Low-and-no or high ABV? Which way to go?
Coming out of Dry January, there are plenty of new entrants — both new and established — making non-alcoholic beer.
Among them is DrinkSip, which has a pair of NA beers on the market now. DrinkSip’s story is interesting in that it slightly mirrors Athletic Brewing Company in that it’s leaning into athlete partnerships, notably, Dallas Cowboys’ defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, who is a co-owner and brand ambassador. Cigar City founder Joey Redner’s contract brewery, Commerce Brewing, also owns a stake in the business. Follow this link to read more about the business.
Then there’s the lower-ABV, lower-calorie space, where Garage Beer Co., the spinoff company from Braxton Brewing Company in Kentucky, plays. Co-founder Jake Rouse shared why they’ve brought on a CPG vet to lead the brand and created a separate company. More here.
On the complete other end of the spectrum is Massachusetts craft brewery Greater Good Imperial Brewing, which only makes beers 8% ABV and above. They’ve set a big goal, owning 50% share of the imperial market within their distribution footprint. It’s a bold goal with a certain skeleton out there. Follow the link for more.
In other news …
A theme we’ll be hearing more and more about in 2023: craft breweries adding variety 12-packs and single-serve cans. Count Massachusetts’ Night Shift Brewing in. Night Shift founders Michael Oxton and Rob Burns discussed adding those formats, making their Whirlpool hazy New England pale ale the brewery’s flagship offering, and an evergreen marketing campaign.
Making a lot of those cans is Ball Corp., which reported full-year 2022 earnings this week, which were just slightly in the black. Notably, CEO Dan Fisher shared that companies that took a little too much price last year are starting to walk it back and there’s more promotional activity and that’s good news for sagging volume numbers. Jess has the story and the numbers.
Rapid delivery ain’t easy. So why go it alone? On-demand convenience delivery retailer Gopuff and e-commerce beverage-alcohol platform Drizly are teaming up to provide broader service for bev-alc delivery.
Relations are rocky between the Creature Comforts workers attempting to form a union and management. Jess has more details on the complaints filed with the National Labor Relations Board against the Athens, Georgia-based craft brewery, plus management’s response.
Lots of people are on the move, with hirings and promotions at Craft ‘Ohana, BrewDog, RationAle, and Anderson Valley. See who is on the go.
Lots of distribution moves of late too, including Schilling Hard Cider moving to the Molson Coors network in Colorado, and New Jersey’s Cape May entering Pennsylvania.
On this week’s Brewbound Podcast, Jess, Zoe and I chat with the Iowa Brewers Guild’s Noreen Otto and the Texas Craft Brewers Guild’s Caroline Wallace. Although we get a little state specific, the conversation will be a familiar one for guilds across the country with talk about gaining direct-to-consumer sales privileges. Listen to the conversation.
Our team also discusses the hype surrounding this year’s Super Bowl beer ads. Among them, Boston Beer is doing another regional ad buy featuring “Your Cousin From Boston,” who is hawking the “remastered” Samuel Adams Boston Lager. Zoe gets salty about the Red Sox fan hugging a Yankee fan … even in a bizarro-world Boston.
One housekeeping note before we go: Brewbound’s parent company, BevNet, has hired Ferron Salniker to be the company’s full-time editor of spirits. You’ve already been reading Ferron’s work on both Brewbound and BevNet, and you’ll be seeing a lot more of it in the weeks and months ahead. Welcome, Ferron!
That’s the week. Thank you to all of our Brewbound Insiders for supporting our independent journalism. Those subscriptions help us hit the road for events like Cider Con in Chicago, where Zoe is now, and the California Craft Brewers Association’s Craft Beer Summit, where we’ll all be in March. If you’re not an Insider, please consider subscribing by hitting this link.