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Axios
17-07-2025
- Business
- Axios
Small-town brewery is Iowa's largest craft beer producer
Decorah's Toppling Goliath (TG) sits in a community of around 7,500 people, but its craft beer sales are the largest in the state, according to 2024 Brewers Association data. Why it matters: Craft beer is experiencing a decline, and while TG hasn't been immune to it, the brewery is banking on its international fandom and award-winning products to help buoy it during the downturn. By the numbers: TG sold nearly 36,000 barrels last year, with Big Grove coming in a close second, at around 34,000, per the Brewers Association. However, while TG's beer sales declined by 7% in comparison to 2023, Big Grove's climbed, thanks to its larger footprint. State of play: There are a few reasons behind TG's success, says Sam Lewey, spokesperson for Toppling Goliath. Owners Clark and Barbara Lewey couldn't get the craft beer they wanted locally — they had to drive to Rochester, Minnesota, or La Crosse, Wisconsin. So, they decided to start their own brewery and focused on producing crowd-pleasers like barrel-aged stouts and hoppy pale ales and IPAs. They opened in 2009, when craft beer was experiencing a surge. Zoom in: TG got its first big hit with the release of Pseudo Sue in 2012 — a hoppy, hazy pale ale that's become the company's most iconic brew. That was followed by popular barrel-aged stouts like Assassin and Kentucky Brunch. The intrigue: The first time they released Kentucky Brunch in 2012, six people showed up, Lewey says. Now, it's earned worldwide acclaim, including winning the highest-rated beer of 2024, per Untappd Community awards. Bottles of its 2014 release average $1,249, according to Beerblackbook. People from all over the world have traveled to the taproom in Decorah, Lewey says. Zoom out: Now TG distributes to 36 states and nine different countries, and that requires planning a year ahead of distribution. For example: Pseudo Sue was only in 12-pack cans, but Costco wanted to offer bulk for its customers. They created new packaging for a 24-pack of beer. The intrigue: The brewery is also selling other drinks, including THC drink Merry Rain and spirits like whiskey and gin.
Axios
07-07-2025
- Business
- Axios
Some of Washington's top craft brewers saw sales slip in 2024
Four of Washington state's 10 largest craft breweries reported falling sales in 2024, with another stuck at zero growth, according to Brewers Association data. Why it matters: Even Washington's storied craft beer industry is struggling with shifting drinking habits, rising costs and crowded competition, echoing national challenges. By the numbers: Silver City Brewery in Bremerton reported a 21% drop in sales last year, the largest decline among Washington's top 10 craft brewers. Ackley Brands, which bought Redmond-based Mac & Jack's Brewing Co. in 2023, saw a 12% decline. Bale Breaker Brewing Co. in Yakima had a 5% drop in sales, while Iron Horse Brewery in Ellensburg saw a 9% drop. Spokane's No-Li Brewhouse posted 0% growth. Yes, but: It wasn't all gloomy news for big local brewers. Seattle's Georgetown Brewing Co. and Fremont Brewing saw their sales climb. So did Stoup Brewing, which has locations in Seattle and Kenmore, and Black Raven Brewing Co., which is based on the Eastside. Leavenworth's Icicle Brewing Co. saw the biggest increase: 28%. What they're saying: Increased demand for nonalcoholic options and the proliferation of ready-to-drink cocktails are contributing to "challenging times" for local breweries in Washington and elsewhere, Daniel Olson, executive director of the Washington Brewers Guild, told Axios. That said, "we're faring better than most," Olson said. "We're seeing some really good breweries that are making some really good beer, and consumers are recognizing that," he said. State of play: More craft breweries closed than opened in Washington in 2024, he said, mirroring a national trend. Between the lines: Many brewers are adding nonalcoholic options and other products like hard ciders to broaden their appeal, Olson said. Case in point: Fremont Brewing introduced a nonalcoholic IPA in 2023, while Georgetown Brewing bought Timber City Ginger Beer late last year. What we're watching: In a December 2024 report, Bart Watson of the Brewers Association wrote that brewers were bracing for another challenging year in 2025, due in part to market pressures and potential tariff impacts.
