Pair of interesting leadership and ownership transitions in Northern Calif this wk, detailed by Santa Rosa Press Democrat. Taken together, the stories provide a glimpse at possible paths forward for some of craft’s longest running players, whether large and established or small and locally-focused. First, North Coast co-founder Mark Ruedrich announced retirement after over 30 yrs, the brewery shared this week. Mark has been prexy of co for years. Replacing him as leader of co, current COO Sam Kraynek will take on CEO role, according to Press Democrat. Doug Moody continues on as senior veep and natl sales director. North Coast grew by about 5% to just over 68K bbls last yr, still slightly below its 2015 peak, according to Brewers Assn stats. The co employs about 140 folks and is a certified B Corp, the Press Democrat wrote.

Separately, the nearby 25-yr old brewpub Third Street Aleworks in Santa Rosa recently got a trio of new owners, the same paper wrote the next day. The brewpub’s founders, Todd Hedrick and Chris Hagan opened Third Street in 1995, operating it until selling to Chris and Arika Frederick and Mathew Vella last month. Interestingly, none of the new owners came with brewing experience or even much understanding of the beer biz. Instead, the trio own an engraving business, which they expanded via acquisition of an established biz south of Santa Rosa last yr. Looking out for other potential acquisitions, the Fredericks steered clear of picking up a similar biz in Southern Calif tho, interested instead in “trying to deepen our roots within Sonoma County,” Chris Frederick told the paper. Brewer at Third Street for last 10 yrs, Tyler Laverty, stays on, as do 60 pub employees. New owners not necessarily looking to make changes to the brewpub itself, but instead bring some new energy behind marketing the location and the beer, ideally bringing in a new audience (and new generation) of beer drinkers, new owners explained.

Brewers of all shapes and sizes find ways to play in middle space between craft and mainstream beer, offering lighter styles delivering on classic beer promises of easy-drinking refreshment. Not all of ’em in same light lager style as Saint Archer Gold, above, as NY Times explored this wk. That roundup heavily featured familiar comments from Sam Calagione alongside details of Dogfish’s deal with Boston Beer, plus that Boston’s 26.2 Brew effort. Also noted search for “sweaty consumers” by Sufferfest founder, key to interest by new owner Sierra Nevada, which this month shifted production to its Chico brewery. Up in northeast, competing with Boston/DFH, NYT points out Harpoon’s Rec. League and Night Shift’s Nite Lite, both out of Mass. Interestingly, “the unexpectedly strong demand” for Nite Lite (lower-priced light lager) has “exceeded the available supply on occasion,” so Night Shift recently launched Lime Lite, a lime-flavored variant. Another classic mainstream play.

Meanwhile, out west, a new entrant in the non-craft craft genre: a (slightly) lower-priced light lager called Seattle Lite, created by one of owners of (and brewed at) small Lowercase Brewing. “Even cheap beer fans in Seattle can appreciate a hometown product,” The Stranger wrote about the vision of owners, employing Lowercase brewer to produce the 4% lager packaged in 11-oz “stubby” bottles. Half the beer’s ingredients come from Washington, backing up “local” claims. Currently available at a handful of bars around town (aimed at $4/bottle) and pair of co’s taprooms, one branded as the Seattle Lite taproom as well as the Lowercase location. Consumers can pick up 12-pks of Seattle Lite at the taprooms, but co hopes to get beer into more off-premise accounts as it sets its sights squarely on biz Pabst (re)built for Rainier in the market.

Speaking of Pabst, its attempts at resuscitating some of its “legacy” regional brands have been largely hit or miss over last few yrs. But it took new route in San Francisco to relaunch Lucky Lager. Co worked with folks at 21st Amendment to recreate an all-malt version, as Mercury News wrote in roundup of new NorCal beers. Also mentioned: Lagunitas’ new LAGUR, brewed for summer and available in cans. Elsewhere, entrepreneurs, brewer families and local historians continue to come together to relaunch other old school regional lager brands that closed up in the mid-late 20th century. Among ’em, Reisch Gold Top, which the son of the last Reisch brewmaster (and a retired AB brewer) brought back with the help of a non-profit organized purely for the launch in the brewery’s hometown of Springfield, IL. Nostalgia weighs heavily on folks eager to pick up the brand, according to comments in a State Journal-Review feature. Importantly, the non-profit manages sales and distributes proceeds locally, including to the Lincoln Presidential Museum.

