Welcome to Brewbound’s Inside Look at the Beer Business for the week that was … Saturday, August 2, 2025.

Some folks say NFL players have a tough time filling out their schedules once they’re retired, especially once training camp season begins without them.

JJ Watt is showing that’s not a problem. He put his retired status to full use last week, easily completing the 9/9/9 challenge at a MILWAUKEE BREWERS game.

As Zoe is well aware – that’s eating 9 hot dogs and drinking 9 beers during 9 innings of baseball (you don’t wanna know what happens if it goes into extra innings). So, take that, spirits! You go create your own stunt at … sailing regattas or something.

Also, never let it be said that JJ isn’t a company man – pairing all those dogs with MILLER LITEs. So, a job well done on what as far as I know was not a paid promotion.

AND: Ya gotta love GALLO doing the same thing that Jess used to do in high school – although in the situation of HIGH NOONs accidentally being put in CELSIUS Astro Vibe cans, this one was a mistake … hence the recall. 

Which is something Jess was also subject to, although more in the sense of her parents recalling her social privileges when she came home after curfew.

THEN: Here are 3 best practices and 2 all-too-common mistakes to avoid in craft M&A deals from two of the smartest minds in the biz, Nichole Shustack and Isabelle Cunningham from the bev-alc law firm NUTTER.

AND: If you want the story of the beer biz over the past 7 years in one image, this one does a pretty good job. 

More on the A-B Q2 25 numbers below … but as the chart shows – A-B has sold less beer, quarter after quarter, for 9 quarters straight now.

Here’s your CIRCANA mid-year off-prem data:

CRAFT BEER and TOTAL BEER:

• Sales: -4.7%, -3.1%
• Volume: -6.3%, -4.7%

Those craft numbers were matched in the L4W ending July 13 as well.

PLUS: Here’s where case prices stand at the mid-year point, followed by YoY increases/decreases. OK, fine, they were all increases (hard seltzer, you doin’ OK there, buddy?)

• HARD CIDER: $48.92 (+$0.35)
• ASSORTED: $48.08 (+$1.03)
• CRAFT: $43.81 (+$0.65)
• FMBs: $41.27 (+$0.85)
• HARD SELTZER: $40.55 (+$1.19)
• IMPORTS: $37.66 ($0.70) 
• DOMESTIC PREMIUM: $25.12 (+$0.33)
• DOMESTIC SUB-PREMIUM: $19.99 (+$0.39)

BEARDED’s 3 founders will still have “large stakes” in the brand and maintain leadership roles, according to the Nashville Business Journal, although production will move to Memphis and “mostly cease” in TN – although its 2 TN taprooms will remain open.

Now, you may be saying – wait a second, good sir (yeah, the sir part is a stretch), wasn’t BEARDED IRIS part of the INDIEBREW collective, spearheaded by SCOFFLAW?

Indeed it was, and indeed that company was not mentioned at all in the reporting. BEARDED IRIS co-founder Kavon Togrye did not respond to BREWBOUND’s inquiries into that situation, and instead directed questions to existing local press reports. 👀

That would be GRDN Hospitality, who made the filing on July 24, which comes 4 years after founder Lynne Weaver bought the brewery back from CANARCHY.

Factors from 2023 supply chain issues, 2024 inflation and the general decline of craft beer were cited, although Weaver was also “personally affected” by the Palisades wildfires earlier this year.

Other factors like #TrumpTariffs, the mandated increase in employee wages in L.A. and ICE raids putting a chilling factor on consumer visits were also cited. 

LONE PINE BREWING

Territory Manager – Greater Boston Area

CEREBRAL BREWING

Colorado Sales Manager

HANGAR 24 BREWING

Well, a total beer score of 42 is certainly better than June’s … 30, although still well below last year’s 59. 

But at-risk inventory was at a very safe 43, indicating a holding period/wait-and-see approach out here in the distributor landscape, according to the NBWA.

AND: We’ve got at least one category at 50 for once – nice work, Imports. Below Premium, maybe you’ll get there next month, but the 48 is a solid college try.

YUP: Craft is still in last place by a 13 point margin.

