Beer Industry News, Insights, Jobs, & Events

Kroger shoppers looking for Red Bull or Boar’s Head products may be out of luck for the time being, as the country’s largest supermarket chain grapples with pricing strategy amidst a grim economy.

This December 9+10 in Los Angeles, Brewbound Live brings together brewery and bev-alc leaders, retailers, distributors, investors and industry partners to examine what retailers are prioritizing, where distributors are placing bets, how entreprenuers are adjusting and which category shifts deserve attention. Your sales data tells you what is happening inside your business. It does not tell you why a retailer is rethinking the shelf, what a distributor is leaning into, or how another brand is responding to a change in demand. Brewbound Live adds those perspectives before the next reset, pitch, distribution move, or portfolio decision.

Check out news items initially reported in the Brewbound Insider Newsletter September 14-16, including headlines from Sapporo USA, Penn Brewery, Hop Valley and others.

In a fireside chat during the Barclays Global Consumer Staples Conference, Boston Beer Company founder and CEO Jim Koch discussed the company’s innovation strategy, its new method for measuring advertising ROI and why its new LYTT RTD is a pre-gaming champion.

While several brands are teaming up with slashers this Halloween, Tilray Brands is taking a sweeter route. The craft brewing conglomerate’s Shock Top brand is partnering with North America’s largest spooky season retailer, Spirit Halloween.

No bev-alc category was safe from year-over-year (YoY) losses in the latest off-premise scans from market research NIQ, which included the start of the Labor Day holiday weekend.

Once Minnesota’s largest craft brewery and one of the 25 largest in the country, St. Paul, Minnesota-based Summit Brewing Company is now facing bank foreclosure proceedings.

Vermont Information Processing (VIP) has acquired Encompass Technologies in a deal that merges two of the largest beverage industry technology companies.

Diageo, the first major spirits company to scale non-alc spirits alternatives, is building a mid-strength range in the UK.

Sierra Nevada’s strategy to continue 2026’s growth into 2027 involves a portfolio-wide packaging overhaul, the return of major brand campaigns and a meaningful dive into the beyond beer category.

Comparable Labor Day data has arrived, and the results – like much of this year – are “mixed,” according to the latest report from market research firm Circana.

The proverbial light at the end of the tunnel for Boston Beer’s rocky sales trends is coming from a product named after the sun itself. Sun Cruiser, the vodka-based hard tea launched in 2024, is on pace to double sales in 2026, founder and CEO Jim Koch said last week during the Barclays Global Consumer Staples Conference.

Another Oregon-based brewery is joining Ninkasi Brewing parent company Great Frontier Beverages.

U.K. brand MOTH is seizing on demand for the only bev-alc category still growing: premium, ready-to-drink cocktails.