Beer bounced back in latest week of IRI multi-outlet + convenience data thru Dec 11. Dollar sales rebounded to +4.3% following slight 1.6% gain in previous wk (even with ~8% price hike). Volume sales declined 3.6%, improving from 6.3% drop in wk prior.

AB's making "modifications" to part of its Wholesaler Equity Agreement (EA) as co seeks to update contract language to account for "changes in consumer behaviors and key segments, as well as significant advances in technology," chief sales officer Simon Wuestenberg and biz wholesaler development veep Bob Tallett wrote to wholesaler network this morn. Changes involve Exhibit 9 of the equity agreement, "Operating, Sales and Merchandising standards," notably now incorporating its controversial BEES e-commerce platform. This section most recently updated in 2018 to "ensure compliance with terms of the Consent Decree," execs detailed, referring to agreement with US Dept of Justice when ABI bought SABMiller. Latest updates "primarily" fall in 3 categories: "evolving the document, updating to current verbiage, and reducing complexity."

As Monster prepares to roll out its much-anticipated Beast Unleashed product in first qtr to a number of states, it sent tuff contract to distribs that's getting lotsa buzz behind the scenes. Complex contract includes everything from hefty marketing investment, ability to give distribs some brands not others, or in part of territory not all of territory, plus more latitude in terminations. Also mandates that all disputes get resolved by arbitration in Southern Calif. Some suggest the provisions on brands may not pass muster in states with strong brand extension laws. "Think NA terms in a beer agreement," said one source. NBWA reportedly provided distribs and their state assns guidance on Monster's agreement. Assn has done that for lotsa other proposed distribution agreements for alcohol and non-alcohol products in recent yrs, including common recommendation that distribs consult their atty and state assn. It's almost a year since Monster bought CANarchy. It didn't make many waves in beer biz in yr 1, but that all could change in 2023.

Here’s a sample of other notable stories we picked up over the last week or so… In San Francisco, young Seven Stills Brewery and Distillery keeps makin’ moves as it builds out big 18K sq-ft facility, including plans of taking over taproom space recently vacated by Almanac Brewing when it moved out to its new brewery in Alameda. Taproom in Mission District expected to open as soon as July 1 serving Seven Stills’ combos of beer and whiskey, according to SF Chronicle. … Separately, CA-born Bold Patriot Brewing headed across country to open its small brewery and taproom, just named anchor tenant of big food hall project in Nashville, the Tennessean wrote. …

Not one but two breweries on tap for near future in Las Vegas, including downtown operation named Able Baker and the Strip’s very 1st brewery, Trustworthy, created by MCC Hospitality Group, expected to open before end of this month, city’s Eater outlet wrote. … Speaking of breweries popping up in new communities, Chi Trib reported on coming opening of Englewood Brews in namesake nabe, a majority black community. Couple behind opening includes Lesley Roth, who highlighted the importance of being a black woman at the helm of the 1st brewery in the area: “if you’re going to change the paradigm and stereotype of what craft beer is, you want to go to a place owned by people that look like you and who are invested in the community and the narrative.” … Note too, Chi Trib also recently reported on dust up between Washington’s No-Li Brewhouse and AB’s Goose Island brand, which launched a Born + Raised brand in Chicago. But recall, No-Li’s Born & Raised IPA has been its flagship for years now. Trib report published online last month, but hit print version in Windy City last wk. AB insists it’s good to go since No-Li doesn’t sell outside of PacNW home and Goose beer Chicago-only. Hasn’t stopped drinkers in the city from erroneously checking into No-Li’s beer on Untappd, natch. No-Li not necessarily lookin’ for a lawsuit, but did register Born & Raised trademark, founder John Bryant updated CBN. (Naming issues still unsurprisingly an issue in craft; not far away, startup brewery Vandal Beer in ID just got cease-and-desist from Univ of ID, per Lewiston Morning Trib.) Meanwhile, No-Li’s movin’ forward, launching first-ever TV ad campaign across Eastern WA and Northern ID markets, supported by digital version. New 30-sec spot focused on co’s “communal spirit and supportive fabric in our communities,” John shared.

A few more closing announcements surfaced over last week or so. WA’s 26-yr old co, Fish Brewing, is now in receivership, after co was “unable to pay its debts” of more than $4.8 mil with just $2.6 mil in assets, reported The Olympian citing court documents. After petition to appoint receiver filed on May 22, “Kirkland-based business called McCallen & Sons is now in control of Fish Brewing’s assets,” paper notes Co has “power to preserve, protect and liquidate those assets and to distribute the proceeds thereof to the party or parties legally entitled to them.”