So, here’s what we got in Q2 globally:

• REVENUE: +3% YoY 
• PROFIT: $1.95B
• VOLUME: -1.9% YoY (bev-alc -2.2, non-beer +0.3%)

In the U.S.:

• SHIPMENTS (sales to wholesalers): +0.2% YoY
• DEPLETIONS (sales to retailers): -2.1% YoY 

Wall Street was more BUD LIGHT than MICH ULTRA on the report, with BUD stock -13% afterward.

It’s probably best to get this outta the way first – nothing quite like a $1.4B impairment writedown on your 2021 APHRIA weed biz deal, part of whose value was predicated on the hoped for U.S. legalization of marijuana. Wait, that didn’t happen? 😳

TILRAY chairman and CEO Irwin D. Simon said that “It does not change how we feel about the future of our business today.” But you know how accountants are, amirite? 🙄 So, writedown it is.

As for the Q2 numbers, which is FY25 Q4 for TILRAY (I’ll just let y’all make your own stoner joke there this time), eh?

• REVENUE: $224M (-$5M YoY)
• BEVERAGE BIZ: $66M (-15% YoY)

Net loss was over -$1.2B given the whole impairment thing, but obviously just wait until it’s tax return season! This is the same reason why I, uh, choose to lose so much money at the track each year. 🐎

🙋‍♂️ Um, where’s that good news you mentioned? Oh right! The FY25 numbers were at least in the black:

• REVENUE: $834M (+4% YoY)
• BEVERAGE BIZ: $241M (+19% YoY)
• WEED BIZ: $249M (-8%)
• WELLNESS BIZ: $60M (+9%)

Zoe and Justin have your FY26 projections here.

• UNCLE NEAREST’s parent company NEAREST GREEN DISTILLERY is facing a $100M lawsuit from agricultural lender FARM CREDIT MID-AMERICA over unpaid debts and a misuse of multiple loan funds, while also requesting an immediate removal of leadership.
• PROVI and RNDC have settled their ongoing legal battle, and have forged a nationwide services agreement that will allow RNDC’s retail customers to place orders using PROVI’s marketplace. No other meaningful terms were disclosed.
• U.S. BEVERAGE signed a national sales partnership with ROGUE – the two already “have a high level of overlap” in wholesalers.
• GREAT SOUTHERN COPACKERS bought the foreclosed-upon BREW HUB location in FL, and is rebranding as GREAT SOUTHERN BEVERAGES. It’ll have 3.5M cases worth of annual capacity and all BREW HUB workers are being kept on.
• BELL’S didn’t find much success in faraway markets after going national with NBB, but is finding gains by now doubling down on its core Great Lakes area market. NBB CEO Shaun Belongie details the journey with Justin here.

With a lotta newsletters to go until December, I’m saving some of my “best” material to incentivize ticket sales in this section ‘til at least the fall.

BERKELEY ALLEY BEER CO.’s new owners Chelsea Rhoads and Liz Hess, who also run the Body by Beer pod, join the BREWBOUND pod this week to dive into creating a community gathering hub with the brewery in Denver, and why they felt now was the time to become brewery owners.

BUT FIRST: Justin and Jess ditch Zoe this week (not cool, guys) but she did a great job diving into the beer news solo! Love that new energy Licata 👏 – clearly those Gen X and Millennial folks are holding you back.

And if Justin and Jess are already taking their August time off from the pod, my guess is I’ll be hosting it myself within 2 weeks.

LISTEN HERE! Or just search “Brewbound” on your podcast listening platform of choice. And leave a review and rating, would ya? (Good ones only, plz)

This week’s beer goes out to COORS LIGHT deodorant – and you really shouldn’t be acting surprised at this anymore! This is the same overall marketing group that once essentially put heated coils in your shorts. 😳

Yes, now we have DURA CHILL deodorant, courtesy of our friends at MOLSON COORS, which is meant to be kept refrigerated (just don’t put it next to the cheese).

It has the same cold label technology that COORS LIGHT cans have … so you can tell just when it’s cold enough to put in your arm pits! Something which I’m sure will also quickly wake up anyone who has perhaps had a few too many COORS LIGHTS – but i’ll leave that idea in your hands. 

So, enjoy smelling like you’re sweating out beer to the people around you when working out – MOLSON COORS, improving your social life, one product at a time (fine, it’s described as Rocky Mountain Breeze scent, so the beer smell will really just be you).

Slainté!

-Sean McNulty 

(you can always reach me here on LinkedIn)