MC’s Hop Valley will shift and shuffle a couple leading personnel as well. Co-founder Chuck Hare moves from prexy to CEO role, as MillerCoors vet Adrian Benkonvich steps in to replace Chuck as prexy, Tenth & Blake’s Pete Marino wrote to wholesalers yesterday. Chuck’s new role allows him to “spend more of his time focusing on the future growth of the Hop Valley business,” sez Pete. Adrian has been with MC for 16 yrs “in a variety of sales and marketing roles,” including most recently with Tenth & Blake as Pacific region field marketing director since 2017. Other original Hop Valley members stickin’ around, including co-foudner Jonas Kungys, co-founder and brewmaster Trevor Howard, vp of sales and marketing Walter Macbeth and controller Steven Pokorski.

Hop Valley has more than doubled volume (+114%) in Nielsen All Outlet data since acquisition in summer of 2016, Pete also notes (looking at 52-wk volume prior to acquisition thru 06-11-16 compared to 52-wk volume for 52 wks thru 06-08-19). This yr, Hop Valley keeping up double-digit growth pace in scans, fueled by newer brands such as Bubble Stash IPA, Cryo Stash IIPA and Hops Stash Variety Pk. Stash Pack is #1 new total beer brand in OR YTD, MC communications manager Marty Maloney shared with CBN. Slew of new brands comin’ later this summer/fall as well, including Palisaderade Foggy IPA, an unfiltered single-hop IPA, Bullé Bullé Imperial IPA and Imperial IPA variety pk, he added. Plus, Hop Valley will continue to expand Hop Boxes in various sports arenas across the Pacific region, and this fall is planning “retail partnership” with Coors Light that’s “tied into football,” Marty hinted.

Shifting Focus to Newer Hop Valley Brews; MC Craft Acquisitions Up 20% for 4 Wks in IRI Several Hop Valley core brands are in decline this yr, while portfolio shifts to newer, trendier brands, according to separate IRI dataset. Hop Valley Alphadelic IPA (-4%), Citrus Mistress IPA (-8%), Centauri Double Imperial IPA (-10%) and Alpha Centauri IPA (-4%) each declining YTD thru Jun 16 in IRI multi-outlet + convenience data, including steeper drops for latest 4 wks. Yet newer brands still more than offsetting declines. And total MC craft acquisitions are collectively picking up, with $$ up 20% for latest 4 wks thru Jun 16 vs +14% YTD. Terrapin (+24%) and Saint Archer (+43%) accelerating as Revolver (+11%) returned to growth for period.

Almost a year and a half after New Hampshire’s Smuttynose Brewing went into foreclosure, new owners made a pair of recent moves to get the brewery back on track. It bought Dover, NH brewpub location vacated by closing of 7th Settlement Brewery last December and has plans to re-open it with focus on its “Smuttlabs” small-batch and experimental beers, the Boston Globe reported yesterday. It hopes to get that operation, located some 20+ miles north along the Maine border from its base in Hampton, NH, up and running by the end of August. Meanwhile, Smuttynose also just hired Brian Walsh to replace recently departed CEO Rich Lindsay. Recall, Brian has been around Northeast beer biz for some time, most recently running Pittsburgh Brewing after his tenure at Long Trail. Around the same time, Smutty brought over Chris Valade from young Boston upstart Lord Hobo Brewing to fill role as COO. Co sold about 32K bbls last yr, per paper, well off previous peaks and about half the capacity of its 5-yr old facility. Smutty employs 85, plus expected 20 to run coming Smuttlabs brewpub in Dover. Lots shakin’.

Nearly halfway thru the year in scans, craft segment grew 2.9% by $$, 1.7% by volume yr-to-date thru Jun 16 in IRI multi-outlet + convenience data. IRI craft (and total beer) started off the year up solid mid-single-digits in Jan due to favorable calendar swings, and slowed thruout the rest of the first half, with a fair amount of fluctuation from mo-to-mo. Notably, craft is not gaining share of total beer $$ in IRI, currently flat at 11.7 share YTD, with volume still up 0.1 share to 7.6. In grocery channel, its most developed channel, and where seltzers have caught on most of all, craft is losing share of both $$ and volume YTD. FMBs grew 33% and snagged 2 share to 8.7 in grocery channel YTD; up 2.6 share to 11.4 of total beer $$ for latest 4 wks!

