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Most of the way thru the year, Dogfish Head remains on track to grow beer and canned cocktails in 2025 vs yr ago, marking the first time Dogfish beer's up since 2019 and a return to growth for canned cocktails lineup, founder Sam Calagione shared with CBN today. Grateful Dead Juicy Pale was the key on the beer side, becoming a top craft launch in natl off-prem scans this yr while maintaining over 40% of its mix sold on draft, getting a late-year lift thru programming for Record Store Day's secondary push surrounding Black Friday. Juicy Pale sales were 2X expectations this yr and pace hasn't let up. So Dogfish is set up for a nice boost early next yr with a few mos of incremental Juicy Pale sales built into results. It's expected to overtake 90 Minute IPA next yr as co's 2d largest brand overall, said Sam. And there's more to come on the Grateful Dead collab, Sam hinted, only sharing so far that Grateful Dead archivalist David Lemieux is coming back to NYC in April to talk about the various components of their continued partnership with Dogfish, including "music components, package components," merch and more. Recall, while Dogfish "sells millions in merch, "no merch line has ever sold as well as" co-branded Dogfish/Grateful Dead lines. "That hopefully speaks volumes about their excitement about our partnership," said Sam.But that's only part of the story. Grateful Dead Juicy Pale's surge didn't cannibalize core Continually Hopped brands as Dogfish was able to maintain 90% of 60 Min IPA tap handles coast to coast. 90 Min IPA remains "healthy, particularly in 19.2s." And shift from Slightly Mighty to 30 Min IPA was a "nice surprise," giving the brand more legs as part of the Minute family. That's led to new variety pk dubbed "Got a Minute?" featuring 30 Min, 60 Min, 75 Min and 90 Min IPAs, as Dogfish variety pk sales are up strong double digits this yr. Dogfish will continue to use 30 Min IPA as its feature for "Damp" January consumption habits, stressing that "not everybody's going cold turkey" on alcohol, but folks can still seek lower carb, lower calorie offerings. Next yr will also put "more focus" on Dogfish beer's seasonal program, starting with new Czech-Spresso lager brewed with honey malt and cold brew coffee, having better alignment with Sam Adams' leading seasonal program, and being "more careful" to keep offerings between Sam Adams and Dogfish complementary, like Sam Octoberfest and Dogfish Punkin. In the core lineup, Citrus Squall is no longer listed, now focused solely on Tropical Squall.Canned Cocktails Up 4% in Scans, Better in Indie Channels; Shift Back to 7% ABV; Creem Mag Collab & More Dogfish Head canned cocktails are up 4% in Circana data thru mid Nov, but trends are "stronger in indie" channels, Sam noted. New England region is growing faster than Atlantic and NJ trends were stronger too. With supply chain hummin', Dogfish RTDs are back to growth. But co's fine-tuning its lineup to solely offer 7% ABV versions in 2026 and beyond, realizing that sales and velocity on its 7% ABV lineup were stronger than 12% ABV versions that were line priced with 7% ABV packs. That includes Blueberry Vodka Lemon Drop debut in its own core 4pk after successful launch this yr as a single-serve, while "leaning harder into the blood orange and mango crush" flavors.There will still be some experimentation in higher ABVs thru LTOs and one-offs, including most recent collab with rock n' roll mag CREEM for Drrrty Thrrrty dirty vodka martini at a whopping 19.5% ABV per 12oz can (at 2 servings per can). Dogfish and CREEM co-hosted an event in NYC for Drrrty Thrrrty late last wk, collaborating on a playlist that featured 30 of the dirtiest songs in rock history. And Dogfish expects to "do more stuff with them" among other music media partners across beer & RTDs, including continuation of Boy Howdy! Creem Ale next summer. Across beer, RTDs, and spirits, Dogfish will make 31 different brands next yr, "keeping the off-centeredness alive and well." Just-released 2026 calendar shows plenty of small-batch innovation on top of core & seasonal lineups.

Dogfish Lookin' to Keep Beer & Canned Cocktail Growth Up in 2026; More Dead, Got a Min Vty Pk, Seasonals & Shift Back to 7% ABV RTDs

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