• 👩🏻‍💻 Danelle Kosmal to Join 3 Tier Beverages
• 🧑‍⚖️ FTC Seeks Enforcement of Investigative Demand Against Total Wine
• 🏃‍♀️ Athletic Upside Dawn Added to TGI Fridays Menu
• 🥊 Bud Light Pens Multiyear Partnership with UFC
• 🎸 Sammy Hagar Launches Red Rocker Brewing Co.
• 🧔‍♂️ Mark Beaver Joins Saucy Brew Works
• 📈 New Belgium's C-Store Growth Continues

You’ve probably heard it a thousand times. Read your malt certificate of analysis. Read your COA! Read your COA! Read your COA! But why? After all, malt is malt, right? Especially once you have your brewhouse dialed in. Well, there is a lot more to malt than meets the eye, and much of the information on a malt’s COA relates to how well things do or don’t work in the brewhouse. Learn more

 Nearly three months after announcing her departure from the Beer Institute (BI), former VP of research Danelle Kosmal will join 3 Tier Beverages as a consultant. 

Kosmal and her family are moving to Japan in December for a two- to three-year stay while her husband works with the Office of Naval Research Global in Tokyo. 

The work she’ll do with 3 Tier harkens to her tenure at NIQ, where she spent more than a decade and her most recent title was VP of bev-alc practice, but with a more boutique feel, she told Brewbound.

Kosmal said: “I’ll probably work with brewers and suppliers that are smaller than I've worked with in the past, and I think that's really interesting. What's happening with those small brewers is so drastically different in some cases of bigger brewers or even large craft brewers – what their biggest needs are and what their biggest solutions might be.

“There might be people at their brewery that are doing so many different types of jobs and they just don't have someone that’s dedicated to analytics, somebody that can think about their business that way. That's going to be exciting, to be able to be that person.”

Kosmal spent slightly more than two years at the BI, the trade group that represents the nation’s largest brewers, importers and beer industry suppliers.

Chicago-based 3 Tier’s clients include 83 breweries, 50 winemakers and 54 spirits brands. It provides sales data reporting and consulting to suppliers across bev-alc and non-alc beverages and distributors via partnerships with NIQ and VIP. 

Since beer industry vets Donn Bichsel and Joe Sepka founded the firm in 2020, 3 Tier’s team has expanded to include 12 professionals whose careers include time at suppliers and data firms. 

Kosmal said: “It's a really fabulous mix of people that have been around for years and people that are somewhat new to the industry that are coming in with a new and fresh perspective that I’ll learn from.”

Brewbound Insiders can read more about Kosmal's move and three more 3 Tier hires here.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and national bev-alc retailer Total Wine & More are at odds over the chain’s participation in the government agency’s investigation of multi-state wine and spirits wholesaler Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits.

Last week, the FTC petitioned the U.S. District Court Eastern District of Virginia to enforce a civil investigative demand (CID) against Total Wine, which it said the retailer “has failed to comply with” “for more than four months,” according to a press release.

The FTC wrote in a press release: “Total Wine has categorically refused to search any employee-maintained files for documents and information needed to address the FTC’s CID and has failed to assert any valid reason for its refusal to comply. Total Wine’s actions have impeded and delayed the FTC’s investigation, forcing the Commission to seek federal court enforcement.”

In a statement, Retail Services & Systems, inc. (RSSI), Total Wine’s parent company, said it “made substantial efforts to cooperate with the FTC’s investigation and respond in good faith to most of its data and document requests.”

Those efforts included providing “more than one terabyte of data and other records” by early April. The FTC’s investigation into Southern Glazer’s came to light in late March. 

Brewbound Insiders can read more about the FTC’s CID here and about the agency’s investigation into Southern Glazer’s here.

Non-alcoholic beer maker Athletic Brewing’s Upside Dawn golden will be on the menu in all 150 corporate TGI Fridays restaurants. The beer will be sold in cans.

Athletic CMO Andrew Katz said: "We're thrilled to partner with TGI Fridays and provide their guests with a great-tasting alternative to full-strength brews. A growing number of Americans are trying to cut back on alcohol, and recent polling shows that over 50% of young adults believe moderate drinking is detrimental to health. Athletic Brewing's award-winning Upside Dawn allows everyone to join the party and enjoy the refreshing taste of a classic craft Golden so you’re not missing out on the fun."

TGI Fridays CEO Brandon Coleman III added that the addition of Athletic to the menu, along with new appetizers, salads and bowls, is another example of the company listening to guest feedback. 

“Our guests are looking for a greater variety of bold and exciting flavors that can be enjoyed any time of day and these new offerings deliver on those expectations with unbeatable taste and quality," he said.

TGI Fridays’ goal is to “own the bar concept again,” according to an interview Coleman did with the Dallas Business Journal. That mission includes “partnering with a female-owned and led non-alcoholic spirits company because one of the top trends in bars right now, surprisingly, is non-alcoholic drinks,” Coleman told the outlet.

Coleman added: “We've introduced Spiritless, which is a great product. We're doing a partnership with Athletic Brewing Company. We're also doing alcoholic partnerships with Uncle Nearest, which is an incredible brand. We're finding the new affinities, where the trends are going and using our authenticity as a bar to take ownership of the bar of tomorrow.”

Anheuser-Busch InBev has signed a multiyear partnership with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to make Bud Light the “official beer partner of UFC,” effective January 1. Constellation Brands previously held the sponsorship for six years for the Modelo brand.