Yet once again, different definitions tell a different story. Inclusion of Blue Moon ($$ down 4% YTD), Leinenkugel (-19%) and Shock Top (-24%) drags total craft trend down 2-3 pts for the year in IRI MULC. Craft without those brands up 5.3% by $$ and 4.5% by volume YTD thru Jun 16, gaining additional 0.2+ share of total beer. So growth is still there, but it’s comin’ from many facets, including slew of smaller cos thruout the country and outsized portion from acquired cos (see below). There’s less growth to go around for more players every time you look. But landscape is constantly shifting, even among the top craft cos. Read on for several craft scan factoids leading into 2d half of 2019.

AB Acquired Craft Well Ahead of Sierra and Boston in Scans; Nearly as Big as Blue Moon AB acquired craft is now comfortably ahead of the indie pack and pulling away in IRI MULC, collectively up 17% to $140 mil YTD, volume up 20% to 3.7 mil cases. These breweries gained additional 0.9 share of IRI craft $$ to 7.45 and +1.2 share of craft volume to 7.5. Sierra Nevada $$ grew nearly 1% to $111.9 mil, volume down 1.6% to 3.1 mil cases. And Boston Beer’s beer sales, even once it completes Dogfish deal, still down high single digits to $111 mil, 3.05 mil cases YTD in IRI. AB acquired craft now nearly as big as Blue Moon ($143 mil YTD). Elysian $$ (+23%) now larger than Bell’s (+5%) on its own.

Sierra and New Belgium Pickin’ Up Pace; NBB Largest Individual $$ Gainer While AB acquired crafts may be pullin’ away, two of the top indie craft cos are back in growth this year and pickin’ up pace in recent scans. Sierra $$ up 3% for latest 12 wks and $$ up 5% for latest 4 wks. And New Belgium $$ up 9% for 12 wks, up 10% for 4 wks vs +8.6% YTD. In fact, New Belgium sporting the largest individual craft brewer $$ gain YTD, up $7.6 mil, ahead of the likes of Founders (+16%, $7.1 mil), Elysian (+23%, $7 mil) and Firestone Walker (+23%, $6.6 mil), albeit going against easier comps this yr.

For Sierra, Hazy Little Thing IPA driving vast majority of its growth. Hazy’s still more than doubling sales vs last year’s launch in most recent periods, up 126% YTD. While Sierra Pale (-6%), Torpedo Extra (-5%) and Seasonal (-38%) still struggling YTD, Hazy Little Thing’s gain more than makes up for their losses. And as Seasonal trend much improved following tuff spring (-9% for 4 wks), total biz notably picked up. Meanwhile, New Belgium Voodoo IPAs impressively keeping up double-digit growth pace, wiping out flagship Fat Tire declines. Voodoo Imperial IPA up 33%, Voodoo Ranger IPA up 9% YTD. And Fat Tire sales improved in latest 4 wks as well while avg price per case dipped 5% to $34.06/case; tho sales still down 10% YTD.

Sam Seasonal Up 5% for 4 Wks, 3% for 12 Wks; Another New Ad Takes Shot at Corona Limes Not much good news for Sam Adams these days, as brand family continues to decline double-digits in scans. But here’s some: Sam Seasonal is up 5.5% for latest 4 wks and up 3.4% for latest 12 wks thru Jun 16. That’s first time in recent memory that CBN can recall Sam Summer Ale growing in scans. Recall, Sam Summer has gone thru lots of revamping over the last couple yrs, including updated recipe, packaging and new ad campaigns. CBN just came across new 15-second TV ad dubbed “Lighter & Brighter” that takes subtle shot at Corona among other brews while touting new recipe. Keeping with competitive messaging tactic (i.e. Sam 76 digital ads – see Jun 26 issue), this ad leads in with “anyone can stick a lime in a beer. At Sam Adams we brew with lime. Plus lemon, orange zest, summer wheat and grains of paradise for a new lighter and brighter summer ale.” Are competitive ads, however subtle, the new tactic for Sam Adams in attempt to counter continuous decline? And can these positive Sam Summer trends keep up? Stay tuned.

