Beer Industry News, Insights, Jobs, & Events

Breakthru Drivers Strike in Illinois & Missouri; Diageo Beer USA Net Sales +9.1%, Global Net Sales +2.3%; Monster Q1 Alcohol Net Sales -5.9%; Hard Seltzers Increasingly Top-Heavy Market; A-B CMO: ‘25 is the New 21’; Molson Coors Reveals Keystone Light Apple Cans.

As Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC) sells off nearly all of its territories, what does that mean for the state of distribution?

The convenience channel remained a lone bright spot for craft in the latest monthly report from market research firm Circana. Year-to-date (YTD) through April 19, craft dollar sales at c-stores increased 3.2%, while volume, measured in case sales, increased 0.9%.

Celebrity Brands. If they aren’t the only brands one can have – and one might have been led to believe we’re all headed that way, given the casting call that went out for panels at the Beverage Forum, which took place last week in L.A. – they’re a growing part of the business.

Bev-alc trends held steady through late April, according to the latest weekly update from market research firm NIQ.

Draft beer increased its share of on-premise beer sales by volume to 53.1% in 2025, gaining 0.9 share points year-over-year, according to the latest Draft Beer Report from NIQ and Draftline Technologies. Those gains matched 2024’s, per NIQ’s On-Premise Measurement service, which tracks sales at licensed on-premise accounts across the U.S.

RNDC continues to unwind, so BevNET spirits editor Ferron Salniker joined the Brewbound Podcast to break down the latest. In addition to her analysis, the episode features conversations with Eco Beverages co-founder Anna Nadasdy and Russian River Brewing co-owner Natalie Cilurzo.

American Cider Association (ACA) CEO Monica Cohen has departed the trade group as it transitions to a “staff-led operating model,” the ACA announced Wednesday.

Ball Corporation’s North American and European aluminum can supply will be hard to come by for the foreseeable future – into the end of the decade, CEO Ron Lewis shared during the manufacturer’s Q1 earnings call earlier this week.

Check out news items initially reported in the Brewbound Insider Newsletter May 4-6, including headlines from Craft Hope Brewing, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Boston Beer Company and more.

The Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC) sell-off continues.

Beer shipment volume continued to rise in March, and there are signs that the category is reaching a point of “broad based stabilization,” according to Beer Institute (BI) chief economist Andrew Heritage.

Mass retail giant Target is expanding sales of intoxicating hemp beverages, adding the products to stores in Florida, Texas and Illinois. 

Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B) outperformed the U.S. beer industry in the first quarter of 2026, the company reported Tuesday. In the U.S., A-B’s Q1 depletions (sales to retailers) increased 0.3% year-over-year (YoY), which the company credited to “beer and beyond beer share gains and an improved industry.” Shipments (sales to wholesalers) declined 3.2%.