The deal is the biggest sponsorship deal in UFC history, ESPN reported. 

The partnership includes 360-degree programming, including original social and digital content, broadcast integration, and on-site presence, according to a press release. 

Bud Light will also receive “prominent branding” inside “the world famous Octagon,” and at all UFC events, including:

• Pay-Per-Views and Fight Nights;
• Dana White’s Contender Series;
• The Ultimate Fighter reality series;
• And Road to UFC.

The UFC boasts more than 700 million fans across 170 countries, and the reach of 900 million TV households through the sports’ broadcasts. The organization also distributes original content on its digital and social channels, which reach more than 243 million users, according to the release. 

UFC CEO Dana White said in the release: “Anheuser-Busch and Bud Light were UFC’s original beer sponsors more than fifteen years ago. I’m proud to announce we are back in business together. There are many reasons why I chose to go with Anheuser-Busch and Bud Light, most importantly because I feel we are very aligned when it comes to our core values and what the UFC brand stands for. I’m looking forward to all of the incredible things we will do in the years ahead.”

A-B CEO Brendan Whitworth added: “Anheuser-Busch and Bud Light have always been on the cutting edge of iconic sporting moments that fans remember forever, and reuniting with UFC is a continuation of this industry leading legacy. As one of the largest and longest standing sport sponsors, we are excited to work with UFC to celebrate our passionate fans while always making a positive impact in communities across America.”

Sammy Hagar is trading mas tequila for mas cervezas. 

The former Van Halen singer is getting into the beer business with the launch of Red Rocker Brewing Co., via a partnership with Brew Detroit. 

The first beer from Red Rocker is a Mexican-style lager, Red Rocker Lager (4.3% ABV), which will be sold in 16 oz. can 4-packs in liquor stores and bars throughout Michigan. The beer will also be sold online at RedRockerBrewing.com to select states.

The brand launch kicked off with an October 23 concert at The Fillmore in Detroit. Per a press release, the concert broke the all-time record at the Fillmore for the largest beer sales in one night with more than 9,600 16 oz. cans of beer.

The beer brand joins Hagar’s other beverage-alcohol forays, including:

• Sammy’s Beach Bar Rum, a partnership with Rick Springfield;
• Santo Spirits, a partnership with Guy Fieri;
• And Sammy’s Beach Bar Cocktail Co.

Hagar founded Cabo Wabo Tequila in 1996 and sold the brand to Gruppo Campari for $100 million. 

Cleveland, Ohio-based Saucy Brew Works has named Mark Beaver its national accounts manager.

Beaver will serve the role for both Saucy and Cartridge Brewing, the Maineville, Ohio-based brewery Saucy acquired at the end of 2022. 

Beaver previously held national accounts positions at San Diego-based JuneShine, a hard kombucha and canned cocktail maker, and BrewDog USA. At the latter, Beaver helped the company expand from 500 chain accounts in three states, to more than 4,500 accounts across 30 states, according to a press release. 

Saucy CEO ​​Brent Zimmerman said in the release: “Mark’s holistic understanding of sales dynamics, paired with his demonstrated history of fostering growth and building strong retailer relationships, aligns perfectly with our vision. We’re thrilled to welcome him aboard and eager to see where his leadership takes us.”

New Belgium Brewing continues to dominate scans, accounting for seven of the top 30 craft brands year-to-date (YTD) in Circana-tracked off-premise channels, six of which are a part of the Voodoo Ranger brand family. 

New Belgium also continues to grow its presence in c-stores, the strongest channel for craft growth this year. 

Voodoo Ranger brands account for 14.59% of c-stores sales YTD, thru October 8. When adding New Belgium Fat Tire, the No. 30 largest craft brand by dollar sales, New Belgium accounts for 15.08% of craft dollars in the channel. 

And the momentum has continued through the beginning of the fall season, with Voodoo Ranger’s top brands accounting for 15.76% of c-store dollars in the last four weeks. When Fat Tire dollars are included, New Belgium’s top brands account for 16.22% of craft c-store dollars in the four-week period. 

Stay tuned for more numbers from Circana’s monthly beer report, including performance numbers for overall craft segment and the top 30 craft brands.

Crowns & Hops founders Beny Ashburn and Teo Hunter will kick off the second day of Brewbound Live on December 7, sharing their journey to opening a brewery in Inglewood, California.

Following Ashburn and Hunter’s opening remarks on Day 2, they will be joined on stage by National Black Brewers Association (NB2A) executive director Kevin Asato to share the continuity of their respective missions, how they’re gaining traction and making an impact.

The NB2A launched earlier this year with a mission to advocate for African-American brewers and brewery owners, who account for less than 1% of craft breweries in the U.S.

Crowns & Hops runs the 8 Trill Pils development fund, which creates opportunities for Black-owned craft beer brands and demonstrates racial equality’s benefits and fiscal impacts.

Ashburn, Hunter and Asato join a list of industry leaders who will take part in Brewbound Live December 6 + 7 at the Marina Del Rey Marriott Hotel (4100 Admiralty Way, Marina Del Rey, CA). Tickets are available now.

The Brewbound Live business conference returns December 6-7 in Marina del Rey. Additional speakers and conversations to be announced in the coming weeks. 

Registration and the discounted room block is now open. Find out more details here.