”My dad gave me advice 60 years ago: The day that you think you’re any better than the lowest man on the job is the day you start going backwards.” Bill Coleman represents the fifth of seven generations of the Coleman hop-growing family in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Health concerns may have ”retired” him from leadership in Coleman Agriculture, but he’s still active on the farm. Max Coleman, seventh-generation director of farm operations, jokes that Bill is now ”the old fart w...| VinePair
The other day, I filed an analysis for VinePair on the latest developments in the court-ordered receivership of Uncle Nearest, Inc., the high-flying Tennessee liquor firm that’s been laid low by the pesky matter of $108 million in defaulted debts. Firms are incentivized to settle or stem litigation in order to keep themselves out of court and outside the public eye, I wrote, so the fact that that situation is playing out on the record in federal court is a rare privilege. The article A Fire...| VinePair
Today on the “VinePair Podcast,” Adam, Joanna, and Zach react to a trio of stories. First up, there’s the news that Michelob Ultra has surpassed Modelo as the best-selling beer (by volume) in the United States. Is this just because of tariffs and ICE raids, or has AB-InBev hit on a winning message? Then, they explore whether a recent Harris Poll about beverage preferences at restaurants says anything new about generational shifts in attitudes toward alcohol. Finally, the trio ponder the...| VinePair
There’s been a lot written about the state of the beer industry. Overall beer is down. Craft beer is down. Breweries are closing. But is it all doom and doom? Is this “the new normal,” or is this temporary? Statistics tell us the truth. And while it is true that the industry is facing headwinds, […] The post The state of the beer industry. “It’s Rough Out There” first appeared on All About Beer.| All About Beer
There’s an episode of “Seinfeld” I think about a lot. Well, there are a lot of episodes of “Seinfeld” I think about a lot, actually. I’m a 37-year-old white guy, after all. But one of the subplots in this particular episode of “Seinfeld” — Season 5, Episode 22, “The Opposite,” for the real heads reading this — turns on the realization that the show’s cosmic scales are balanced on its titular lead, with the rest of the characters’ fortunes rising and falling in dire...| VinePair
On Thursday, East Coast brewery and restaurant chain Iron Hill announced that it closed all 16 of its locations overnight. Primarily concentrated in the Southeastern Pennsylvania and Delaware areas, Iron Hill also had locations in Georgia, New Jersey, and South Carolina. The brewery and restaurant announced the news in a Facebook post, but didn’t share a specific reason for the abrupt closure. “To our valued guests, after many wonderful years of serving our communities, all Iron Hill Loca...| VinePair
The United States has a brand new top-selling beer. According to a Monday press release from Anheuser-Busch, Michelob Ultra is the No. 1 selling beer in America by volume. Bud Light, a fellow Anheuser-Busch portfolio member, long held the crown for America’s top-selling beer, but following conservative boycotts over a partnership with influencer Dylan Mulvaney in 2023, sales slipped. In June of that year, Constellation-owned Modelo overtook Bud Light in off-premise dollar sales, a shift tha...| VinePair
In the late aughts, I did my weekly beer shopping at a Whole Foods on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Craft beer was exploding so much at that time that when the supermarket opened in 2007 it had an entire separate store just for beer. For a few years, it was arguably the best beer store in the entire city. The Bowery Beer Room, as it was known, had cooler after cooler of the hottest IPAs of the moment, six fresh taps for growler fills, grain stations for homebrewers, and a large selection of ...| VinePair
Late last month, I received a comment from a reader about my column on the American brewing industry’s collective overcapacity problem. Well, more of a request, really. “Dave can you put out a piece that’s happy?” they asked. “Love your journalism, I believe their [sic] are winners out there though. You do ask the tough questions which I appreciate.” I saw it as a teachable moment. “Generally speaking, I don’t consider it a columnist’s role to produce coverage designed to ev...| VinePair
Will craft beer lovers still host “bottle shares” if bottles themselves cease to exist? That may sound like a modern-day Zen koan, but it’s not exactly beyond contemplation. This summer, cans made up about 76 percent of craft beer’s slipping retail sales, according to the Brewers Association, with glass dropping to just 24 percent, a major shift from where things were less than a generation ago. The article Cans Changed Craft Beer Forever. What Comes Next? appeared first on VinePair.| VinePair
Bud Light was the undisputed best-selling beer in the country. Twisted Tea was just hitting its long-simmering breakout run. Reyes Beverage Group was still called Reyes Beer Division. It was a different beer industry when I first took the helm here at Hop Take in September 2022. Which, duh: Time is linear, and change is constant, etc., etc. Still, my tenure here each week has coincided with some of the most tectonic shifts the American brewing business has known since… I mean… certainly t...| VinePair
Craft beer is struggling, but its market challenges aren’t unique; specialty coffee is facing similar hurdles. What can roasters learn?| Perfect Daily Grind
This episode of the “VinePair Podcast” is sponsored by Tequila El Mexicano. Founded by one of Tequila’s most storied families, this traditionally made, additive-free tequila is an expression not just of the Bañuelos family’s collective knowledge, but of the Jaliscan highlands themselves. Try the Blanco, Blanco 90, or Reposado to discover their life’s work. You can visit ElMexicanoUS.com to find Tequila El Mexicano near you or order online to experience three generations of tequila ...| VinePair
Brewers often find new ways to repackage old ideas, especially in regard to lagers. But none are as successful as Coors Banquet — here's why.| VinePair
A Belgian-based company has developed a Keurig-style machine that pours five styles of beer along with custom brews created by the user.| VinePair
Update: At 4:44am ET on 7/12/2023, roughly 12 hours after this story was published, Anchor Brewing Company issued a press release announcing it will cease operations and liquidate its business. VinePair will be updating reporting throughout the day. Clarification (7/20/23): A previous version of this article stated that multiple current and former workers had told VinePair that Russian River Brewing Co. was a potential suitor to acquire Anchor from Sapporo USA.| VinePair