NEWS

The Beer Institute (BI) has tapped Chris MacArthur as its new director of federal affairs, the trade group announced Tuesday. MacArthur joins the BI from the office of Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) – who owns a hop farm and represents a district that includes Yakima Valley – where he served as a senior adviser. In that role, he supported Newhouse on appropriations, national security and agricultural policy.

More people went out to bars and restaurants to celebrate Valentine’s Day this year compared to 2025, according to the last on-premise report from market research firm NIQ, citing “CGA intelligence” data.

Nearly 500 workers will lose their jobs with the closure of 38 BrewDog-owned pubs across the U.K. following Tilray’s acquisition of parts of the Scottish craft brewery, consultant firm AlixPartners shared in a press release.

Constellation Brands wasn’t immune from the beverage-alcohol industry’s “tough” 2025, beer division president Jim Sabia acknowledged Monday during the opening session of the company’s Gold Network Summit with distributors in Las Vegas.

Despite a post-holiday decline in off-premise sales week-over-week (WoW), bev-alc’s year-over-year (YoY) growth expanded in the latest week, according to market research firm Circana.

Tilray Brands has struck a deal to acquire some assets of Scottish craft brewery BrewDog, it announced today. The deal, which closed today, includes BrewDog’s global brand and intellectual property, its brewing operations in Ellon, Scotland, and 11 pubs across the U.K. and Ireland.

Brown-Forman and Pabst Brewing Company are ending their production, sales, marketing and distribution partnership for FMBs such as the whiskey brand’s Jack Daniel’s Country Cocktails after five years.

What happened to GUINNESS 0 in NYC? I haven’t seen it on WHOLE FOODS’ shelves in several weeks in a couple of stores that I’ve checked, and I’ve also struck out finding it at other city food stores. It’s still plentiful in Jersey, but yeah – maybe we get on that as March begins?

Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B) has closed its previously announced acquisition of BeatBox Beverages, the companies shared today.

After layoffs at two major distributors, another leader is now cutting its workforce. Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits announced job cuts on Thursday as part of a "broader effort to align resources with its long-term strategy and evolving market conditions."

After a judge placed Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey under receivership for defaulting on nearly $108 million in loans, founder Fawn Weaver continues her courtroom fight to take back the troubled bourbon company.

Matt Brewing Company (Utica, New York) president Fred Matt will lead the Brewers Association (BA) board of directors as chairman for its 2026 term, the BA announced Thursday following the board’s first meeting of the new year.

Monster Beverage Company’s alcohol division dragged the overall business again in 2025, including a $53.7 million impairment charge on its alcohol brands segment for the full year, the company reported during its full-year and Q4 2025 earnings report on Thursday.

Private label products saw a banner year in 2025, with spirits ranking as one of the top growing categories. As some distillers aim to take advantage of the opportunity, will brands feel the squeeze?

Beer wholesalers appear to be slightly more optimistic about the category through the first two months of 2026 compared to the start of 2025, according to the latest Beer Purchasers’ Index (BPI) from the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA).

Any remaining concerns about the seasonality of ready-to-drink cocktails (RTD) may be eased by the latest weekly off-premise scan report from NIQ.

Lawson’s Finest Liquids ended 2025 with double-digit dollar sales growth in NIQ-tracked channels, the Waitsfield, Vermont-headquartered craft brewery announced Tuesday.

Younger Americans aren't just drinking less – they're funneling their social spending into fitness rather than alcohol, according to a new report from the Bank of America Institute.

The pack mentality isn’t going away anytime soon in craft brewing. The Oregon Beverage Collective (OBC) – the tie up of Crux Fermentation Project, Cascade Lakes Brewing, Silver Moon Brewing, Goodlife Brewing and Tumalo Cider – launched a couple of weeks ago as one of the latest additions to this crowd.

The Colorado Beverage Coalition – which represents the state’s breweries, wineries, cideries, distilleries and related partners – has come out against a bill that would raise fees on beverage-alcohol by 60%.