NEWS

The Brewers Association (BA) is accepting ballots from voting members through November 19 in its annual board of directors election. Five three-year terms are open to represent the board’s three member classes.

One constant in beverage-alcohol’s rollercoaster 2025 has been growth in the spirits-based, ready-to-drink (RTD) canned cocktail segment. Spirits and cider sales stayed broadly stable in the two-week period ending October 18, while trends for flavored malt beverages (FMB) and seltzer worsened, according to analysis of NIQ data from Goldman Sachs Equity Research.

As major retailers Target, Circle K, Total Wine & More and others add intoxicating hemp beverages to their shelves, attorneys general from 37 states and two U.S. territories are asking Congress to ban the sale of unregulated, intoxicating THC products and “shut down this industry before it metastasizes further.”

Heineken is building on its non-alcoholic (NA) 0.0 franchise in 2026. The company will add two fruit-forward Heineken 0.0 line extensions, as well as Heineken 0.0 Ultimate in more than a dozen markets.

This month’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) once again showed the bev-alc industry that pricing power remains in the on-premise, with price increases away from home far outweighing at-home raises and overall inflation. So which brands are poised to take advantage?

New Jersey wine and spirits distributor Fedway Associates has struck a deal to acquire independent Anheuser-Busch distributor Ritchie & Page, which will mark the company’s entry into the beer distribution business.

Recess Drinks has closed a $30 million series B round led by CAVU and other repeat investors, according to CEO and founder Ben Witte.

Brooklyn Brewery has tapped U.S. Beverage (USB) to lead its sales efforts in a new national partnership, the companies announced Monday. The partnership launches on November 1, according to a press release. No changes are expected for Brooklyn’s existing distributor network, and no equity is changing hands.

Beer price increases in bars and restaurants outpaced overall inflation in September, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest Consumer Price Index.

Beverage-alcohol’s off-premise declines eased a bit in the one-week period ending October 19, buoyed by the beer category’s growth brands, according to the latest weekly report from market research firm Circana.

The owners of Cricket Hill (Fairfield, New Jersey) have listed the brewery for sale as they prepare to retire. At 24 years old, Cricket Hill is one of the Garden State’s oldest craft breweries. Ballast Point (San Diego, California) plans to lay off 37 employees effective December 15, according to a pair of Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notices in California filed on October 8.

The founders of BeatBox are hoping 2026 will bring them their second hit brand aimed at a new generation of consumers. BeatBox parent company Future Proof will launch Chillitas in February, a new-to-world, flavored malt beverage outside of the company’s flagship party punch brand.

I gotta say athletes are really letting down their image in 2025. First, it was baseball players leaving the complimentary beer fridges in the locker room mostly untouched – now the NBA fellas are starting … wine clubs!

Boston Beer’s transformation from a craft brewer to an adult beverage company, which began in earnest about a decade ago, is looking like an even better bet as traditional beer’s declines outpace those of the beyond beer segment.

Consumers wallets are feeling the strain, but it’s not stopping them from spending in on-premise retailers, National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) chief economist and VP of analytics Lester Jones shared during a webinar Thursday.

Our two-day event for the beer and bev-alc industry heads to L.A. December 10+11! Early registration ends today, October 24. Register before the weekend to save $100 or more per ticket.

Japan’s Kirin Holdings is looking to unload bourbon brand Four Roses for $1 billion, as part of a shift toward healthcare.

Boston Beer Company’s third-quarter shipments (sales to wholesalers) and depletions (sales to retailers) declined 13.7% and 3%, respectively, the company shared today.

At Brewbound Live 2025, New Belgium CMO Rebecca Dye Yonushonis will share the ways the brewery is attempting to solve the industry’s fun crisis, what the company has learned about shopping patterns and why a one-size-fits-all approach to beer’s top channels doesn’t work in 2025.

If you thought Skimmers, Anheuser-Busch InBev’s (A-B) entrant into the vodka-based tea segment, looked a bit too similar to the space’s lead brand Surfside, you’re not alone. Philadelphia-based Stateside Brands LLC, the parent company of Surfside hard tea and lemonade, filed a complaint against A-B in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on Tuesday.