Lighter Styles Gain Goin’ into Peak Season As summer approaches, these styles heating up in scans. A quartet of craft styles, as defined by IRI, gaining near $15 mil yr-to-date thru 5/19 in IRI multi-outlet + convenience data, about a third of total craft $$ growth YTD. Golden ales (driven by Firestone 805 and Kona Big Wave) up 13.5%, $7.1 mil YTD. Now #4 style in craft, excluding catch-all “seasonal” and “variety” in IRI data. Nearing 4 share of $$ and up near 0.4 share of cases to 4.3. “Other pale lagers” up similar 13.8% by $$, gaining $5.2 mil in sales so far this yr. Then too, classic pale lager style, pilsner growing a bit faster on smaller base, +$2.1 mil, 15.4% thru 5/19. And tho still very small, craft “light beer” also up solid 7%, less than half a mil $$ in growth. One of only other sizeable craft styles gettin’ double-digit growth (aside from IPA) so far this yr: Belgian Ales, which can vary widely from flavor perspective, but many of larger/more popular brands fall on lighter side of the spectrum.

MC’s Mich Ultra-fighting test brand, Saint Archer Gold, is off to the races in its 4 test mkts, especially in Indianapolis, IN, where co partnered with IndyCar driver Josef Newgarden “for a series of displays, meet-and-greets and sampling events leading up to the Indy 500,” MC Behind the Beer Blog detailed. In fact, Saint Archer Gold is #1 new brand YTD in total beer statewide in Indiana, sez co citing Nielsen data. Recall, Saint Archer Gold only testing in Indianapolis metro area. It’s also #4 new beer brand “since its launch” in both AZ statewide and Charlotte, NC. And it’s “outpacing other key competitors in Austin Texas, ranking as the top new brand at a large chain grocer.” Josef Newgarden also visited Saint Archer brewery and made a promotional video the week prior to the race. Partnership with Josef helped Saint Archer Gold secure “incremental displays, promotional support and features at both on and off-premise accounts, as well as additional sampling opportunities at and around the racetrack,” director of sales for Monarch Bev Dave Rogers noted, adding that “twelve-pack cans have really taken off.” And Saint Archer Gold has heavy mktg weight in each test mkt with TV, digital, social, out-of-home and sampling.

All in, test launch “breeds confidence in broader launch,” blog headlined. “Feedback from consumers, distributors and retailers confirms to us that the momentum behind this brand is real,” stated Saint Archer prexy Brad Nadal. “The big thing we’ve learned so far is that sampling is absolutely critical,” he added. Saint Archer Gold is already Saint Archer’s 2d largest brand by $$ and volume for latest 4 wks thru May 19 in IRI multi-outlet + convenience data, propelling total Saint Archer $$ up 39.5% for period; up 13.5% YTD.

Maine Beer co expects to “crank out” about 23K bbls, up 18% from 19,500 bbls last yr, and “top” $15 mil in revs in 2019, CEO Steve Mills told Forbes Mag in company profile highlighting Maine’s ability to grow while “doing the right thing.” Indeed, Maine Beer’s program, “1% for the planet,” means that co plans to “write more than $150,000 in checks to environmental nonprofits this year,” paper noted. Maine’s also “fully committed to solar power,” with “goal of creating more clean energy than it consumes by 2030,” via solar panels and other methods down the line. Co provides minimum wage of $18 per hour, 3 wks paid vacation for full time employees in their first year, at least 5% of employees’ earnings are contributed toward their retirement, and pays 100% of insurance premiums for employees. As result, “we have no problem attracting people, or with retention,” Steve told mag, adding that it “makes sense, especially in Maine where you have an aging population.” Currently Maine Beer has 50 employees.

Recall, Steve is an industry vet who began his career in beer with Boulevard, later joined Uinta and became CEO there before leaving last yr to become CEO of Maine Beer. Despite the “step down” in pay, Steve expressed gratitude to work for Maine after striking friendship with Maine founders, Dan and Dave Kleban. While at Uinta “we just kept finding each other at conferences,” and Steve would occasionally advise the brothers on various biz decisions over the years while continuing to stay in touch. Eventually they called and said “look, we want to keep this thing going. We want this company built to last. You have great experience. Why don’t you come out here?”

