• 🍻 A Round With J.C. Hill of Alvarado Street
• 🏭 Athletic Purchases Former Ballast Point Facility
• 📉 Circana: A-B Declines Decelerate Thru Late May
• 🎁 Beer Tops List of Bev-Alc Father’s Day Buys
• 🇺🇸 Hulk Hogan Launches Real American Lager
• 🎙️ Podcast: Burial Beer’s Doug Reiser

 The latest installment of Brewbound’s A Round With – a weekly Insider-exclusive Q&A series with industry leaders – features J.C. Hill, founder and brewmaster of Alvarado Street Brewery in Salinas, California. 

J.C. discusses what he’s learned in 10 years of brewing craft beer on California’s central coast and the “boringly civil” conversations he has with his business partner, his dad. 

Here is a snippet of the Q&A:

Alvarado Street is celebrating a decade in business this year. What do you think is the secret to your sticking power?

J.C.: I'm super grateful we've made it 10 years. I'd have to say a combination of talented, zealous co-workers, occasionally good timing, and a bit of luck. Just following our instincts and focusing on quality. That's a tough question, and I wish I knew the answer to guide us for the next 10 years.

You founded the brewery in partnership with your dad. What’s it like running a company with him?

J.C.: It's been great working with my father over the years – without his guidance and leadership we'd probably still be in our original location (which would have been totally fine!). 

He comes from an architecture and construction background, so when the opportunity to expand locations has presented itself over the years, he's made it a fairly easy process by helping us navigate the red tape and reduce our soft and planning costs. And he's designed some beautiful venues, of course. 

We see eye to eye on most aspects of the business, which keeps things boringly civil around the dinner table.

Alvarado Street has been brewing Monterey Beer, an American lager with vintage-feeling branding, since 2018. Retro lagers are all the rage these days. How does it feel to be a frontrunner? 

J.C.: That's definitely a trend we can get behind! Sometimes there's a bit of palate fatigue from all the excess hopping, fruiting and that whole aspect of what we do in craft, but a well made all-malt lager is something we've always strived for in our offerings. 

It's brewed out of necessity, really. It's our selfish brewer beer, but can also cater to a wide audience. 

Insiders can read more about Alvarado Street’s hospitality strategy and the best business advice J.C.’s gotten.

Want to hear even more from J.C.? Check out his interview with Brewbound reporter Zoe Licata after Alvarado Street was named a Brewbound Rising Star in 2023.

The mystery surrounding who would take over the now former Ballast Point production facility in San Diego is officially over.

When Ballast Point owners Kings and Convicts announced in April that they had ceased production at the Miramar facility, whispers pointed to dedicated non-alcoholic (NA) beer maker Athletic Brewing Company taking over the space. The speculation proved true.

Athletic announced today that it has purchased the San Diego facility, adding its second production brewery in the city – and its second former Ballast Point facility following the 2020 acquisition of the assets of the former Ballast Point “Trade Street” brewery.

Athletic senior communications manager Chris Furnari told Brewbound that the company “evaluated a number of investment opportunities — including greenfields and renovations — in a variety of markets across the country. Ultimately, this opportunity proved to be the most sustainable approach for our team.”

The San Diego breweries are neighbors, with the new facility at 9045 Carroll Way mere feet away from the Trade Street brewery. Although Athletic did not disclose the sum for which it purchased the brewery, the Carroll Way brewery and its land were assessed at $18.6 million in 2023, according to County of San Diego assessor/recorder/clerk Jordan Z. Marks. 

At the 107,000 sq. ft. Carroll Way facility, Athletic will have access to 300- and 150-barrel brewhouses. The building also houses a Ballast Point taproom, which will remain open while Athletic renovates the building over the next year and a half.

The addition of Carroll Way brings Athletic’s annual capacity to 1 million barrels. The company can produce 400,000 barrels at Carroll Way, 150,000 barrels at Trade Street, and 450,000 barrels at its brewery in Milford, Connecticut, Furnari said.

The planned renovations to Carroll Way would bring the facility’s capacity to 750,000 barrels, which would elevate Athletic’s overall bicoastal production capacity to 1.35 million barrels. 

Insiders can read more about Athletic’s plans for the facility and its 2024 trends.

Anheuser-Busch InBev’s (A-B) trends continue to improve in the latest monthly off-premise scans report from market research firm Circana. Meanwhile, positive growth trends for Molson Coors and Constellation Brands – the two largest gainers from A-B’s declines – decelerated, according to data through May 19.

Dollar sales for A-B’s portfolio, which is still the No. 1 overall beer vendor in Circana-tracked off-premise channels (total U.S. multi-outlet plus convenience) year-to-date (YTD), have now declined -8.7%, while volume has declined -9.4%. In the last four weeks (L4W), A-B dollar sales (-1.8%) and volume (-2.8%) declines were significantly smaller, and were actually less than declines for competitor Molson Coors. 

Molson Coors dollar sales declined -7.1% in the last four weeks, and volume declined -8.3%. In the previous four-week period, Molson Coors dollar sales were flat YoY (-0.1%), while volume declined -1.5%. The recent declines saw Molson Coors drop back to the No. 3 beer vendor by dollar sales, with YTD dollar sales increasing +6.6% and volume +5.4%. 

