Welcome to Brewbound’s Inside Look at the Beer Business for the week that was … Saturday, November 9, 2024.

Here at the end of election week … it’s much better when it’s beer that is seeing its extremes are widening. 

BWC broke out the growing divide in ABV preferences in the U.S. since 2022, for sales through Oct. 20 via NIQ data:

• 8%+ ABV beers grew 1 share point to 7% of total beer sales
• 0% to 3.9% ABV beers grew an 0.8 share point to 3.9% of total beer sales

Hmm, we just can’t agree on anything these days, can we – well, other than that IOWA STATE is having a heck of a football season this year, amirite? (look – you folks have your bosses, I have mine).

AND: Beer peeps, if it makes you feel any better – the wine folks aren’t exactly killin’ it either these days. Here are some global wine consumption comps from the INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF WINE AND VINE:

• 2017: 240M HL
• 2023: 221M HL

That’s about uh, 3.5 billion fewer bottles of wine out of the market in 6 years 🤯.

PLUS: The BI reported that cans bumped up their share of packaging a bit in 2023:

• Cans: 64.1.% (+1.2%)
• Bottles: 26.9% (-1.2%)
• Draft: 8.9% (-0.1%)
• Just pour it right into my mouth from the fermenter: 0.0002%

Ladies and gentlemen, meet the PINE HOBO! Eh, worth a shot. 

Alas, there is no new name for this combined entity (although they’re welcome to PINE HOBO), created by combining two New England breweries each producing around 17K BBL a year (although LORD HOBO was doing 47K back in 2019).

No financial details are available, other than that the deal should close here in Q4, and that VALTERRA PARTNERS, a PE backer of LORD HOBO, is the principal investor in the new combo.

MC will shut down LEINIE brewing operations at its Chippewa Falls, WI brewery – the town where the brewery was founded 157 years ago. That LEINIE brewing will shift to MC facilities in Milwaukee, which already makes 75% of the brand’s beer.

• The LEINIE Lodge and pilot brewery will remain in operation in Chippewa Falls.

MC is also saying farewell to brewing at its TENTH STREET brewery in Milwaukee on Jan. 17 after the recent sale of the remaining breweries in that division.

90 folks will be out of a job as a result of both decisions.

AND:

Over at A-B, say farewell to WICKED WEED’s Funkatorium sour and barrel-aged beer facility in Asheville, along with its Cultura restaurant. Or at least they’re now “indefinitely closed” with all employees laid off and no timeline to come back online, although an A-B spokesperson says the plan is to reopen.

ALLAGASH BREWING CO

SoCal Territory Sales Mgr – L.A. or Orange, CA

4 HANDS BREWING

Key Account Manager – St. Louis, MO

RIGHT COAST BRANDS

HOP WTR hired JUNESHINE exec Elizabeth Isenbart as its new VP of Sales.

TILRAY hired former BLUE POINT GM Carrie Shafir to head up marketing for ATWATER, MONTAUK, BLUE POINT, SWEETWATER and TERRAPIN. 

Here’s your sales snapshot for Q3 at MC #HeyThatRhymes:

• Global: -7.8% ($3.04B)
• Americas: -10.7% ($2.34B)
• EMEA: +3.8% ($704M)

Overall Q3 profitability before taxes was $480M, -8.7% YoY.

As for the U.S. business – oof, -17.9% in shipments. Basically, there was a big depletions drop (-6.2%), and the quarter featured the winding down of a contract brewing agreement with Pabst and some unfavorable shipment timing.

Canada was actually +3.9% in depletions thanks to growth in the above premium sector, and EMEA was -1.8%.

Thus, MC also revised its 2024 sales guidance from low-mid single digits to … approximately -1%. 😳

Yeah, this business is still bottoming out. The company also restructured senior management in the division.

As for what’s behind the -6% decrease (to $39.8M), they uh, sold less product. Yup, that’ll do it.

HIGHLAND BREWING owner and CEO Leah Wong Ashburn joins the pod from Asheville, NC this week to update the status of how the region’s hurricane recovery is going in the beer biz and beyond.

• She also has some great advice for breweries in regards to checking just exactly what they’re insured for … and what isn’t covered. Highly recommended for any brewery owner.

PLUS: Zoe was too cool for school this week (just kidding, she was on the road), so Justin & Jess break down the industry news to know, including:

• What was up at the MASS. CRAFT BREWERS GUILD’s annual meeting;
• A farewell to a REVOLUTION institution;
• A change at the top in the cider world;
• And I think Justin may have accidentally bought a brewery in Iowa, but it’s entirely possible I was distracted while listening to that part.

Listen here!

• REYES added over 2M sq. ft. of new warehouse facility space in 2024, with the majority centered in Northern CA, according to Beer Marketers’ Insights.
• Iowa’s BACKPOCKET Brewing acquired IA’s first 100% women-owned brewery, PEACE TREE. No financial aspects were revealed.
• ALLAGASH is expanding distro to Minnesota.
• Milwaukee’s MOBCRAFT is being sold to … someone on Dec. 1. It made about 3,700 BBL in 2023, according to BA numbers, +27% over 2022.

Book your room for BREWBOUND LIVE at the Marina del Rey Marriott Hotel on Dec 11 & 12 is now open! If you hear Zoe speaking from the stage in an Irish accent on Day 2, know that she lost the bet she made with me on the CELTICS game the day before.

Quite a lineup here folks – all in one place! 

AND: DOGFISH HEAD founder Sam Calagione was just announced for a fireside chat with Justin (Mrs. Brewbound – please make sure Justin packs his nice cardigan and blazer with the leather elbow patches).

Sam of course joins an 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 is going out to the crew at the KIRKLAND beer department! Oh, uh, Jess said she would also like to send her regards to the wine department folks too 🍷, so consider that message delivered.

But according to VinePair, move over Bourbon County – it seems KIRKLAND is scoring this fall with its barrel-aged Vintage Ale stout! The folks at DESCHUTES helped the COSTCO folks in selecting just the right ale and aging process, as well as uh, making the beer, of course. Although the way brewing equipment is going these days – it can’t be too long before there is a used fermenter section at COSTCOs.

As for the reasons for the success – perhaps it’s the finely tuned classic barrel-aging, perhaps it’s the fact that the 12% ABV beer comes in something called a … bomber (🤷‍♂️).

Although call me crazy if you must, but I’m thinking the $10 a bottle price point for 22 oz. of 12% ABV beer is also giving this phenomenon a nudge. Regardless, enjoy your new holiday traditions, COSTCO members – even if you may not remember them entirely.

Slainté!  

-Sean McNulty