![]() Louis, Los Angeles, Newark, and Jacksonville. This tracks with what a former AB employee told Good Beer Hunting: “Craft means nothing to AB.” In 2021, ABI began producing Stella Artois in St. Our source noted “Stella is the brand that makes the company” and indeed that beer is the hallmark of ABI’s High End division. Compare that with Devils Backbone, which earned $21.6 million, a smidge less than Four Peaks Brewery of Arizona ($24.6 million), and Colorado’s Breckenridge Brewery who pocketed a cool $23.4 million. $600 million for all of these breweries would buy a lotta Stella Artois.įurther illustrating the point that ABI is shifting its focus is NÜTRL, the “beyond beer” product that earned $28.5 million last year. Our source saw retailers that previously accounted for 800 cases a month sold boosted to 12,000 cases monthly.Ĭlear financial terms for ABI’s The High End breweries can be hard to come by, but award-winning journalist Kate Bernot writes that with their 13 craft breweries, ABI’s acquisitions have cost them upwards of $600 million. There is a tangible spike in Cutwater sales, whether it be organic or a result of a cash infusion from ABI. When asked whether or not ABI is taking dollars from their craft breweries and putting it towards “beyond beer” brands like NÜTRL, a vodka-seltzer and Cutwater, spirits-based, ready-to-drink (RTD) canned cocktails, this former employee said that they “absolutely are… So much of what Cutwater was gaining was just purely fueled by the money AB was pumping into the wholesalers.” The employee speculated these cars went back to Enterprise and someone could get a sweet deal on a Subaru wrapped with “Orange Smash”–one of Devils Backbone’s contributions to the beyond beer category–on the sides. In the case of Devils Backbone, the brewery recently leased a fleet of 28 new Subarus, wrapped with branding. We spoke to a former Devils Backbone employee who believes there are hundreds of recent job cuts across the small breweries owned by ABI, within their The High End portfolio. But smaller brewers like Devils Backbone face layoffs as a result of ABI pumping money into the “beyond beer” category: drinks like hard seltzer NÜTRL or canned cocktails that can contain tequila, “natural lime, orange & triple sec flavors” like Cutwater Lime Margarita. The brewery, which experienced financial success prior to the ABI takeover, is a part of ABI’s The High End division. This is a smart move, and you can expect the Devils Backbone Backyard to clean up on West Main Street, with the potential to serve hundreds, if not thousands, of people daily. And you can buy Atlas and Brau at the source, or at Giant.Ĭonsider the case of Devils Backbone, a brewery owned by the world’s largest brewer, ABI, who is opening a restaurant and taproom in Charlottesville next month. Wherever you see these breweries, you can go directly to their taproom in the district, or Virginia, or you can get their beer to go from your grocer or supermarket. Perhaps they’re in your supermarket or your mom and pop grocer. In Navy Yard there’s Solace, off U Street is Aslin, and in Union Market there’s Crooked Run. ![]() These are breweries who sell beer in grocery stores and directly to you, over the bar. There are breweries going after both: distribution and the taproom or brewpub sales models.In DC and surrounding exurbs, we have several. But even DC’s biggest is a small brewery when compared to the world’s largest and breweries of its size aren’t typically covered in outlets like Brewbound, Good Beer Hunting, or Vinepair, where one topic gets thrice the coverage. When Other Half, DC’s biggest brewery, got their loan forgiven through the Payroll Protection Plan, data from the Small Business Administration listed their loan forgiveness with 85 jobs reported across all their locations. It begs the question, do massive companies want their consumers to know the scope of their layoffs? There is of course shuffling in staff for our small breweries in the DC metro region, but given the size of sales teams, it’s less noticeable if 10 people get laid off compared to 100. ![]() Is the issue the same for the world’s biggest brewers and America’s smallest? Yes and no. Award-winning author and journalist Jeff Alworth wrote, “the craft beer segment is flat,” which is to say, there are growth issues. ![]() The headlines regarding craft beer sales have been largely negative. We wanted to provide a clearer, specific picture rather than a big picture mosaic, but still a little context goes a long way. Or, ply me with pommeau at a DC Beer bottle share before I leak such insidery information. As the presser took a big picture view, we figured we’d break down for you, dear reader an analysis that you typically have to subscribe to our patreon to get. Last week Bart Watson, chief economist of the Brewers Association, gave a press conference full of insights and hidden gems into the national landscape of beer sales.
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