AB-InBev cuts craft brewery staff to focus on big beer brands and spirits

USA – As the Big Brewers move with the market, strategy swings are to be expected. But AB-InBev’s recent cuts to its craft brewing personnel suggest that a major “portfolio rebalancing” is underway.

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Brewers Association hikes revenue to USD 23.3 million in 2022, but still trails pre-pandemic levels

USA | The Brewers Association (BA) generated USD 23.4 million in total revenue in 2022, surpassing the USD 20 million mark for the first time since 2019, the website brewbound.com reported on 16 February.

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Boston Beer has a Truly problem

USA | What happened to Truly? That is a good question. The brand is struggling and has taken Boston Beer’s stock down with it. From a high of nearly USD 1,300 in April 2021 the stock has tumbled to USD 330 per share at the end of February 2023.

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US beer production estimated to have declined 5 percent in 2022

USA | It was a tough year for US brewers: domestic beer production is believed to have dropped by 5 percent in 2022, a loss of 5.9 million barrels (7 million hl) over 2021. This was reported by the website beerinsights.com on 6 January.

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Siebel Institute releases beer recipe for its 150th anniversary celebration

USA | What a fitting anniversary gift: On the occasion of its 150^th anniversary in 2022, the Siebel Institute has formulated a beer recipe for release as an “open source recipe”.

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Cannabis firm Tilray expands further into beer and buys craft brewer Montauk

USA | Canadian cannabis firm Tilray has taken another step into the US beverage alcohol sector, adding the craft brewer Montauk from metro New York to its brewery portfolio. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed in a 7 November press release.

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The US “beer versus spirits rivalry”: spirits could be the winner

USA | Government affairs honchos from the largest US brewers are gearing up for battles with the drinks industry over what is called “tax equalisation” in several US states in 2023.

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Constellation goes from FOMO to frustration over its cannabis investment

USA | Looks like the number three brewer in the US bet on the wrong horse. Constellation Brands’ investment into the Canadian cannabis producer Canopy Growth has proven a calamity and is bleeding money.

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Hard seltzer has lost its fizz: canned cocktails are all the rage now

USA | After enjoying a boom during the pandemic for their convenience and ease, hard seltzers are fading. They are being replaced by pre-mixed canned cocktails, which are made with a spirit and not with brewed alcohol.

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RTDs may hike sales to USD 11.6 billion globally over next five years

USA | Analysts believe there will be no slow-down in the ready-to-drink (RTD) category. A new report from the IWSR, an analytics firm, forecasts that the category’s global value will increase by an additional USD 11.6 billion over the next five years. Value growth will outpace volume growth, the IWSR added.

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New competition director talks about World Beer Cup

Special competition | As from this year, the World Beer Cup, organised by the Brewers Association, is moving from annual to bi-annual and has appointed a new competition director, Chris Williams. Lotte Peplow, Brewers Association American craft beer ambassador for Europe, talks with Chris about his new role and about what makes the competition so special.

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ASBC and MBAA Brewing Summit 2022

Extensive programme of talks | Every four years the American Society of Brewing Chemists (ASBC) and Master Brewers Association of the Americas hold their joint Brewing Summit. This year the brewing industry met in beautiful Providence, Rhode Island (USA), from 14–16 August 2022, to discuss the latest trends, developments and challenges in brewing today.

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Gang-member-run TRU Colors Brewing ceases operations amid controversy

USA | What is going on at TRU Colors Brewing, a Wilmington, North Carolina-based brewery, renowned for its mission to end gang violence by employing active, rival gang members? Only in July had its founder, George Taylor, bid USD 20 million for San Diego’s struggling craft brewer Modern Times. And on 9 September he closed TRU Colors’ doors.

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Mikkeller to close its San Diego brewery

USA | Is there a San Diego curse going around? After brewers Ballast Point, Saint Archer, Modern Times, Green Flash, Alpine and Stone faced major problems and sold themselves, Mikkeller announced in August that it will close its brewery, blaming two years of Covid and rising costs. About half of Mikkeller’s US employees – 25 – will be laid off. Mikkeller is seeking an immediate sale of its brewery and warehouse.

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Stone completes USD 165 million sale to Japan’s Sapporo

USA | On 31 August, Sapporo USA completed its USD 165 million buyout of Stone Brewing. The sale was announced in June. Stone’s well-known founders Greg Koch and Steve Wagner are no longer in the picture. But little else has changed, at least for now.

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Giants of brewing history: Adolph Coors

From stowaway to hectolitre millionaire | Rarely have triumph and tragedy been so close in a brewer’s life as with Adolph Coors. Starting with virtually nothing as an immigrant in the USA, he opened a brewery in no man’s land, and built it – after decades of hard work – into one of the largest breweries in the world. However, he was never truly happy despite all of his success. In part three of our series, Günther Thömmes portrays the remarkable life of this giant of brewing history.