Blue Moon Mango Wheat Back Among Top-30 IRI Craft Brands Blue Moon Mango Wheat started the year on top-30 craft brands list, and subsequently fell off as it lapped last year’s launch as part of core lineup. Yet Mango Wheat surged back to growth lately, including +15% for latest 4 wks, now back to #28 IRI craft brand by $$ YTD. And flagship Blue Moon Belgian White grew 1% for period as well. Yet total Blue Moon brand family still down 3% for 4 wks, as Seasonal and Variety Pk each declines double-digits.

CANarchy $$ Gain Ahead of Founders, Elysian, Firestone in ’19 Now among top growth cos in town this yr: CANarchy Craft Brewery Collective $$ +28%, $8.5 mil YTD thru Jun 16 in IRI MULC. Larger gain than NBB, Founders, Elysian (on its own) and Firestone. Tho keep in mind, part of CANarchy’s growth comin’ from slew of new hard seltzers including Wild Basin natl launch. (Editor’s note: including FMBs and cider, total Boston Beer’s +19%, $74 mil growth is at least 8x the size of any other craft co and nearly 4x the size of AB acquired craft.) Still, more than half of CANarchy $$ growth YTD is coming from a single beer brand: Cigar City Jai Alai IPA grew 52%, $4.9 mil thru Jun 16. Tho Jai Alai trend nearly cut in half to +29% for 4 wks.

Dogfish Head, ABV and SweetWater Boosts Three other top craft cos notably picked up growth pace lately as well. After a slower start to the year in scans, and before Boston Beer deal is 100% closed, Dogfish Head improved to $$ up 6%, volume up 13% for latest 12 wks and 2-3 pts faster for 4 wks thru Jun 16 in IRI MULC. Recall, Slightly Mighty Lo-Cal IPA launch has been big boost, jumping from 5K bbls projection to up to 40K bbls on order. Then too, Artisanal Brewing Ventures (Southern Tier, Victory, Sixpoint) grew 19% for 12 wks and 22-23% for latest 4 wks vs up 15-16% YTD. And SweetWater keeping up an 8% growth pace for latest 4 and 12 wks, even as flagship 420 Pale declining.

Gambrinus and Stone Declines Steepening; Both Down 10% for 4 Wks Gambrinus and Stone are particularly struggling in latest scans, each down 10% for latest 4 wks thru Jun 16 in IRI MULC. Both flagship brands account for big chunks of the steeper drops. Shiner Bock down 5% and Stone IPA down 12% for 4 wks. Yet remaining portfolios collectively struggling as well: all other Gambrinus brands down 19% and all other Stone brands down 9% for period. Gotta note, Stone’s steep decline is a newer development, and sales only down 1% YTD. Gambrinus down 7% for the year.

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Craft brand partnerships continue to pop up, as we explored in depth in our Jun 7 issue. Over the holiday weekend, full details emerged on launch of one sports/education partnership from NC we mentioned, while the Philly Inquirer profiled a musician making waves (and beer) there. First, New Belgium and NC State formally announced partnership, including launch of Old Tuffy Premium Lager across state next month. Deal tracks longterm partnership the brewery has had with Colorado State Univ, which expanded to similar launch of Old Aggie Superior Lager a few yrs back. In 5-yr deal, NBB will devote a portion of sales to NC State’s fermentation sciences program (as it does in CO) and other student initiatives. The school also notes that NBB will “partner” with it on developing a “Responsible Consumption of Alcohol” program for students.

Rapper Chill Moody, partnering with Philly’s Dock St Brewery, launches his second “nicethings” brand of beer this month, the Inquirer wrote. The blackberry-tinged cream ale should hit stores locally in a few weeks and is explicitly aimed at blending the world of hip hop and the world of craft beer. “I wanted to find a way to combine cultures,” the 34-yr old rapper told the paper. “Introduce some hip-hop culture into the craft beer scene, which I have done just by being there. At the same time, I wanted to introduce my people to the other side,” he said. That is, “beer with taste and flavors,” as opposed to what “you’re drinking just to get drunk.” Note that organically connecting communities who haven’t historically been considered part of the core craft consumer group, coming from folks within these communities, is happening in pockets all over the country. Indeed, the same paper highlighted progress in May (which also touched on Chill Moody’s previous work with Dock St). A couple weeks back, Asheville’s Mountain Xpress shared collaborations between area breweries and members of the Latinx community.

