AB-InBev is making big moves to its American brewery footprint, announcing on 11 December that it will sell its Newark, New Jersey, facility to property developer, the Goodman Group, and close its Fairfield, California, and Merrimack, New Hampshire, breweries in January 2026. The decisions come amid AB-InBev’s multi-year effort to modernise and streamline its business, having pumped “nearly USD 2 billion” into upgrades across its 100 US facilities over the past five years. Earlier this year, it said it would spend USD 300 million on boosting manufacturing jobs. And now this.
I have been wondering for a while when AB-InBev would start to seriously consolidate its brewery network. US beer production has contracted significantly since 2008, when Belgian-Brazilian InBev acquired Anheuser-Busch. That year, US beer output stood at 190 million barrels. By 2014, it had shrunk to 176 million barrels and by 2024, to 147 million barrels. If you consider that in the past decade craft beer sales went up in a big way, you can imagine that some of AB-InBev’s breweries must have sat on massive overcapacities. In 2008, Anheuser-Busch alone produced 107 million barrels beer and enjoyed a market share of 49 percent. Today, insiders say that AB-InBev’s share is 33 percent and the beer market pie is far smaller.
What is really saddening is that AB-InBev decided to announce the closures shortly before the holiday season. They did not make for a joyful Christmas in the three communities affected by the job losses, potentially running into the hundreds. But as US beer production could decline by 5 percent this year, AB-InBev probably thought that its “unprecedented change” (Beer Marketer’s Insights) would end up getting buried among all the gloom and doom stories and will have become a mere footnote by the time it releases its 2025 annual report on 12 February.
US City Brewing allegedly to contract brew Mexican beers for Heineken. Whatever happens to the USMCA trade agreement after its review next summer – Heineken plans to be prepared. According to David Infante on the website vinepair.com (5 December), the large US contract brewer City Brewing, headquartered in La Crosse, Wisconsin, filed paperwork with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) to begin contract-brewing select SKUs of brands Tecate and Dos Equis in the United States. A company spokesperson told Mr Infante that “this isn’t new for us,” but declined to offer specifics. This may serve as a reminder that many Americans no longer care much whether an international beer brand is genuinely imported or produced domestically.
DISCUS ad campaign sounds alarm on harmful spirits tariffs. Between 30 November and 6 December, the drinks industry’s trade body DISCUS ran ads on Axios to spotlight the hospitality industry’s concerns over spirits tariffs. Readers who clicked the Axios ad were directed to an article by-lined by DISCUS President and CEO Chris Swonger which outlined the harms of tariffs on spirits products and encouraged readers to sign the “Toasts Not Tariffs” petition to President Donald Trump, calling for the restoration of fair, zero-for-zero tariffs.
Canada: what to do with US alcohol pulled off shelves? Canadian provinces began removing US liquor from their shelves in February in anger over US President Trump imposing sweeping tariffs on Canadian goods and sector-specific tariffs on metals, lumber and automotives. As of December, only two out of ten provinces are selling American booze. But what to do with millions of dollars worth of American alcohol that are now gathering dust in depots? At least two provinces say the booze will go to a good cause, promising to sell remaining inventory and donate proceeds to charity. One province is offloading it to restaurants and bars instead of selling it to the public. Others have not said what they plan to do with the liquor.
AB-InBev Germany is without a country director. Jannik Weitzl resigned from his post as Country Director Germany on 31 December. The 38-year-old manager had only succeeded Michel Pepa in April 2024, when Mr Pepa was transferred within the group to Leuven. Mr Pepa had held the post for slightly more than four years. It is still unclear who will succeed Mr Weitzl. Although no reason was given for Mr Weitzl’s departure, industry observers assume that his unit may have missed this year’s targets. The German beer market is expected to decline by as much as 7 percent by volume in 2025. It cannot have helped that the big German retailer Edeka, in November, delisted several AB-InBev brands in a dispute over prices.
Ex-Boston Beer employees file class action on 1 December over noncompetes. The suit alleges that Boston Beer improperly enforced noncompete agreements against employees across 39 states, but paid only USD 3,000 instead of the required garden leave payments which is equal to approximately six months of the employee’s highest salary over the preceding two years, the website Law360 reports. It is not just the highest or management level employees who are required to sign Boston Beer’s noncompete agreements. Sales reps like the two plaintiffs had to sign them too.
“The pair is looking to represent potentially thousands of former employees of Boston Beer who were subject to employment agreements and not paid garden leave following termination of their employment,” Law360 reports.