Inter-tier compromise continues to be clearest trend in state-level legislative actions in 2019. Importantly, franchise law a frequent (and perhaps surprising) subject of compromises between small brewer and distributor advocates. Both groups support bill intro’d in Maine last week, raising self-distribution volume cap and creating franchise law carve out for small suppliers, according to Portland Press Herald report last night. Recall, discussions over this issue in ME noted during CBC seminar by atty Marc Sorini (see April 10) as example of growing number of states where parties traditionally not aligned figuring out the give and take needed to get on same page. That page hit Maine legislature about 10 days ago, currently still in committee. But backing by key stakeholders could mean smooth sailing, if process tracks results of compromise elsewhere.

The deets: proposal would raise current volume cap on “small brewery” license in state to 30K bbls, under which breweries can self distribute. Same volume threshold would apply to state franchise law, allowing brewers from in- and out-of-state to give 30 days to move from one distrib to another (or to self distributing). Brewer has to represent less than 3% of distrib volume over last 12 mos. Distrib gets FMV, detailed in bill. These small brewers also can move thru “expedited arbitration” to get to deal, according to bill summary.

Combo of broader self-distribution privileges and franchise carve-out is 1-2 punch many small brewer advocates view as necessary for a balanced set of distribution laws. Strict franchise law and low self-dist cap, currently just 50K gallons or about 1,600 bbls, meant “some Maine brewers are purposefully limiting production,” according to Press Herald. Of 140 brewers in state, 120 of them fall under current cap and 110 under 1,000 bbls. Of course, 100 of them also opened in just last 5 yrs, paper notes. At hearing last wk, “more than two dozen brewers and distributors spoke in favor” of current proposal, also supported by written testimony from Maine Beer and Wine Distributors. New self-dist cap “gives breweries more runway to become more stable businesses, to make much more stable partners for us,” prexy of craft-focused distrib Vacationland Distributors, Jim O’Brien said, per paper.

CT Senate Approves Compromise Cap on Off-Premise Brewery Sales; Health Care Legislative session in nearby Connecticut a little more complicated, as multiple proposals intro’d early in yr forced stakeholders across tiers into discussions to hash out some of the details. That pushed franchise reform off the table. But brewers and distribs in state agreed to higher cap on off-premise sales at state’s breweries, Hartford Courant wrote earlier this spring. But no bill addressing this issue moved til this wk. State Senate overwhelmingly approved measure that would boost amount of packaged beer breweries can sell to-go from current cap of 9 liters (just over 1 case of 12oz packages) to 6 gal (or equivalent of 2 cases of 16oz pks). Rest of bill makes more extensive set of changes to wine/cider/mead rules, including allowing state’s small alcohol manufacturers to produce and sell those other types of bevs. Senate vote happened during same week Connecticut Brewers Guild launched petition, video and op-ed campaign in support of completely separate issue: asking for tailored healthcare carve out that would allow guild to pool its members and offer brewery employees better healthcare benefits at lower price.

Craft segment (and total beer biz) trends keep see-sawing back and forth lately, in part due to holiday timing. Craft $$ up 0.4%, volume slipped 0.7% for latest 4 wks thru May 19 in IRI multi-outlet + convenience data. So leading into Memorial Day, craft $$ up 3%, volume up 2% YTD. Total beer slowed to $$ up 0.8%, volume down 1.7% for 4 wks, as domestic premium decline steepened to $$ -6%, while imports (+2.5%) and domestic superpremium (+8%) gains slowed as well. Yet FMBs kept up 20% plus growth pace for period, snagging 1.7 share to 9.3 share of total beer $$. Avg craft prices were back up 1% to $37.99/case, following slower 0.4% price gain in prior 4 wks (see May 7 issue).