Next round of new brewery sites include a pair of tweaks to common satellite taproom or brewpub locations for brands owned (at least in part) by pair of the country’s top craft players. New Belgium’s SF-based Magnolia Brewing today announced plans to open a 6,500 sq-ft event space next door to its larger Dogpatch brewery. Dubbed Magnolia Hall, the site looks to host parties of all kinds with room for 120 seated guests and twice that standing. Recall, Magnolia started as small brewpub in SF, acquired in the midst of bankruptcy proceedings by group of investors including New Belgium, Dick Cantwell and Belgian brewery Oud Beersel a couple yrs back, which has also led to recent expansion with some traditional Belgian brewing equipment and techniques.

Meanwhile, up the coast in Portland, Craft Brew Alliance’s Widmer Bros unveiled next evolution of its brewery-adjacent pub space: Brothers’ Table Community Space. At end of last month, CBA opened space that once housed Widmer Bros taproom as an outlet dedicated to hosting nonprofits and community fundraisers, as BrewPublic reported. Space has room for 100 attendees, co’s site explains. Once again, CBA closed the Widmer taproom early in 2019, just over a year after cutting back food program, service and staff in late 2017. Now it’s focused on offering up the space to community-focused outfits and efforts with no-frills service.

New Taproom Spaces in CA: Smog City, Blaker Pair of small Calif breweries announced plans to open new taprooms not far from home this week. First, Torrance-based Smog City signed deal to acquire space being vacated by brew-on-premises shop Zymurgy Brew Works and Tasting Room, the Daily Breeze reported. It’ll be 2nd outpost in LA County for the brewery, which opened its SteelCraft location in Long Beach in 2017. And will be its 2nd location in Torrance, including its primary brewery, when it opens (as early as next mo). And just outside Merced, nearby Blaker Brewing announced it just got OK to open a taproom at a former Air Force base, according to the Merced Sun Star. Opened by a longtime area farming family just last yr, Blaker hopes the larger new venue will open this fall.

The Small Get Smaller: NY’s Foreign Objects Founders Start 2nd Brewery The Hudson Valley, north of NYC, has become a growing hotspot for small breweries in the last couple yrs, with a number gaining attention (and foot traffic) from the uber-geek set interested in 4-pks of 16oz cans, typically of hazy or even milkshake IPAs. Plenty of small breweries all over the US (but seemingly especially up and down the Eastern seaboard) now do a brisk biz selling one-offs or rarely-repeated cannings of variations on the style, sometimes fruited and/or sour, but still heavily hopped. Among ’em, Foreign Objects, which recently announced plans to open a homebase in Monroe, NY. Just today, the co announced that its owners have established a separate Discord Beer Co to focus solely on fruited sour IPAs, launching with 2 beers, IOU Nothing and Unsatisfied, each 7% ABV riffs on the sub-style.

Next big landscape-shifting distribution deal announced to employees this morn. Largest distrib Reyes Holdings will make one of its biggest beer acquisitions ever, DBI in northern Calif. DBI sells about 28 million cases, including near 1.5 mil cases of NAs. This deal will push Reyes to 200 mil cases of beer on annual basis. Reyes will sell around 115 mil cases in CA alone, over 1/3 of all volume in largest state in country. Deal expected to close in Sep. Reyes will reportedly pay somewhere around $425 mil, excluding extensive real estate, 9 warehouses in all, CBN understands.

Key takeaway: Reyes is heading north. Importantly, Reyes will acquire 6.5 mil cases of Constellation Brands volume in DBI deal. And it will very likely make several more acquisitions in northern Calif, especially of Constellation volume over next 1-2 yrs. Recall last yr, Reyes Holdings acquired Constellation volume from 3 AB distribs in southern Calif that were threatened with termination. In contrast, tho, DBI is a willing seller. In SoCal, Reyes paid 7x GP for about 13 mil cases, spending almost a half bil there. Interestingly it paid more for those 3 distribs’ Constellation volume than it will for all of DBI.