Funny that. The AI machines are capable of hallucinating. Rather than admit that they have no answer to a user’s prompt they make one up. The latest victim: San Francisco’s Anchor brewery. A report in the niche beer publication American Craft Beer claimed on 2 December that the dormant brewer is leaving the city. The article has the alarmist title “Beer Buzzkills: Anchor Brewing Leaves San Francisco” and asserts that its new owner, Chobani yoghurt’s CEO Hamdi Ulukaya and his team have no intention of reopening the Potrero Hill brewery. Instead, it claims that Anchor beer will be brewed by a contract partner from outside the city. None of that is true. In fact, it’s all rubbish.
When the San Francisco Standard, a newssite, approached Mr Ulukaya’s family office after the erroneous piece appeared, they were told that reopening plans are in the works but could not provide a timeline. Tom Bobak, the editor-in-chief of American Craft Beer, apologized for the error and blamed his use of ChatGPT for the misinterpretation of an article on the San Francisco Standard website from May which had said that the brewery had seen little visible movement since Mr Ulukaya acquired it in May 2024, with no announced reopening date and no confirmed plans for starting production.
Heineken Austria at court: Is the initiative for settlement talks genuine? For the first time, Brau Union seems willing to enter into settlement talks in the pending proceedings. A legal representative for Brau Union, Heineken’s fully-owned Austrian subsidiary, said in court on 1 December that the firm wants to “approach the Federal Competition Authority (BWB) and take stock of the situation.” Then a decision could be made as to whether there was a way to reach a “mutually acceptable agreement”. A BWB representative replied that the request will be “discussed internally”. Since February there have been seven days of hearings, but the next round of talks could take place behind closed doors.
Observers wondered if the initiative for settlement talks really came at the behest of Brau Union or if it was its legal representative venturing out alone. To engage in settlement talks now would constitute no less than a complete reversal of Brau Union’s legal tactic to date. Brau Union has always insisted on its innocence and said that the whole affair was “a profound misunderstanding”. Besides, if Brau Union had wanted to settle with the BWB – why wait for 18 months? Court proceedings began in June 2024.
AB-InBev to acquire majority stake in BeatBox for USD 490 million. The deal, announced on 5 December, will give Anheuser-Busch ownership of 85 percent of the RTD company, with a path to 100 percent after five years based on a predetermined pricing formula. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026 following regulatory approval. BeatBox’s acquisition will add to AB-InBev’s “Beyond Beer” portfolio, which includes brands such as Cutwater Spirits, NÜTRL Vodka Seltzer and Phorm Energy.
UK’s Keystone Brewing Group prepares to appoint administrators. Keystone Brewing Group, formed in 2024 after private investment group Breal had acquired several distressed craft breweries out of or on the verge of administration, has problems of its own now: It filed a notice of intent to appoint administrators on 28 November, the trade publication The Grocer reported. Separately, Black Sheep Brewing Company and PBC Brewing (Purity) have also filed their own notices of intent. The firm employs almost 200 people in the UK and owns two production sites in Yorkshire and Warwickshire. When it embarked on its shopping spree, it boasted that it would quickly grow revenues to GBP 100 million (USD 133 million). Instead, the group has faced mounting cost pressures and weakening demand. It is understood that the filing followed pressure from several trade creditors. Keystone insists that it is “trading as normal”, despite its decision to give notice to appoint administrators.
Molson Canada accuses ex-managers of multimillion-dollar fraud allegedly involving fake vendors, shell companies and several other people, media reported on 27 November. In documents filed with the Ontario Superior Court, the brewer claims that the former Molson Canada sales director Frank Ivankovic, 49, oversaw “a complex scheme to defraud the company of many millions of dollars” that later involved two subordinates. Fraudulent invoices – some labelled as being for “event planning” – have drained nearly CAD 9.1 million (USD 6.6 million) from Molson Canada’s coffers since 2021, said the company, a subsidiary of the Chicago-based Molson Coors Beverage Co., in the court documents. Mr Ivankovic and his wife received more than CAD 4.3 million in misappropriated Molson funds, according to the filings. The accusations include fraud, conspiracy, breach of fiduciary duty and unjust enrichment. Molson Canada is calling for millions of dollars in damages.