Lagunitas, Bell’s, Stone Declining for 4 Wks; Lead Brands Slippin’ Here’s a bit of a curveball group of declining cos in latest period. A couple years ago, this likely woulda been next to unthinkable, but Lagunitas, Bell’s and Stone each declined for latest 4 wks in IRI MULC. Lagunitas $$ slipped 2%, Bell’s down 1.5% and Stone down 5%. Each of their lead brands were down too, including: Lagunitas IPA (-1%) and Little Sumpin' (-3%); Bell’s Two Hearted Ale (-4%) and Bell’s Seasonal (-12%); and Stone IPA down 11%. All 3 cos still up for the full year. Yet most of those lead brands in the red YTD as well, with Bell’s Two Hearted ($$ +3%) the lone exception.

Gambrinus Tuff 13% Decline for 4 Wks Separately, Gambrinus declined at tuff double-digit rate, -13% for 4 wks, now down 6% for the year. Flagship Shiner Bock down 8% for period. Plus, discontinuation of BridgePort brand family likely adding to the drag, among other factors.

Just 10 of Top-30 Craft Brands Growing for 4 Wks; Some Gains Dwindling, Others Sustaining With Bell’s Two Hearted in the red, just 10 of the top-30 craft brands in scans grew $$ for latest 4 wks. And some of those gains are dwindling fast. After becoming a top-30 brand earlier this yr following last yr’s rollout, Blue Moon Mango Wheat $$ grew just 2.5% for 4 wks (volume flat) vs +17% YTD. Sam Adams Variety Pk slowed to 1% gain for 4 wks vs +6% YTD. And Founders All Day up 7% for 4 wks vs +17% YTD (up 3% in grocery vs +10% YTD). Gotta note, All Day avg price per case grew again for 4 wks in MULC (+$0.14 to $28.80) and even more so in grocery channel (+$0.26 to $28.21).

Yet many familiar top growth brands among top-30 craft brands nationally are keeping up strong gains. Sierra Nevada Hazy Little Thing IPA still doubling sales for 4 wks, and remains #1 craft growth brand. In fact, its sales surpassed Sierra Torpedo IPA (-8%) for period to become Sierra’s #2 brand and 13th largest craft brand by $$ overall. And total Sierra trend improved to $$ up 1% for 4 wks as well. Then too, AB’s Elysian Space Dust IPA still up 22% for 4 wks thru May 5 vs +29% YTD. It’s currently 8th largest craft brand in scans nationally by $$ YTD. Larger than NBB Fat Tire (-11%) and just slightly behind Leinie Shandy Seasonal (-13%). Cigar City Jai Alai IPA “slowed” to $$ up 38% for 4 wks vs up 59% YTD. New Belgium Voodoo Imperial IPA (+38%) actually picked up pace, and NBB Voodoo Ranger (+7%) pretty much right in line with YTD trend. Firestone 805 Blonde $$ up 13% for 4 wks vs +19% YTD. Its sales were ahead of Sam Boston Lager (-12%) and just slightly behind NBB Fat Tire as well for 4 wks. And Kona Big Wave grew 33% for 4 wks, as total Craft Brew Alliance grew (+2%) for 2d straight 4-wk period in IRI.

Wine & spirits house Breakthru Beverage Group has picked up influential alc-alternative brand Lyre's for distribution in most of its US territory starting Jan 1. For Aussie brand, the move will open up 3 new markets, Delaware, Penn and SC. "With Dry January right around the corner, we look forward to sharing Lyre's spirits, RTDs and wine alternatives with our customers and solidifying our portfolio in this emerging space," explained Drew Levinson, vp biz development for emerging craft brands. Lyre's svp N Amer, Josh Carlos, cited Breakthru's "clear investment in the category of non-alcoholic beverages" as key to decision . . . Parents visiting their college-age kids are more likely to get a taste of Oatly oatmilk following Swedish firm's deal to become default option at 20+ Graduate Hotels located near campuses in US and UK including in Chapel Hill, NC, Madison, Wis, New Haven, Conn, and Knoxville, Tenn. Oatly's Barista Edition and Chocolate oatmilks will garner spot in properties' dest