Also, DBI is sizable craft distrib, with several locals, plus natl and regional craft cos. So Reyes instantly grabs sizable share of craft in key NorCal mkts as well. Locals from the largest on down are in all or parts of DBI footprint, including: Sierra Nevada, Lagunitas, Firestone Walker, 21st Amendment, Anchor, Drakes, Bear Republic, Anderson Valley, Karl Strauss, Russian River, Coronado, Lost Coast, Hangar 24, Green Flash/Alpine, Knee Deep, as well as Figueroa Mtn, Seismic Brewing, Calicraft, Heretic, and the list goes on. On natl/regional footprint: Boston Beer/Dogfish, New Belgium, Founders, Avery, Deschutes, Oskar Blues, Ninkasi, Boulevard/Ommegang, SweetWater, Brooklyn, plus MC acquired craft (Hop Valley, Saint Archer), FIFCO USA’s Pyramid among others. Gotta note, in most recent deal, Central Coast, Reyes held onto nearly every craft supplier.

Dogfish Head is first major acquisition in Boston Beer’s history, but it was “surprisingly easy,” said Boston chairman Jim Koch, with “no disagreements” and it “went right through” closing on schedule to start the 3d qtr on July 3. There was an “adjustment” to number of SAM Class A Stock shares transferred in final inked deal, bumped up to 427K vs 407K originally, “based on the cash on hand, debt, and taxes owed of the acquired Dogfish Head entities on the closing date,” according to 8-K filing. (Recall, SAM stock on fire since announcing the deal, currently trading at an all-time high of $388/share and over $4.5 bil mkt cap at presstime). But otherwise, deal terms are same as initially announced (see May 9 issue). Both cos are growing, doing well and will continue to “execute” their respective 2019 plans (formulated separately), tho Boston will “integrate the finances” and back office and report results including Dogfish Head starting next qtr, Jim noted. While those steps may have been easy, what comes next could be the hard part: distrib consolidation. (A version of this article appeared today in sibling pub INSIGHTS Express.)

Boston Wants One Distrib Per Territory; Seeks to Move 2 Mil Cases Boston needs “to move and move quickly,” said Jim, “in aligning distributor networks.” Recall, a little more than half of Dogfish Head’s volume is already in Boston network. Boston has around 400 distribs, Dogfish Head a little less than 200. Dogfish Head last yr totaled a little more than 4 mil cases. In rough numbers, Boston looking to move about 2 mil cases. So there is a lot to be done.

Jim wants to give “clear guidelines” about Boston’s objectives: one portfolio, one distrib network per territory, a “full coverage” wholesaler. Its preference: “basically the wholesaler with the largest volume,” which will be Boston distrib in almost all instances as Boston volume about 15x Dogfish nationally. The 2 mil cases Boston seeks to move amount to about 3% of combined entity’s volume. Both Jim and Sam are big believers in 3-tier, but want to “utilize 3-tier strengths,” not pit one distributor against another.

“Where we can move, that’s what we want to do,” said Jim. “I am optimistic our wholesalers will treat each other fairly and respectfully in a business-like way.” Distributor disputes “just come down to money,” taking money out of distributor system and giving it to lawyers, sez Jim. Rather than “burn up millions and millions” in resolving such disputes, he’s hopeful that selling distribs will be “paid fairly” and transitions will resolve professionally, without costly litigation.

Some Recent Dogfish Head Distribution Changes Create Confusing, Contentious Situations There are several key mkts thruout Mid-Atlantic, as well as parts of Northeast, Midwest and South, where Dogfish volume unaligned. Boston Beer will be able to move in a number of states, depending on state law, while others likely to be more contentious. And there are many recent Dogfish Head transactions that look like head-scratchers in context of Boston/Dogfish deal. Especially if Boston’s aim is to consolidate with “full service” and larger distrib with its brands in any given territory.

For example, last yr, IL distribs got pushed by Constellation to buy Ballast Point from wine/spirits distrib Breakthru and in return traded… wait for it… Dogfish Head. Those distribs were unhappy with deal at time, as Ballast Point got huge valuation even with trends in decline. Think about it now, as many of those same distribs have Boston. Presumably they’ll be expected to go and buy the same Dogfish Head brands back. Just a year later. Breakthru has gotta be none too happy either and it’s also Dogfish Head distrib in multiple states, including home market Delaware, MN, Colo.