Indeed, Fish is another example of an early craft proprietor that’s seen beer volume take hit amid craft beer explosion, while also seeking variety of ways to differentiate biz. After narrowly avoiding bankruptcy in late 90s, Fish acquired Leavenworth Biers in 2001, merged with Spire Mountain cider in 2005, and more recently acquired Grapeworks Distilling in 2016, paper details citing website timeline. Fish finished flattish at 8,800 bbls in 2018 according to Brewers Assn estimates, including volume up double-digits to 6,500 bbls for the year in home state WA, according to WA liquor board stats. Yet that’s down from 22K bbls in 2012, per BA. Co closed its newest brewpub (opened in late 2017) earlier this yr. And Fish volume down 25% plus in WA thru Q1, according to state stats. In meantime, Fish is “operating as normal” and “trying to refinance or find new ownership,” prexy Sal Leone told paper. Current distribution footprint includes: WA, OR, ID, CA, AK, MT, FL, PA and parts of Canada, according to co’s website.

DuClaw Licensed Brewpub and Gordon Biersch Mission Valley Location Closures Separately, DuClaw Brewing Co restaurant at Arundel Mills mall closed last week, to be replaced by new Yard House, reported Baltimore Biz Journal. Recall, the Arundel Mills location was licensed out to separate ownership, as is current brewpub in Baltimore/Washington International airport, which will remain in operation, paper notes. DuClaw also sold rights to its branded brewpubs in Bel Air, MD and Bowie, PA to Frankis Restaurant Group back in 2016 to focus more on production and distribution biz at 62K sq-ft facility. In 2017, DuClaw Brewing was seeking partnership “to help fuel next phase of growth,” founder Dave Benfield then told CBN, tho no deal publicized since. In San Diego, Gordon Biersch brewpub chain (separate owners from Gordon Biersch brewery) will close its Mission Valley location on July 14, reported West Coaster and local 10News among others. Co filed notice on Jun 5, adding that its 79 employees will be paid “regular wages and benefits” for up to 60 days, per 10News. Interestingly, local Mexican restaurant chain, Puesto, will take over location, looking to bolster its own “cerveza program,” Puesto co-owner Eric Adler noted. It will look “to retain as many of Gordon Biersch’s staff as possible” and expects to open later this fall.

Amid tuffer mkt conditions, craft brewer relationships with distribs appear to be souring, Tamarron’s latest Craft Brewer Performance Survey suggests. An increasing number of distribs surveyed (21%) believe “current relationship” with their craft brewers is just “fair,” compared to just 11% of distribs in 2014. And majority of distribs surveyed believe “future relationships” will either stay the same (43%) or decline (28%), Tamarron highlights. Tho gotta note, nearly 80% of distribs surveyed currently rank relations “good” (49%), “very good” (27%) and “excellent” (3%). Total of 228 individual distribs were surveyed from across the country this yr, including 115 Bell’s distribs, as well as CANarchy (73), Stone (65), Dogfish (59), Rogue (49), Odell (39), Troegs (27), Great Lakes (25) and Allagash (19). Distribs were asked 55 questions grouped into 12 main categories, rating each question on scale from: 1=Poor; 2=Fair; 3=Good; 4=Very Good; 5=Excellent. Survey scores both craft industry average and individual brewer performances.

Familiar set of top challenges within craft segment were identified by distribs: 1) “too many brewers/saturation,” 2) “SKU proliferation/complexity” and 3) “lack of brand loyalty/consumers only buying local.” Perhaps indicative of the number of legislative compromises across the country lately, 3-Tier challenges/threats such as Amazon, tasting rooms and direct shipping, scored lower than prior yrs; only a top-3 concern for 7% of distribs this yr. Notably, several top “suggested actions” for craft brewers revolve around SKU management, including “Prioritize SKUs based on local market,” “Focus on core brands/SKUs” “reduce underperformers, limit seasonals,” and more “targeted” innovations (specifically toward wine & spirits drinkers).

Craft industry consistently scores highest in customer service and packaging, each with “very good” ratings, but both were slightly down vs 2018. Ordering/shipping (3.95) and Financial/Rev management (+0.08 to 3.76) were other top performing categories on avg. Natl accounts is only area where craft brewers overall score is under 3 (“good” rating), but also mark craft industry’s largest improvement areas, up ~0.2 pts vs last yr. Some of the biggest declining areas of performance were in field sales interaction, execution and planning, as well as POS management, leadership and distrib relationship management.