Kirin seeks exit from loss-making Indian craft brewer B9, media reported on 26 November. The well-known craft brewer faces deepening financial distress: its net loss for FY2024 has soared to approximately USD 84 million on revenues of approximately USD 72 million. Launched in 2015, the company has expanded rapidly over the past decade, building four breweries across India until 2019. This hiked operating costs, while sales growth lagged. Currently, Kirin is B9’s largest shareholder with a 20.1 percent stake, followed by founder Jain and his family holding roughly 17.8 percent and Peak XV Partners 14.6 percent, reports said. In January 2021, Kirin invested around USD 30 million in B9. Last year, it provided additional loans to the company.
Asahi to restore logistics by February, after a cyber-attack on 29 September forced widespread suspension, though not all products will be available to ship by that time. The beverage firm also admitted on 28 November that the personal details of more than 1.5 million customers may have been leaked. The Russia-based ransomware group Qilin has claimed responsibility. Asahi insisted it did not pay any ransom. The firm had to push the release of its full year earnings by more than 50 days after the end of the financial year (31 December 2025). It has already delayed the release of its third quarter earnings report, originally due on 12 November, by more than 45 days.
Oregon craft brewer Rogue abruptly closes after 37 years. Rogue Ales & Spirits, one of craft beer’s oldest, recognizable, and at one time one of the largest craft beer producers, completely and abruptly halted production in Newport, Oregon, on 14 November and closed its pubs and restaurants. The 47 people who worked at the production facility suddenly found themselves out of work as did staff at its several venues. Rogue’s executives have not spoken about what led to the brewer’s sudden closure.
On 24 November, the parent company of Rogue Ales & Spirits and two subsidiaries filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, outlining that it has about USD 5.6 million in assets and almost USD 20 million in liabilities. The filings show the company owes USD 594,000 in unpaid rent and USD 510,000 in tax. Rogue also owes USD 65,600 to the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for unpaid alcohol taxes. The bankruptcy involves liquidating assets. It is not a restructuring to continue the business. What bugs commentators: How could a company that established an international reputation for its plethora of products and is still listed among the country’s top 50 craft breweries and Oregon’s third largest hit the skids so dramatically?
Heineken sells brewery in war-hit eastern Congo. With more than 100 armed groups fighting Congolese forces in the mineral-rich eastern DR of Congo, Heineken has done the only sensible thing and transferred its brewery in Bukavu, the second largest city in eastern Congo, to a Mauritia-registered company for a token 1 EUR. Heineken may call itself lucky it found a buyer: The Dutch brewer said in a statement on 19 November that the handover of the brewery to Synergy Ventures Holdings is expected to be completed by the end of the year. Heineken added that Synergy Ventures Holdings is owned by a group of entrepreneurs and operators with experience in the region.
Carlsberg explores sale of minority stake in Asia unit, with Sapporo Holdings identified as a leading contender to acquire the interest, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. Reportedly, talks are at an early stage. Meanwhile Sapporo Holdings is moving forward with the planned divestment of its subsidiary, Sapporo Real Estate, which could fetch USD 2.7 billion. Sapporo aims to finalise the sale by December. Part of the proceeds from the sale will be returned to shareholders while Sapporo seeks to reposition its portfolio towards its beer business.
When brewers build a distillery: Coopers’ move into whisky. Many will have wondered how the family-owned Coopers brewery in Adelaide, Australia, could spend AUD 70 million (USD 46 million) on a visitor centre – or what is nowadays called a “brand home”. That is a lot of money even when considering Australia’s high construction costs. But the figure becomes less extravagant if you bear in mind that the visitor centre also features a sizeable copper brewstillery and an underground temperature-controlled stillage capable of holding up to 5,000 casks of 200 litres each. The move into single malt is a strategic diversification for Coopers, building on the company’s expertise in malting (in 2017 it opened a 54,000 t malting plant), brewing and fermentation.
Australia’s Coopers defies beer market decline with sales growth, selling 806,000 hl beer in 2024-25, up 2.4 percent from 2023-24. The figure excludes the sales of non-alcoholic beers and Coopers’ contract manufacture beer, and is a sharp contrast to the 0.9 percent total contraction of the national beer market (including keg sales) over the corresponding period. Coopers Brewery Managing Director Michael Shearer said that the cost-of-living pressures mean drinkers want value for money with their beer, so they are looking for quality, reliability and above all taste. The Coopers Visitor Centre opened in August 2024 and has already attracted around 60,000 visitors. The swish facility includes a microbrewery and whisky distillery. Already, Coopers has more than 200 full barrels of single malt whisky maturing in its underground stillage.