Constellation Brands, back at No. 2, increased dollar sales +5.7% and volume +4.5% in the L4W, and has now increased dollar sales +8% and volume +7% YTD. While outpacing Molson Coors, Constellation’s growth decelerated slightly versus the previous four-week period, which saw YoY dollar sales and volume growth of +6.5% and +5.1%, respectively

Constellation is also outpacing Molson Coors in c-stores, increasing dollar sales +4.6% in the L4W and +10.1% YTD. Molson Coors c-store dollar sales declined -8.9% YoY in the L4W and are up +2.5% YTD. 

Of the 10 vendors to record dollar sales gains in the L4W in c-stores, four recorded double- or triple-digit gains: Kirin-Lion/New Belgium (dollar sales +18.3%, volume +17%); Monster Brewing (dollar sales +56.6%, volume +57.7%); AriZona Beverages (dollar sales +224.9%, volume +200.9%); and Happy Dad (dollar sales +85%, volume +82.8%). 

Insiders can read much more, including more context on c-store beer vendor movement, trends in grocery, and L4W performances for beer segments across all channels.

More than three-quarters (76%) of people who plan to make bev-alc purchases for Father’s Day will buy beer, according to market research firm Numerator.

Wine and spirits trailed beer with 36% of consumers planning to buy each.

Hulk Hogan is getting into the beer business, lending his name and image to Real American Beer, a new light lager brand that launched Thursday at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. 

Hogan, the 1980s and 1990s professional wrestling star, is partnering with Terri Francis, who previously worked at Anheuser-Busch InBev’s innovation arm, ZX Ventures, as global VP and general counsel for investments and new business. 

Francis is serving as CEO of Real American Beer, with Hogan (real name Terry Bollea) serving as founder and “majority owner” of the business. 

She told Brewbound: “He's just so deeply passionate about it. He shows up to all the wholesaler meetings, he shows up to all the retailer meetings, nothing is too much. There's no restriction on his time.”

Real American Beer (4.2% ABV), named for the Rick Derringer song that became Hogan’s entrance theme, will be sold in 12 oz. can 6-, 12- and 24-packs. Francis expects to add a 24 oz. single-serve can when the brand rolls out in Texas, as well as draft with increased on-trade interest.

Francis said: “What we’re doing is creating an everyman beer from an everyman hero. We really want to get back to this idea of beer being simple. It doesn’t need to be complicated. It doesn’t need to stand for anything. It can just be good times.”

The beer will be distributed across 17 states, with retail placements in ABC Fine Wine & Spirits, Albertsons, Safeway, Sam’s Club, Total Wine & More, Walmart and U.S. military bases, as well as on-premise venues such as Hard Rock Hotels and Casinos and select Hooters locations. 

Additional launch events include Minnesota (June 17), Missouri (June 20) and Colorado (June 24), with the beer distributed by Breakthru Beverage. 

Insiders can read more about Real American Beer’s strategy, Hogan’s adoption of a “moderation lifestyle” and potential portfolio additions.

Burial Beer Company’s Doug Reiser discusses the culmination of a three-year project to open a rooftop wine bar for the company’s Visuals wine brand in Asheville, North Carolina. 

For Burial, it’s about creating “immersive experiences” at its venues, Reiser explains. He discusses reviving once-abandoned spaces, how the company got into beer and then moved into the wine space and how much overlap there is between the company’s beer drinkers and wine consumers.

But first, Jess, Zoe and Justin also discuss the news, including the key pieces Anchor Brewing is going to need in its resurrection. They also discuss the effectiveness of Brooklyn Brewery’s European ad campaign, and pour over Voodoo Ranger’s scans trends, with some brands in decline and others still on the ascent.

Listen here or on your podcast platform of choice.

Brewbound is excited to announce three additional speakers for the Brewbound Live business conference December 11 and 12 in Marina del Rey, California. 

The two-day conference will bring together leaders from all three tiers for business-focused conversations on driving the bev-alc industry forward, data presentations, networking and brand building at the Marina del Rey Marriott. 

Joining the speaker roster are:

• Arthur Moye, owner and CEO of Full Circle Brewing;
• Kaleigh Theriault, director of thought leadership, beverage alcohol vertical, NIQ;
• Brian “BK” Krueger, VP of business development and portfolio strategies, Bump Williams Consulting.

They join previously announced speakers include: 

• Natalie Cilurzo, co-owner, Russian River Brewing;
• Peter Skrbek, CEO, Deschutes Brewery;
• Lester Jones, chief economist and VP of analytics, National Beer Wholesalers Association;
• Jennifer Hauke, founder and president, Draftline Technologies.

Additional speakers will be announced in the coming weeks. Interested in speaking? Follow this link to see our speaker guidelines. 

In addition to the mainstage programming and networking parties, Brewbound Live will feature opportunities for one-to-one conversations between brewers and bev-alc brands and retail buyers from chains such as Whole Foods Market. Registered attendees will be considered for meetings with buyers, as space is limited. Find out more details here.

Brewbound Live tickets are available now.