In the latest edition of A Round With … – a weekly Q&A with industry leaders exclusively for Insiders – Tilray Brands North America president Ty Gilmore talked with Brewbound’s sibling publication BevNET about how the company intends to leverage its scale to go deep in hemp-derived delta-9 drinks and how it is navigating the evolving regulatory landscape for hemp products in the U.S.

Anderson Valley Brewing Company (AVBC) has changed hands for the second time in a little more than five years. Wine industry entrepreneur Jason McConnell acquired the Boonville, California-based craft brewery in a deal that closed Tuesday, former owner Kevin McGee told Brewbound.

Carrie Yunker ended her more than two-decade run at Bell’s Brewery on a high note Monday – Oberon Day, the annual release of the company’s spring-summer seasonal wheat beer.

In Wednesday’s Brewbound Newsletter: 🍀 St. Patrick’s Day Off-Premise Dollars -3.9% YoY; 💰 Oregon Proposes 8% Sales Tax for Beer & Wine; 🏟️ Allagash Joins the Mets and Tilray’s Stock Issues; 🌎 The No. 1 Centennial Hop Buyer; 🍊 Sierra Nevada Revamps Big Little Thing IPA.

Oregon bev-alc consumers may have to open their wallets and pay sales tax for the first time, should proposed amendments to House Bill 3197 pass. Amendments proposed by Rep. Tawna Sanchez were made public Tuesday, and would add an up to 8% retail sales tax on purchases of “malt beverages, cider and wine” in the state.

2025’s drinking occasions just can’t hold a candle to 2024, it seems. In the lead up to St. Patrick’s Day (week ending March 16), off-premise bev-alc sales recorded a -3.9% decline year-over-year (YoY), market research firm Circana reported in its newest batch of weekly data. Holiday shopping delivered a +5% increase week-over-week (WoW).

March Madness did indeed extend March Sadness (readers of Brewbound’s weekend newsletter will get the reference). Draft volume during the opening weekend of the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments declined -5.8% compared to the same weekend in 2024, according to on-premise data firm BeerBoard, which reviewed nationwide sales during the March 20-23, 2025, weekend and compared to March 21-24, 2024.

Beer has gained bev-alc dollar share at bars, restaurants and venues, taking from wine and spirits, according to the latest report from CGA, NIQ’s on-premise data arm. For the 52-week period ending January 25, beer accounted for 40.1% of all dollars spent in the on-premise channel, a +0.3 percentage point increase year-over-year (YoY). Ready-to-drink (RTD) canned cocktails increased dollar share +0.4 percentage points, to 1.2% of total bev-alc dollars.

A year and a half after its sale to Tilray Brands, energy seltzer brand HiBall is returning to retail with a launch in Whole Foods Market stores this spring.

TailGate Brewery founder and owner Wesley Keegan does not advise that other brewers mimic his Nashville-based brewery’s portfolio strategy, simply because it doesn’t make much sense. Throughout TailGate’s decade in operation, its flagship offerings have been a peanut butter milk stout and an orange wheat beer, neither of which were created with the goal of becoming the brewery’s lead style.

After more than a decade of investing in emerging spirits and adult non-alc brands, Diageo confirmed earlier this month that its venture arm Distill Ventures will cease bringing new brands into its portfolio. What does the wind-down signal for the spirits group and does it say something about the larger spirits industry?

Let’s of course start with a happy March Madness 🏀 to you all, with lo and behold – some nice support for the beer biz so far! B-DUBS is of course out in full force (even though the weird big buffalo at the bar ads still don’t do it for me), and COORS LIGHT, MODELO, CORONA, MICH ULTRA and STELLA have been spending as well already. 👏

Youth soccer games aren’t just a way to get the family outside and to mingle with neighbors – they are also a great place to meet a future business partner. At least, that was the case for Luis Espinoza and Craig Panzer, the founders of Roundhead Brewing, Massachusetts’ first Latino-owned brewery, located in Boston’s Hyde Park neighborhood.

Brewers Association-defined craft beer recorded a -4% decline in packaged volume in 2024, BA staff economist Matt Gacioch reported this week in the trade group’s annual packaging report.