This week in 1987, Stroh distribs and execs were exchanging barbs. Some distribs claimed Stroh was on "a witch hunt" with selective crewing and searching for old beer while also demanding wider distribution in outlets where beer wasn't likely to be bought, wrote INSIGHTS. Some distribs complained there was no dialogue with HQ and weren't happy they had to kick in 3 cents per case for Old Milwaukee ads. "I can't ever recall an instance where I've not returned a call to a wholesaler or not taken it when I've been there," countered prexy Roger Fridholm. As for the crewing, he told INSIGHTS that Stroh was trying to retrain its field staff and evolve the way they operate. Regarding Old Milwaukee contributions, he noted Coors too implemented an advertising charge per case, and many Stroh distribs also sold Coors brands.

After all the back and forth on tariffs, could it really wind up with a refund? As the Supreme Court gets set to rule on the legality of President Trump's tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), Heineken USA filed suit in the US Court of International Trade over the weekend, joining over a thousand companies reportedly seeking to challenge the tariffs and recover their costs. The suit doesn't detail how much HUSA specifically has paid, but the Customs and Border Protection Agency tallied a total of $133.5 bil in this category of tariff thru Dec 14.

With "early momentum" at its back and competing products entering the space, SpikedAde vodka RTDs are rapidly accelerating expansion plans after closing on $10 mil capital raise, co announced. It now expects to reach anywhere between "15-30 markets by March" after pulling in $10 mil "in just 10 days from launch of the offering." Recall, as recently as Nov, co-founder/ceo Jason Cohen shared plans to expand to various new states after successful test in NJ including FL, TN, SC, VA, IL and MI with Reyes, Manhattan in NYC, Origlio in eastern PA, Burke and Atlas in part of MA, and Buck and Bond Dist in MD. Suggests many more mkts on top of those are in the works and coming soon.

AB revealed a 15-second teaser for its planned 60-second Super Bowl ad for Budweiser. Teaser named "Stable" features 5 of the iconic Clydesdales lined up shoulder to shoulder in their stable when they are startled by noise of something moving underneath a bucket. As one Clydesdale "whinnies in amusement" the screen then flashes message, "Heads Will Turn," along with the Super Bowl logo. So viewers will be wondering who/what that little creature under the bucket is for a few weeks as we count down to big game. Only hint AB gave is that "a brand-new (and very small) character will be introduced this year." Recall, on Mon AB shared that it will have 2.5 mins of ad time during Super Bowl, with Mich Ultra getting the other 60-second spot and Bud Light with a 30-second slot.

Sierra Nevada shipments and depletions dipped "just slightly," off 1.5-2% in 2025 vs 2024, cco Ellie Preslar shared with INSIGHTS this morn. That likely puts shipments just under 1.04 mil bbls in 2025 vs 1.055 mil bbls in 2024, we estimate. It's "not where we wanted to be," but "considering the challenges of the industry," and outperformance vs both craft category and total beer, co's feeling relatively good about results. "It wasn't really driven by any one area or class of trade," tho on premise trended a bit better last yr. Sierra grew distribution in chain and indie channels both off and on premise, but "that didn't translate to volume growth because of the softness overall," said Ellie.

New Orleans' Parish Brewery isn't waiting to see how the federal govt's severe restriction on hemp-derived THC bevs shakes out by the Nov deadline, reports NOLA.com. Without changes at the state or fed level, co will stop producing its Veri line of THC seltzers in 10 mos and that will be that, but the hemp bevs were always supplemental for brewer that reported 21K bbls to the BA in 2024. "It's not something we really want to fight for," said Parish owner/operator Andrew Godley. "I definitely think it's a shame that the approach is to completely ban it instead of adding regulations and tightening it up."

The SF Chronicle published two stories on Tues, both by Esther Mobley, that cut to the heart of two growing NA industries: "How California nonalcoholic beer got so good" and "Nonalcoholic wine is still terrible. Will it ever get better?" (Tell us how you really feel!) The beer piece goes into detail on techniques: vacuum distillation, reverse osmosis, and, most crucially in Esther's telling, maltose-negative yeast, which "lowered the barrier to entry for NA beer as a whole," said Fieldwork co-founder Alex Tweet. Maltose-negative yeast is used by CA brewers Fieldwork, Firestone Walker, Fort Point and Sierra Nevada, while Best Day uses membranes and Athletic (which has a production facility in San Diego), sales of which represent about 50% of all NA craft beer sales in the US, has not divulged its processes.

It may be canceling Boulevardia festival, but Boulevard Brewing is still investing in its taproom as it gets set to welcome a wave of World Cup visitors to Kansas City this summer. Co broke ground yesterday on an outdoor bar and patio expansion project dubbed Boulevard Yard, the latest addition to the brewery's Boulevard Tours & Rec Center, expected to open just in time for the tournament beginning in Jun, co announced and Fox4KC reported. And while the brewery already featured a beer hall patio, this 2nd-story addition will "more than triple" the current space, said Boulevard director of consumer experience Amber Ayres, adding that "we've dreamed of having our own backyard hangout at the brewery for a long time."