Brewbound Best of 2021 Awards

Speaker 1 [00:04] Brew Bout's 2021 Beyond Beer Company of the Year goes beyond the beer category to E and J Gallo for building high noon sun sips into a top five hard seltzer franchise. As the beverage alcohol lines continue to blur, the spirits-based vodka soda line has succeeded at trading up consumers to a premium price point compared to its malt-based rivals and built High Noon into the number 4 hard seltzer brand family. Crewbound's 2021 beer champion of the Year goes to the Massachusetts Brewers Guild for its work to finally achieve franchise law reform in the Bay State. An amicable resolution was finally agreed upon through the efforts of Guild president Sam Hendler, also the co-founder of Framingham-based Jack's Abbey, Guild executive director Katie Stinson, and Atlas Distributing owner Joe Solois, who sits on the board of the beer. Distributors of Massachusetts as part of the compromise, breweries that produce fewer than 250,000 barrels of beer over a 12 month period would be allowed to terminate their wholesaler contracts at any time by giving 30 days' notice and paying fair market value for their brand rights. Brewbound's Cause of the Year recognizes purpose-driven movements in support of one specific cause. The 2021 Cause of the Year Award is awarded to Brienne Allen, Ash Elliott, Ren Navarro, and Jen Blair for Brave Noise, a collaboration beer project that advocates for the creation of safe spaces and inclusive environments by requesting breweries be transparent about their policies and commit to long-term work. Brave Noise was created to honor the thousands of women who shared their stories of discrimination, harassment, sexual assault, and racism while working in the brewing industry. So far, more than 150 breweries in 31 states and 4. Countries have signed up. Each participating brewery is asked to link to their code of conduct through a QR code on the beer's label and to donate proceeds to a nonprofit organization that works to create safer spaces in the beer and hospitality industries. The 2021 Person of the Year Award goes to New Belgium brewing CEO Steve Fetchheimer for his work in helping build the company into a 1 million barrel brewery and for drawing attention to the climate crisis. Three years after a 100,000 barrel decline, New Belgium has roared back behind the IPA focused cartoon skeleton-led Voodoo Ranger franchise and boasts the top selling IPA and off-premise retailers with Voodoo Ranger Imperial IPA. Fetchheimer also wrote an op ed called Last Call for Climate Action advocating for leaders of Fortune 5. 00 companies to create 2030 climate action plans. Quote, It's time for the leaders of 70% of Fortune 500 companies lacking a 2030 climate plan to wake up to the risks of moving too slow and the incredible opportunity of embracing change and make climate action their business, he wrote, now before the barkeep kicks them out. The 2021 Large Brewery of the Year is awarded to Firestone Walker Brewing Company. A year after the on-premise closures cost the Paso Robles, California headquartered craft brewery 30% of its business. The company is poised to finish 2021 up 20% without bars and restaurant sales. Firestone Walker shifted its business to focus on chains with its. Team securing 14,000 new points of distribution, a company record. The company has also successfully line extended its 805 Blondale with 805 Cerveza and continues to build its Mind haze franchise. In another transformational move, Firestone Walker made its first acquisition, purchasing the Cali squeeze line of brewed beers and hard seltzers. The raft brewery of the Year is awarded to one independent craft beer company that has excelled in this increasingly challenging marketplace. Non-alcoholic beer maker Athletic Brewing is Brewbound's 2021 craft brewery of the year. Founded by Bill Schufeldt and John Walker in 2018, Athletic has taken a stigmatized segment of the beer market and turned it into a growth sector that is creating new occasions for the beer category. Driven by two of Nielsen IQ's top craft gross brands, Run Wild IPA and Upside Dawn Golden Ale, the company is nipping at becoming a top 25 brewers Association defined craft brewery by volume. With a bevy of athlete partnerships, $50 million in funding, a line of sparkling waters called Daypack, and a new East Coast brewery in the works. Athletic is showing no signs of slowing down. In an increasingly challenging and competitive beverage alcohol industry, these 8 players emerged as rising stars to watch in the coming years. Beatbox Beverages Austin, Texas. Dale View Biscuits and Beer, Brooklyn, New York. Holiday Brewing Company, Golden, Colorado. June shine, hard kombucha, San Diego, California. Monkish Brewing Torrance, California. Sloop Brewing East Fishkill, New York. Sycamore brewing, Charlotte, North Carolina. gravity.