really stood out most:

• Hours spent alone in a day is +18% since COVID for everyone 18-30, with men in the category outpacing women in “alone time” by +22% a day.
• ALSO: 20% of men 25-34 still live with their parents, according to the 2023 U.S. Census.

I don’t know about you, but if I was still living at home in my late 20s with mom and dad, and spending more time alone each day, I probably would have been drinking a lot less too. 

Think we may need to change Gen Alpha to Gen Alone.

The second beer this week goes out to JOLLY PUMPKIN founder Ron Jeffries, who died this week in Hawai’i. 

Ron and his wife Laurie launched the lauded MI brewery 20 years ago, and recently moved on to Hawaii to fulfill a lifelong dream to live the island life. The Jeffries family launched HOLOHOLO BREWING on the island of Hawai’i. 

So, here’s to dreams pursued, folks 🍻 – whether in beer or otherwise. None of us are getting any younger, so let Ron’s life be an inspiration to get moving on whatever aspirations your life may have.

Slainté!  

-Sean McNulty 

(you can always reach me here on LinkedIn)