3 Up, 3 Down with 3 Tier Beverages is a quarterly insights series available to Brewbound Insiders, via the Chicago-headquartered, bev-alc-focused consulting and data firm.
Some hard seltzers and hard kombuchas in Utah are a signature away from being relegated to state-run liquor stores due to a bill that bans drinks made with flavors containing trace amounts of ethyl alcohol from grocery and convenience stores.
As the lines between beer, wine and spirits continue to blur, Molson Coors is launching Vizzy Mimosa Hard Seltzer to capitalize on the popularity of the sparkling wine-based cocktail.
Some hard seltzer brands may be excluded from grocery and convenience stores in Utah under an omnibus bill proposed in the state Senate. Alaska’s state Senate has passed a bill that would make it harder for breweries to open taprooms in the state.
Shipments from Mass. Bay Brewing Company – whose portfolio includes Harpoon Brewery, UFO Beer Co., Clown Shoes Beer, City Roots Cider and Arctic Chill Hard Seltzer – declined -10% in 2021, marking a second consecutive year of double-digit production declines, according to estimates from the Brewers Association (BA).
Boston Beer Company founder and chairman Jim Koch discussed the future of core beer and his company’s fourth category offerings – including the forthcoming Hard Mtn Dew collaboration with PepsiCo – during Beer Business Daily’s annual Beer Industry Summit earlier this week.
Anheuser-Busch InBev North American zone CEO Brendan Whitworth shared updates from across the company’s portfolio, distribution network and e-commerce platforms. Nearly a year after Diageo’s acquisition of Far West Spirits LLC, the maker of Lone River Ranch Water, Diageo Beer Company president Nuno Teles and Lone River founder and CEO Katie Beal Brown discussed the brand’s growth under the spirits giant’s guidance.
Convenience retailers expect the hard seltzer segment to grow +10% year-over-year in 2022, according to Goldman Sachs Equity analyst Bonnier Herzog’s latest “Beverage Bytes” report. Hard seltzer sales slowed to +13% at c-stores in Q4, down from +18% in Q3, +32% in Q2 and +94% in Q1 as the calendar cycled against 2020 numbers.
Independent hard seltzer maker Two Robbers will open its first taproom in Philadelphia’s Fishtown neighborhood later this year. The 4,000 sq. ft. taproom – titled Burgers and Seltzers – is the first seltzer taproom in Philadelphia. In addition to a beyond beer-driven menu, Two Robbers will serve smash burgers, beer and spirits.
Monster Beverage Corporation co-CEOs Rodney Sacks and Hilton Schlosberg discussed their company’s acquisition of the CANarchy Craft Brewery Collective and shed light on Monster’s aspirations in the beverage-alcohol space during a conference call for investors Thursday evening following news of the sale. “We’ve been evolving a strategy to enter the alcoholic beverage market and this is, we believe, our best strategy of achieving this objective,” Schlosberg said.
Of the 25 best-selling new brands last year, 20 are hard seltzers, according to NielsenIQ data shared by BWC. The top five include Mark Anthony Brands’ White Claw variety pack No. 3, Boston Beer Company’sTruly Punch variety pack, Truly Iced Tea variety pack, Molson Coors Topo Chico Hard Seltzer and Mark Anthony’s Mike’s Hard Lemonade Seltzer variety pack.