Category: Business of Beer
Industry news related to the brewing industry and the business of beer
News Efforts Take Shape to Buy Anchor Brewing
It was expected that various forms of interest in buying Anchor Brewing would surface after it was announced last week that the historic brewery was closing. Now, two separate attempts to buy the historic brewery are gaining attention, although both appear to be a long shot.
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News Diageo to Roll-Out Non-Alcoholic Guinness on Draft in Ireland – Increase Capacity by 300%
In a testament of confidence in the growing non-alcoholic beer category, Diageo has made a major investment to its famed St. James Gate brewery in Dublin to increase the capacity by 300% to make Guinness 0.0. The company will begin to roll-out the non-alcoholic stout on draft across Ireland this summer.
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News Beer Production Declines 7.7% in May – Down 4.4% for the Year
Beer production in the US had another downward month. The Beer Institute’s estimate of domestic tax paid shipments by beer brewers in May 2023 was down 7.7% compared to last year. Production for the year through May is now down an estimated 4.4%.
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News Patagonia Partners with Breweries to Brew Beer with Innovative New Sustainable Grain
Working with Patagonia Provisions, the food and beverage division of the famed outdoor apparel company, Aslan Brewing in Bellingham, WA has brewed a beer with Kernza grain, a “regenerative perennial grain, has the potential to transform the brewing industry.”
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News NBWA June ‘Beer Purchasers’ Index’ Indicates Craft Beer Still Declining
The just released National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) Beer Purchasers’ Index (BPI) for June 2023 shows that the BPI for all beer categories rose above the benchmark (50) to 54, but remains below the nine-year average of 60. The craft beer index at 38 continues to signal contraction but is slightly above the June 2022 reading of 33. This indicates the beer market is still soft, with continuing declines in the craft segment.
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News Beer Institute Calls Out Liquor Companies in New Consumer Website
The Beer Institute has launched a new consumer-facing website StandWithBeer.org, which sheds a light on “how large liquor companies inflate their bottom line by exploiting loopholes in our tax code.” It is a unique push by an alcohol industry trade group to inform the consumer of legislative “advantages” afforded to another industry segment.
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News Application Deadline for Michael Jackson Foundation Scholarship is Friday June 23
Michael James Jackson Foundation, which funds technical education and career advancement for black, indigenous, and people of color in the brewing and distilling industries is now accepting applications for the Spring 2023 enrollment period. The application deadline is this Friday, June 23rd at 9:00 pm EDT.
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News GABF Festival and Competition Registration Open This Week
Registration for the Great American Beer Festival competition is now open. The deadline for registration ends on June 21st. Festival registration is open from June 15-28th. The GABF will take place in Denver, CO September 21-23rd with the awards ceremony being held on Saturday, September 23rd.
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News California Brewery Partners with Tech Firm to Make Beer from Wastewater
Beer has again become the poster child for a successful development in treating wastewater to be reused in consumable products. Devils Canyon Brewery in San Carlos, CA has partnered with Epic Cleantec to make beer from treated wastewater, a step forward in developing technology to turn certain types of wastewater into potable water for consumption.
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News Anchor Brewing to End All Sales Outside California
The storied Anchor Brewing Company of San Francisco, without question the founding linchpin of the craft brewing movement, announced that they would cease sales of all Anchor beers in the US except for in California. They will also discontinue making the iconic Anchor Christmas Ale.
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News Beer Shipments Continue Downward Trend
The Beer Institute published its monthly unofficial estimate of domestic tax paid shipments by beer brewers for April 2023 which showed a decline of 4.0% versus April of last year. It was the second worst month of the year following a 6.0% decline in March.
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News Mergers Cross Sectors as Bayou City Hemp Buys 8th Wonder Brewing
Merger Mania isn’t just about craft-on-craft acquisitions; it has included all sectors of the craft beverage industry pairing up to seek greater efficiencies. That now includes the cannabis industry as Bayou City Hemp Company announced that it has purchased 8th Wonder Brewery and Distillery.
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News Merger Mania Continues – River Horse Buys DuClaw
DuClaw Brewing Company, the 25-year-old Maryland brewery that is distributed in 21 states has been acquired by River Horse Brewing Company in Ewing, NJ. It is the third acquisition or merger in the craft brewing industry in the last few weeks.
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News Constellation Sells Two Breweries Back to Original Owners – Will Exit Craft Beer Biz
In the second, and third such event in just a few weeks, the founders of two craft breweries are reacquiring the brewery back from a global brewer. The founders of Funky Buddha Brewery in Oakland Park, FL and Four Corners Brewing Co. in Dallas, TX are buying back the company they founded from Constellation Brands.
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News Bud Light Boycott Continues as Craft Beer Industry Watches
In a truly stunning and unprecedented consumer boycott in the alcohol beverage industry, sales of Bud Light have continued to decline with over $15 billion being wiped off the value of ABInBev since the controversy over the Dylan Mulvaney endorsement began. Whether or not a boycott like this could ever invade the spirit and culture of craft beer is unlikely, but still unknown.
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News Brewers Association Releases 2023 Beer Style Guidelines
The Brewers Association has released its Beer Style Guidelines for 2023, with two major being made; West Coast-Style India Pale Ale and Dessert or Pastry Stout. The additions of both styles represent significant changes in commercially available beers in the United States.
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News Round Two – Molson Coors Accused of Being ‘Woke’ Over Commercial
A months-old Miller Lite commercial featuring actress Ilana Glazer criticizing the sexist history of beer advertising has come under fire on social media channels by those who claim the ad is “woke” and calling for a boycott.
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News Drizly Survey Finds Less People Going Out to Drink Due to Inflation
The fifth annual nationwide survey from Drizly uncovers that inflation is prompting a return to entertaining at home with fewer people going out to on-premise locations to drink. One-in-four respondents said they will opt to drink at home more often in 2023 than at bars and restaurants.
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News ‘We Were All Brewers’ – Longtime Anchor Employees Talks About Brewery Closure
Posted by Tom McCormick
David Burkhart was an employee at Anchor Brewing in San Francisco for 31 years; half of his life. Like many in the industry, it seems inconceivable to him that Anchor is gone forever, and he envisions an angel, “hovering over the brewery, who sees the value in a small business that makes unique, local, delicious, beautiful products — San Francisco in a glass.”
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