Better Rhodes, which bet early on creating platform for alc-alternative brands, has recruited bunch of senior execs lately. In as dir of product innovation & trade development is Warren Hode, coming off run building out Lyre's N Amer trade & channel development after 20 years as NY-based bartender and menu consultant at high-end venues like Balthazar Group. Aboard as dir of strategy & corporate development is alc and cannabis vet Taylor Foxman. And wine importer Mike Votto is serving as gatekeeper for new brands as advisor for product selection & distribution. (His LinkedIn profile indicates he came in as investor in Better Rhodes last month.) . . . The Monster, C4 and Bang energy vet Russ Kaffenberger is making transition from Sway Beverage to Golden Grail after latter co acquired Sway's core Sway Energy brand, it turns out. At Florida-based co he'll oversee day-to-day commercial ops, distributor management and mull new growth opportunities within acquisitive co including launches in UK, Germany, Australia and Canada. At time of acquisition earlier this month, Sway owner had indicated Russ would be moving on but it wasn't clear whether he was headed to Golden Grail (BBI, Dec 1) . . . The 6-year Red Bull vet Dan Zacka signed on with Congo Brands as dir of special projects last month, per his LinkedIn profile. Boynton Beach, Fla-based exec had spent prior 6 years at Red Bull N America concluding with genl sales mgr role . . . Peter Kaye, fresh off a run at Hungry Harvest produce delivery co, has hung out his shingle as PK Growth Partners, offering his services as an "interim executive" and "player-coach" for early-stage companies seeking help in marketing, new products and related spheres. Among bev folks, he's maybe best known for 3-year stint at Honest Tea, where he created "Refreshingly Honest" campaign and helped drive sales beyond $100 mil. He also worked on Smirnoff brand for Diageo . . . Alex Miller has been elevated to newly created position of coo of Circle K operator Couche-Tard effective Jan 2, with responsibility for food program, merchandise procurement and supply chain activities across its N Amer, Europe and Asia ops. Currently evp operations for N Amer and global commercial optimization, he'll continue to report to prexy/ceo Brian Hannasch . . . With Mike Murray recruited as Good Karma Foods ceo, the 8-year vet Matthew Riegner can drop that role and ease back to his ongoing cfo duties, a rep told us in response to query that arrived after story went out (BBI, Dec 19). "Matt has shown a valiant effort leading the Good Karma business this year in both the cfo and ceo roles," Mike said. "To best meet our bullish growth plan for the year ahead, it was time to add to the leadership team to help enable Good Karma reach its full potential. I look forward to working shoulder-to-shoulder alongside Matt and the rest of the leadership team."

Wild Tonic, the jun-style kombucha that's tilted more heavily toward its alcoholic than NA entries in recent years, is looking to ride the sober-curious wave more directly with a new NA extension called The Wanderer Series. Due next month, in time for Dry January, the line mimics popular cocktail styles in quartet of mocktail entries packed in 12-oz conventional cans. Bees Knees offers lemony gin flavor with notes of juniper and coriander, per co's description, while The Mule is Jamaican ginger beer with splash of lime and ginger-heat finish. Paloma is Mexican-style grapefruit soda with blanco tequila flavor and hints of smokiness and tart lime, while Persephone brings pomegranate flavor with citrus and ginger and slightly herbal finish. The new sku's inaugurate new look that will bleed across all sublines, including new logo featuring bees to flag jun kombucha's honey base, arranged as constellation in Sedona night sky behind red rocks and, for some entries, deep blue background alluding to cobalt blue glass bottles of bottled entries. So line now is comprised of core NA entries in 12-oz slim cans and 12-oz glass bottles, new Wanderer entries and Hard Jun in 5.6% ABV and 8% ABV versions.

Long a holdout on hedging its reliance on plastic, Hint Water has quietly inaugurated its first aluminum line, a trio of 12-oz slim cans that seem likely to launch in Northeast first. Offered in popular Blackberry, Watermelon and Blueberry Lemon flavors, the new cans mainly are targeting foodservice accts that have been eliminating single-use plastic from their mix. They rep new direction by recently elevated ceo Blair Owens after long resistance to idea by founding team, which has argued that cans, cartons and other alternatives to PET don't pencil out as real improvement on sustainability grounds (BBI, Aug 31 2020). Their argument may be persuasive to some, but perception is reality and unyielding stance has led to essence water brand being eliminated from some high-volume venues like corporate offices, universities and airports. Until now only non-PET entries in mix have been 200-ml Tetra Pak line of Hint Kids waters that debuted in 2018.