Or what about NY where Dogfish Head recently moved from Oak to Union, a Sheehan Family Co? But Oak is Boston distrib in some of that territory and Manhattan sells Boston in rest. So Sheehan Family Cos could be pressed to sell just after it bought. What’s more, Sheehan Family Cos also sells Dogfish Head in multiple other states and it sells Boston Beer in some too (MA and upstate NY). For both Breakthru and Sheehan Family Cos there could be puts and takes across multiple geographies. Those are just 2 recent examples, but there are others.

Dogfish Provides Avenue Toward Beer Growth for Boston As Truly hard seltzer and Twisted Tea continue to drive growth for Boston while Sam Adams declines, addition of Dogfish doesn’t do much to alter Boston’s shift to majority FMB/cider portfolio. But it does provide Boston with potential growth avenue within beer for first time in some time. Dogfish initially expected to hit 300K bbls in 2019, an incremental addition that could more than make up for Sam Adams decline this yr. And with deal 100% inked, Boston can officially begin to infuse Dogfish into biz plans going forward. Dogfish would’ve accounted for just ~15% of Boston’s beer-only shipments last yr, we estimate, poised to grow quickly in near term as Sam Adams volume declining 12% YTD thru Jun 16 in IRI MULC.

After many years with NYC-based PR agency, Rosen Group, Brewers Assn switched to CO-based Backbone Media as “its public relations agency of record,” org announced. “We were impressed with Backbone’s experience in the active lifestyle and beverage industries, as well as their ability to tell nuanced stories from category leading brands and organizations to mainstream audiences,” said BA marketing director, Ann Obenchain. “Backbone will help usher the BA into the next chapter of our media relations campaign,” she added. Notably, Backbone already works with New Belgium Brewing, as well as Brew Dr Kombucha, Yeti, Eddie Bauer and several other outdoor-focused brands and orgs, according to its website.

Among other initiatives, Backbone will no doubt be tasked with finding ways to bolster BA’s independence messaging. Recall, BA latest indie initiative centered around July 4 holiday with trio of short digital ads and “declaration” of July 3 as “National Independent Beer Run Day” (see Jun 26 issue). BA already declaring campaign “a runaway success,” according to craft beer program director Julia Herz in latest post. An early tally “shows a robust spike in Google searches for ‘Independent Beer,’” and lots of “organic engagement” on social media leading up to July 3. Plus, attempt to have the world-record “longest cheers” via video on Facebook Live drummed up nearly 28K views, 247 comments and 225 shares on Facebook. This is just a starting point, Julia notes. And Backbone will surely be part of this progression going forward.

Slew of breweries announced pending closures this week, a notable uptick. In St Louis, Kräftig brand launched by Busch family member Billy Busch in 2011 suddenly announced that it’s ending all operations, numerous local media reported. Recall, the co focused its work on an American lager brand that competed more with mainstream brands than craft, while aligning itself with small biz/local themes more prevalent in craft side of the biz. Falls Church, VA-based brewpub Mad Fox also announced coming closure, sharing on social media this week that it’ll close up for the last time on July 21. After opening in 2010, it faced opening of over 200 more breweries in VA, founder/CEO/brewer Bill Madden wrote, noting that “the brewpub business model is a tough one to maintain compared to a brewery taproom with little overhead, lower rents and outsourced food trucks.” A noted (and decorated) Kolsch brewer, Madden will still host the co’s 9th anniversary party this weekend, “no holds barred” with plenty of goodies he’s “been saving,” he told the Falls Church News-Press.

A couple of even younger breweries announced coming closures too. In Tallahassee, FL, GrassLands Brewing will close next week after 4 yrs in biz, it wrote on social media. Tho it thanked the local beer community for support, it didn’t share any reasons for the closing. Cellarmen’s, a brewery/meadery/cidery in the Detroit area also opened in 2015 and will also close before the end of this month, the Detroit Free Press wrote. Competition, “obstacles in distribution” and higher rent all contributed to the closing, co-founder Dominic Calzetta told the paper. Notably, the co also struggled after the sudden death of one of its other co-founders, Jason Petrocik, the year after it opened. And in Springfield, MO, White River Brewing announced it was for sale this week, a few months after the unexpected death of its 75-yr-old founder John “Buz” Hosfield, the News-Leader reported. His children, who are not local, hope to find a buyer for the company to keep it running.