Odell, Allagash, Bell’s Top Performance Scores Then too, among 9 individual craft brewers surveyed this yr (see above), Odell, Allagash and Bell’s scored highest performance ratings and saw performance score grow most of all. Indeed, Odell and Allagash scores grew 0.22 pts to 3.94 and 3.93 overall. And Bell’s performance grew 0.11 pts to 3.81. Craft industry avg performance rating was 3.52. Gotta note, performance scores not really correlated to sales growth in this survey, since both Odell and Allagash were flattish and Bell’s slowed to +3% growth in 2018. Remaining brewer performance scores were unlabeled in this report. Yet all but one company scored “good” rating (3) or better, ranging from 3.63 to 3.22. One co scored 2.75. Separately, among these 9 brewers, Allagash and Dogfish Head were only brewers to have “leadership” among their “top-3 functions.” Great Lakes was only brewer to score “finance/revenue management” among its top-3 functions. Two of the top performers, Allagash and Odell, as well as Troegs each had “Field Sales – Annual Planning” in their top-3. Each of the 9 brewers had customer service and/or packaging among their top-3 functions, and several had “ordering/shipments” in their top-3 as well.

It’s been a strange ride for Celis Brewery. But after opening in early 2017 and shifting to contract brewer model alongside its own brand, now its brewery space and equipment are listed up for public auction sale in Austin, TX on July 2, according to Austin American Statesman post shared by Brewbound. Yet founder, Christine Celis (daughter of original Celis Brewery founder Pierre) still hoping for different outcome, reportedly. “We are operating as normal and will be filing for chapter #11 restructuring on Monday 7/1,” she commented to Forbes. And Celis already in talks with potential buyer, source told CBN. Likely for pennies on the dollar.

Recall, under the name Flemish Fox Brewery & Craftworks, Christine Celis initially planned to jointly open sizable 27K sq-ft, 50K bbls/yr brewery space with MI’s Atwater Brewing . It actually started as an Atwater project. Yet after Christine bought back trademark for Celis Brewery name and project became more Celis-oriented, Atwater decided there were “too many cooks in the kitchen” and ultimately backed out of project, Atwater founder Mark Rieth then told CBN (see Vol 8, #77). So Celis Brewery shifted to contract brewing model in addition to revised Celis White and other newly created Celis beer brands, signing Austin’s Uncle Billy’s and later Pedernales for contract volume. And Celis brand well-received out of the gate, leaping to 11K bbls in 2018 according to Brewers Assn estimate. But without Atwater joint ownership and potential ability to fill capacity, the brewery space proved too much to handle for Celis on its own, it seems.

Uncle Billy’s and Pedernales Left Celis Contract Production Early 2019; Seeking New Contract Partner Turns out, Uncle Billy’s and Pedernales both left Celis early this year, Uncle Billy’s PR contact Matt McGinnis told CBN. “They stopped brewing at Celis at the beginning of this year” and “are actively looking for a new partner to brew its canned beers,” he said. Uncle Billy’s sold about 4K bbls with Celis of its canned brews and Pedernales was at about 5K bbls, so the halt in production has been tuff for both this yr. There have been “some good meetings” with other potential contract brewers, but it “hasn’t come to fruition” yet. For now, there are no Uncle Billy’s or Pedernales packaged products on retail shelves. It’s able to do smaller production batches of both brands at its brewpub for on-site sales. Recall, Uncle Billy’s, under ownership of Bob Leggett, acquired Pedernales brand in early 2018 as it was on the brink of shutting down (see Vol 9, #20).

Details on the Auction Two separate public auctions are set to be held on July 2, according to Austin American Statesmen post. Austin-based financial co, Amplify Credit Union, has a lien – “right to keep possession of property belonging to another person until a debt owned by that person is discharged,” per Google definition – on “certain property…used in the operations of” Celis Brewery, it notes. “Property in the public sale includes all brewing equipment “as well as all inventory and general intangibles, save and except certain invoices subject to a superior lien.” And “the entire property will be sold together on an ‘as-is, where-is,’ basis without warranties and to the highest bidder for cash,” tho lender can “credit bid against the indebtedness secured by the lien.”

Founders’ march toward national distribution is nearly complete, as co will enter 49th state, UT, next mo with General Dist and Wasatch Dist, it announced on its Cadre Update. That leaves just HI left before fully natl. Notably, Founders cites recent legislative changes to allow beer up to 5% ABV in grocery stores giving co ability to sell “(some of) our beer” at grocery stores in addition to state liquor stores. Indeed, raised ABV cap likely a factor in co’s decision to enter UT, since flagship All Day IPA clocks in at 4.7% ABV and newer Solid Gold lager at 4.4% ABV. Recall, Founders All Day represents nearly 2/3 of total Founders volume in and 58% of total $$ sales in IRI data YTD thru May 19. And Solid Gold quickly became one of Founders’ top brands as well following last yr’s launch.