Ohio brewpub chain The Brew Kettle is coming to Canton. It acquired separate OH brewpub Canton Brewing Co, while also adding a separate site at city's nearby Hall of Fame Village, the Canton Repository wrote this morn. Brew Kettle "has brewpub locations thruout Northeast Ohio and a production brewery in Strongsville," paper reminds. And it's reportedly buying Canton Brewing's building and biz for $710K (less than half the initial $1.45 mil listing price). The Brew Kettle did about 9K bbls in 2022, Brewers Assn estimates, while Canton Brewing produced a bit under 800 bbls.

Two well-known Portland-based breweries are branching out beyond city limits. Breakside Brewing is opening a new spot in Astoria, OR today, marking 1st new location outside the Portland metro-area for "one of Oregon's most successful breweries," New School Beer reports. The regional brewer will enter an "already beer famous coastal town" with concept emphasizing raw seafood and champagne (as well as beer), adding to Breakside's 3 breweries and 4 taprooms that it currently operates between PDX and Lake Oswego. Co purchased former small grocery store location of the Astoria Co-Op, where it'll complement its own offerings with permanent draft handles for hometown faves Fort George Brewery and Buoy Beer.

About a yr after Sapporo deal to buy Stone Brewing was first announced, combined co is restructuring its distributor mgmt team as part of ongoing integration. Strategic cuts totaled "less than 1% of our full Sapporo/Stone organization,"Chief Revenue Officer Tom McReavy clarified, adding that they "only affected members of our Distributor Management team where we had overlap in roles and responsibilities." Headcount reduction spanned members of both Sapporo and Stone. But no members of co's national chain team were impacted, as decision seeks to further "long-term strategy" of investing in off- & on-premise chain biz with focus on key mkts.

After Juice Force set the record as largest craft launch of all time last yr, New Belgium's Fruit Force Hazy Imperial IPA is easily craft's biggest new brand so far in 2023. It sold just over $13 mil and about 269K cases in tracked Circana multi-outlet + convenience scans yr-to-date thru May 7. Good enuf for #2 new entry in all of beer, behind only Monster's The Beast Unleashed and ahead of Modelo Oro thus far. But innovation is less of a focus across the industry this yr, and top new brands likely to shift following distribution ramp ups and (largely delayed) retailer resets.

Combined craft & cider segments dipped 1.7%, volume down 6% YTD thru Apr 16 in ABV's footprint. Twelve of the top-25 craft & cider vendors grew $$ and over half of top-25 gained share of combined segments. So craft + cider is a bit healthier in ABV's footprint vs natl trends ($$ -2.4%, volume -7%), and top-25 suppliers are outperforming segments with $$ collectively up 1% YTD. Other standout craft/cider gains in ABV's footprint from Sapporo USA (+10%), Fiddlehead (+37%), Three Floyd's (+10%) and Downeast (+25%) are driving better trends among this top group. And gotta note, New Belgium (+23%) is now fully 10 share of craft + cider in this footprint; $20 mil ahead of Blue Moon and about double the size of Sierra Nevada or Sam Adams.

Yesterday, bipartisan group of 10 US representatives reintroduced USPS Shipping Equity Act, allowing USPS to ship alc bevs in states where it's legal. "This bill is critical in leveling the playing field and increasing consumer and manufacturer choice while bringing in millions of dollars in revenue per year," according to release from lead sponsor, Republic Rep from Central WA, Dan Newhouse. "The outdated prohibition on shipping alcohol through the Postal Service is bad for consumers and bad for small businesses—imposing unnecessary costs and hassle," added co-sponsor Rep Jennifer Wexton, Democrat of VA.

On-premise sales velocity increased 17% for latest week ending May 20, per BeverageTrak data from CGA by NIQ's On Premise Impact Report. That week includes Mother's Day known for filling restaurants for brunch and dinners. On-premise sales soared 82% on Mother's Day vs yr ago; up double-digits in all key states. On-premise sales were strong in all key states tracked for wk thru May 20 vs yr ago: CA +20%; TX +17%; FL +15%; IL +10% and NY +9%.

Beer stocks haven't exactly been the best place to park your money over the last 5 yrs. Shares of the big-4 public US beer cos - AB, MC, Constellation and Boston Beer (with stock tickers BUD, TAP, STZ and SAM) - all notably underperformed the S&P 500 over that timeframe. BUD stock down nearly 40% for 5 yrs, still less than half its peak share price. TAP stock nearly flat for the period, -2%. STZ shares only up 5% despite gaining $1 bil in oper profits in roughly same timeframe. So believe it or not, SAM's still best performing US beer stock over that stretch, +25% even after 75% drop from Apr 2021 peak. By contrast, S&P 500 up 52% for 5 yrs.

AB distribs continue to make their voices heard on big natl media stage regarding Bud Light fallout as ABC News headlined "'The biggest losers': Bud Light boycott hammers hundreds of independent distributors." That was citing Anson Frericks, a former AB exec who left the co last year after nearly 11 yrs, including stints as a regional veep in the US and prexy of wholly-owned distribs, per LinkedIn. "Those are the people really hurting," added Anson. Indeed, distribs continue to voice their "frustration" with AB as well, including Pestinger Distributing in rural KS, which suffered nearly 30% drop on Bud Light since the boycott, owner Matt Pestinger told ABC. Revenue was growing 5% pre-boycott but now slipped 2%, he shared. INSIGHTS continues to hear many similar stories like this across the country.