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Farmer's Brewing in CA enjoyed several years of volume growth before staying flat at ~17K bbls in 2025, but "flat was a good thing in 2025," co-founder Bill Weller told CBN this week. Now that the calendar has flipped, so have expectations for the NorCal biz that came fully to life in 2020, which is "expecting [to be] larger this year" thru "new distribution that's growing," Bill said. Co is also expanding into cider in 2026, with 2 SKUs expected in May. And the co's name is neither a euphemism nor aspirational; Bill's brother runs the fully functional farm from which the brewing co gets some of its ingredients, notably the sushi-grade rice that's the basis for flagship Farmers Light Lager. "The Perfect Ingredient for Us" Bill said he decided to get into brewing at least partially due to the Anheuser Busch/InBev deal - he considered it an affront that Europeans were making the flagship American beer - making him early to a craft light lager segment that's increased in popularity over the last coupla years thru companies like Garage Beer. A lifelong farmer, he purchased a 50 bbl system and tinkered for 3 yrs to get his recipes right. Much of that time, he was wrangling with the rice - Bill says it's simultaneously "not a fun ingredient to work with" but also "the perfect ingredient for us" - and its quality ("the highest grade rice you can get") is the foundation for the whole operation.A Focus on Lower ABVs Farmers doesn't traffic in high-ABV. Its strongest beer is the 7.5%-ABV Garage Dweller Hazy IPA, and even that represents a tangent from Farmers' founding principles. "When we started out, I didn't even have an IPA," Bill recalled, laughing. "My sales guys were like, 'Come on man, you have to'" have one. Still, the Light Lager is co's bestseller, up strong single digits in $$ and vol sales in 2025 NIQ off-premise scans, roughly double the volume of Sun Up Til Sundown IPA and Valle Lager, both of which are up double-digits in $$ and vol over same period.Distributor Shifts; Eyes on SoCal Co currently distributes in NorCal, Idaho and Montana in mixed networks, with eyes on AZ and SoCal, which is "a whole 'nother animal," Bill said. Having lived thru some recent distributor shifts in the area, co has been "self-distributing a lot of our stuff," Bill added, which is being "remedied right now" as co waits to hear back from chains. All told, co is looking to "stay in our more local markets" thru its current 10 distrib lineup that, in the Golden State, stretches from Fresno north to the Oregon border.Cider Coming in May Cider is the next frontier for Farmer's, and while it might sound like a natural extension to the farming operation, it was a long time coming. The co has cut its seasonal beer roster to 2 due to the "trying to hit a moving target" aspect of the schedule. "When the season's over," Bill said, "you either didn't make enough beer or you made too much." The co has been testing ciders at its restaurant and taproom and Bill, who "never really tried or drank" them until now, said two not "overly sweet" options will roll out for distribution in the spring."It's Always a Fight" In the last decade, the brothers have gone from 0 companies with 0 employees to 2 companies with 180 employees split between them. That's an accomplishment in an era where craft breweries are closing often enough that it's hard to ignore. "I subscribe to a lot of auction sites, and every other day there's" newly listed brewing equipment on them, Bill said. But he's ready to keep pushing the biz forward, no matter the macro environment: "It's always a fight."

Farmers Brewing Flat at 17K Bbls in 2025; Expanding into Cider in Spring; Eyeing SoCal and AZ; It's "Always a Fight"

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