Welcome to Brewbound’s Inside Look at the Beer Business for the week that was … Saturday, April 20, 2024.

Well MILLER LITE, you had ample opportunity … but the IRON CITY BEER folks have stolen your thunder (and apparently read this newsletter).

Yes, ladies & gentlemen … I give you IRON CITY BEER BUNS! Yes, the PITTSBURGH Brewing Company has partnered with MANCINI’s Bakery and contributed their spent grain to create these beer-y delicious baked goods, apparently just in time for yinzers to enjoy on uh, National Picnic Day. 🤷 

Your loss, MILLER LITE (although technically … we could still pull off the LITE BUNS thing this summer – totally different name, call me).

AND: Just a shout out to ALLAGASH and LAWSON’S for showing folks how being a meaningful part of one’s local & state communities is done – this report on their 2023 activities (as part of their B-corp certifications) is very inspiring! 

PLUS: Going to CBC next week? The tortured poets that are the BREWBOUND team will be in booth #1989 on the convention floor, doing a new series of podcasts from the floor starting Monday through Wednesday.

So give ‘em a shout if you’ll be there and are up for a chat or just to say hey – podcast@brewbound.com (and don’t worry, Jess’ new T-Swift neck tattoo is only temporary. Or at least I really hope it is).

BONUS!: The BREWBOUND crew have assembled their insider tips on how to have the #BestCBCever (trust me, they know their way around a beer conference – especially CBC).

• Justin’s tips
• Jess’ tips
• Zoe’s tips
• Sean’s tips – always let Zoe throw the dice at the craps table, Justin’s tell at blackjack is he orders a SIERRA NEVADA if he has a good hand, or a BUSCH LIGHT if it’s bad, and whatever you do – never, ever play Texas Hold ‘Em with Jess. Trust me. 🤦‍♂️

Finally, time for the cool kids list (aka the top sellers list, but let’s face it – it’s popularity), which uh, really hasn’t changed much. 

The top 5 are exactly the same as 2022, which I guess is refreshing because it means none of them were sold to big beer for once (although 2022’s #7 STONE is now obviously gone):

• D.G. YUENGLING & Son, 
• BOSTON BEER Company,
• SIERRA NEVADA,
• DUVEL MOORTGAT (FW, BOULEVARD, OMMEGANG),
• GAMBRINUS (SHINER, TRUMER).

Six thru 10 also featured three more “beer consortiums” (TILRAY, ABV, and MONSTER), and a brewery with a not-insignificant big beer investment (BROOKLYN). ATHLETIC rounded things out at #10.

Noted beer buns purveyor PITTSBURGH Brewing Co. was the biggest mover this year, jumping 10 spots to #21 (see what real innovation can do, MILLER LITE?), although JACK’S ABBY also hopped up 9 spots to #36, and FIDDLEHEAD made a huge 8-spot leap to #28 too.

OK, now it’s time for the math nerds 🙋, as the final 2023 BA production numbers came in and volume was -1% vs. 2022, to 23.4 million BBL.

That’s the first annual BA decline in . . . well, as far as the BA’s data is concerned, ever (except for COVID 2020). Although BA craft’s volume market share did rise 0.2% to 13.3% of the beer market.

Your U.S. BA craft brewery total now stands at 9,683, so be sure to update the number you have painted on your dining room wall. That’s +86 vs. 2022, with all growth coming from taproom breweries. 495 opened, 418 closed.

“We just want to make sure that lawmakers understand the consensus public health principles that have led Congress and the states to consistently reaffirm a tax and regulatory structure that treats these products differently.”

- NBWA president & CEO Craig Purser at the trade group’s Legislative Conference this week, expressing the need for continued advocacy with politicians for the different taxation policies between beer, wine and spirits taxes, due to the varying ABVs of those products, particularly as spirits advocates push for their own tax cuts.

It was then followed up by a call for a “here-here!” toast around the room, with 16oz. cans of an 11% triple IPA. (Or, at least that’s how I envisioned it in my head.)

TOPA TOPA Brewing Co.

Content & Comms Manager – Ventura, CA

VICIOUS FISHES Brewery

Regional Mgr of Taprooms – Cary, NC

VICTORY Brewing Co

Brewing Manager – Parkesburg, PA

🤝 GOT A JOB

Troy Aikman’s EIGHT promoted its CCO (and former YUENGLING exec) David Reny to CEO.

REST IN PEACE

This week’s pod welcomes the BA’s director of social impact Dr. J Jackson-Beckham, who previews the THRIVE pre-conference workshop tomorrow before the CBC, and the increased focus on wellness during this year’s conference.

PLUS: Justin & Jess talk all about the cool kids – err, not Jess and her high school friends, but rather the BA’s Top 50 Breweries list. Plus, they take a dive into the 2023 numbers to share what caught their attention, and more.

Listen Here!

AH LOOK! A bonus pod, with more interviews from the CALI CRAFT BEER SUMMIT, featuring:

• GREEN CHEEK co-founder and CEO Brian Rauso
• ARRYVED director of partnerships and community Aaron Gore
• EAST BROTHER Brewing co-founder Rob Lightner

Listen Here!

• SEATTLE HOSPITALITY GROUP, owner of Seattle’s PIKE Brewing, has bought a “controlling interest” in FREMONT Brewing. Financial terms were not disclosed, but PIKE will be folded into FREMONT’s operations once the deal is finalized, although both brands will still exist.
• CA’s CROWN & HOPS is forming a strategic alliance with FULL CIRCLE Brewing, and its sister brands SPEAKEASY and SONOMA Cider, called the CIRCLE OF CROWNS Beverage Group (CCBG) to “unite four exceptional Black brands that have individually made significant waves in the industry.” No equity will be exchanged, but they’ll all share a sales team and other resources.

This week’s beer is going out Travis Kelce, who just can’t seem to stop chugging beers. I’m beginning to think BUD LIGHT really missed an opportunity in not featuring him in more TV ads last fall during games.

Travis left for the NFL before completing his U OF CINCINNATI degree, and when he went back in 2022 to complete an interdisciplinary studies degree, he didn’t get to walk in a ceremony. Thus, the school finally fixed that here, two years later.

Although, just like his college degree the first time around – Travis doesn’t seem to quite finish his beer either based on his can spiking on stage 😏, but I digress.

Way to show the GenZ teetotalers how it’s done there Mr. Millennial 💪. Uh, and by that I mean completing your degree of course, ahem.

Slainté!  

-Sean McNulty