The Brewbound Minute: Wormtown Leadership Moves, Mid-Year Survey Results & More

Justin Kendall [00:03] Welcome to the Brewbound Minute, our occasional rundown of all the beer industry news you need to know. In about 3 minutes or so. My name is Justin Kendall, and I am the editor of Brewbound, and I am joined by Brewbound Ace reporter Jess Infante. How you doing, Jess? I'm good, Justin. How are you? I'm good, especially now that I can see that pineapple wall.

Speaker 2 [00:26] It's nice to be home in New Jersey with my family. Let's

Justin Kendall [00:29] get to some news that's a little bit closer to our home. With Scott Metzger trading winners in Worcester for beach days in Maui, Wormtown Brewery has turned to former Treehouse Brewing Office manager Kimberly Galinsky as its next president and general manager.

Speaker 2 [00:45] Glinsky's hiring fires a tumultuous couple of months for Wormtown. In late May, most of Wormtown's ownership groups stepped back from their roles guiding the company after several accounts of sexual harassment and allegations of a toxic work environment surfaced on social media. The Worcester Magazine piece highlighting Galinsky's hire, published last week, stressed that she did not get the job because she's a woman, but for her personal strengths and characteristics, in addition to nearly 6 years of climbing the ranks at one of the most popular taproom breweries in the world.

Justin Kendall [01:14] For her part, Galinsky told the magazine that she didn't have any reservations about joining Wormtown, and she believes the brewery reacted swiftly and properly to the allegations against it. They made changes immediately, they didn't wait, she told the magazine. If there are more changes that need to be made, I'm the right person to do it. I'm going to get in there with a fresh view.

Speaker 2 [01:39] And in other news, following the money, Montana headquartered light lager maker Montucky Cold Snacks has closed a Series A investment round totaling $5.7 million. The round was led by Wave 27, a private equity firm based in Houston, Texas. Montucky will use the investment to push into new markets, and last month it landed in New York, New Jersey, and New Mexico.

Justin Kendall [02:00] How are craft breweries doing at the halfway point of 2021? The word from Brewers Association chief economist Bart Watson, there's growth compared to 2020, but it's still below 2019 levels. In fact, craft breweries made up an estimated half to 2/3 of their first half 2020 volume losses by the midpoint of 2021, Watson said during the reveal of the BA's mid-year survey last week.

Speaker 2 [02:29] Meanwhile, at the brewery, sales have surpassed 2019 levels, and the number of breweries in operation has reached a new high at 8,848 as of the end of July 2021. However, the number of new breweries opening has continued to slow, with just 439 new breweries in operation compared to July 2020. And finally, about those fall travel plans you might have, restrictions are going in place in several states as the highly contagious Delta variant of the COVID-19 pandemic ravages parts of the country. New York City is requiring proof of vaccination to enter indoor bars and restaurants and entertainment venues for both customers and workers, and several Chicago bars and breweries are requiring proof of vaccination. The San Francisco Bar Owner Alliance is encouraging its members to do the same, and mask mandates are returning in several cities. And today, the organizers of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival announced the cancellation of the two-weekend music event for the 2nd year in a row. It was slated to take place in October. So

Justin Kendall [03:25] we'll be watching as things. Develop across the country, and hopefully the Craft Brewers Conference, the National Beer Wholesalers, annual convention, and all of the other fall events go on as planned, but if they're not, we'll tell you all about it. So, that's the news for now. Read more at brewbound.com. Thanks for watching.