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The final word on Stone versus Molson Coors

USA | Back in March, Stone won its lawsuit against Molson Coors. The jury awarded Stone USD 56 million in damages, which fell short of the USD 174 million that Stone said it lost in sales because of Molson Coors’ use of the word Stone in the rebranding of Keystone Light.

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Sapporo and Stone - the Japanese rollup continues

USA | And here goes another US craft brewer. The sale of San Diego’s craft brewer Stone to Japan’s fourth-ranking Big Brewer Sapporo was not exactly predictable but certainly plausible. Think of it: Who else would buy a largeish craft brewer these days?

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Stone sold to Japan’s Sapporo for USD 168 million

USA | And this despite Greg Koch touting that he will never sell: On 24 June 2022 Sapporo Holdings announced that it will acquire craft brewer Stone for USD 168 million. Based on Stone’s 2021 beer production of 326,000 barrels (380,000 hl), the deal puts a USD 505-per-barrel price tag on the company.

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San Diego’s craft brewer Modern Times sold at auction

USA | During a 17 June auction for San Diego’s craft brewer Modern Times, the Californian Brewery X from Anaheim emerged as the winning bidder for USD 20 million. Founded in 2019, Brewery X offered more than twice as much as an initial “stalking horse” bid made by Hawaii’s craft brewer Maui Brewing for a reported USD 7.6 million.

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Sycamore and Stone drop ‘Keep It Juicy’ trademark infringement dispute

USA | Charlotte’s craft brewer Sycamore and San Diego’s Stone have agreed to end their trademark infringement lawsuit over the phrase “Keep It Juicy”, according to a 13 May 2022 court filing. Both Stone and Sycamore Brewing walked away without paying damages but will need to pay their own attorneys’ fees.

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Molson Coors and AB-InBev branch out into alternative milk

USA | Molson Coors’ new Golden Wing barley milk brand joins AB-InBev-backed counterpart Take Two, as they seek growth in the booming alternative milk segment.

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IGN Bavarian Hopfenfest 2022

Well-attended | During the Craft Brewers Conference in Minneapolis, IGN organised the “Bavarian Hopfenfest by IGN” together with Schwarz Logistik. Around 300 guests attended the event, which took place at the local brewery "Utepils Brewing Co." in Minneapolis.

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The only Trappist abbey brewery in the US is closing

USA | Rumours have been flying around for some time, but on 14 May 2022 it became official: the award-winning Spencer Brewery in central Massachusetts is ceasing production after an eight-year run as the first and only Trappist brewery outside Europe.

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Sycamore Brewery sues Stone in trademark fight

USA | Oh no, craft brewer Stone is involved in a trademark dispute again, this time on the other side, as the accused. In a lawsuit, filed on 11 April 2022, Sycamore Brewing, a craft brewer from Charlotte, North Carolina, charges that Stone stole its trademark slogan, “Keep It Juicy”, which it uses to market its popular “Juiciness IPA”.

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Farewell Chris Swersey, welcome new WBC!

New record | Over 10,000 beers (2018: 8,345) were submitted by 2,658 breweries from 57 different countries, once again setting a new record for the World Beer Cup 2022 (WBC) staged by the Brewers Association (BA). The jury sessions for this giga-competition were held in three phases, with two in Louisville, CO, and the third ahead of the Craft Brewers Conference (CBC) in Minneapolis.

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US craft beer in 2021: what the numbers say

USA | It was mostly good news for craft brewers in 2021, according to data released by the Brewers Association on 5 April 2022.

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Diageo settles lawsuit over Guinness that was not brewed in Ireland

USA | Who are those people who file all their grocery bills for further reference? In the US, some 23,000 consumers brought along their receipts and joined a class action lawsuit in 2015 against Diageo, the brewer of Guinness, over misleading labelling on Guinness Extra Stout.

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Brewers Association Releases Annual Craft Brewing Industry Production Report

The Brewers Association released annual production figures for the U.S. craft brewing industry. In 2021, small and independent brewers collectively produced 24.8 million barrels of beer and realized 8% growth, increasing craft’s overall beer market share by volume to 13.1%, up from 12.2% the previous year.

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Craft brewer Stone wins lawsuit but its financial future remains uncertain

USA | After four years of legal wrangling and three weeks of trial, San Diego’s craft brewer Stone won its lawsuit against Molson Coors. The eight-person jury’s decision on 25 March 2022 was unanimous, but the victory was not necessarily everything Stone may have hoped for.