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Beloved Brewery and Bar Chain Closing
For more than a decade, craft beer and heavy metal music have been in perfect harmony in Denver and Ashville, N.C. But on July 2, the party came to an end. TRVE Brewing founder Nick Nunns announced on social media he is closing both of his taprooms. The final day will be July 12. 'It hasn't been an easy choice, but this brewery has run its course, and for a huge number of reasons, it's the right time to send this thing off into the lake trailed by a fiery arrow,' Nunns wrote on Instagram and Facebook. Nunns didn't say whether beer production would also stop. Nunns said he started TRVE in 2011 "with a mediocre business plan, no professional brewing experience, and way less money than (he) needed." with the hopes of making some good beer and listening to the music he liked. In his social media post, he thanked everyone who helped him along the way, including the "maniacs in the brewery to the masochists behind the bar." "Ultimately, this brewery has provided me with things that cannot be measured by capitalism, no matter how hard that vicious and broken machine may fumble around with spreadsheets and ledgers and trying," Nunns wrote. TRVE's closure is the latest specialty brewery to close as the industry has undergone a transformation and customer tastes have changed. In 2024, the craft beer industry experienced a decline in the number of breweries, with more closing than opening for the first time in nearly two decades, according to the Brewers Association. The Association attributes the shift to a number of factors including increased competition, rising costs, and changing consumer preferences. Beloved Brewery and Bar Chain Closing first appeared on Men's Journal on Jul 5, 2025
Calgary Herald
07-07-2025
- Business
- Calgary Herald
Nearly tapped out: Trump's tariffs and trade winds threaten America's craft brewers
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Patrons huddle around the 30-foot-long wooden bar at Spiteful Brewing on Chicago's Northside, enjoying drinks, televised sports, and games ranging from darts to Dungeons & Dragons. Article content 'It's a corner tavern without the booze,' says co-founder Jason Klein, noting they only serve beer they brew on-site, not liquor. What customers don't see is the storeroom, where Klein is engaged in another game: playing Tetris with supplies. Article content Article content U.S. President Donald Trump's aluminum tariffs have forced U.S. breweries to consider stockpiling cans as a hedge against rising costs, but for small brewers like Klein, space is limited. Article content Article content 'It's like a puzzle back there for us. We've had to sacrifice on things like grain so we could hook up on cans,' he says. But Klein is facing more than just logistical challenges. Article content Trump imposed 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum in February, citing the need to promote domestic manufacturing and protect national security. He then doubled them to 50 per cent in June, and small brewers are feeling the squeeze. Article content Trade talks are underway, with Canada looking for deals to reduce or avoid Trump's tariffs. Both sides aim to conclude a deal by July 21. If no deal is reached, the tariffs will remain. Meanwhile, higher costs threaten the thin margins and production capacity of smaller U.S. brewers, while trade tensions are limiting export opportunities for the larger ones, particularly in their biggest market, Canada. Article content Article content An industry on the edge Article content American craft brewing took off in the 2010s but has since faced challenges, including oversaturation, COVID, and inflation. 'Everything's gone up,' Klein says. 'Grain has gone up. Hops have gone up. Storage has gone up.' With input prices rising, brewers feel pressure to raise prices but worry about going too far. Article content 'At some point, you're not going to pay $14, $15, $16 for a six pack,' Klein says, noting that sales have already slipped. Article content The whole industry is grappling with this trend. U.S. craft beer production peaked in 2019 and has since declined, according to the Brewers Association. The U.S. craft brewing industry saw a 3.9 per cent drop in barrel production between 2023 and 2024 and a slight decline in its overall U.S. beer market share, dropping to 13.3 per cent. Its retail value grew by 3 per cent to $28.9 billion, but that was largely due to price hikes and strong taproom sales. Article content Now, the industry is facing even higher production costs related to the price of aluminum cans. Article content Aluminum cans are the go-to for US breweries because they are light, easy to ship, and more environmentally friendly, as aluminum is recyclable. As of January, cans accounted for 75 per cent of the craft beer market share, according to Beer Insights, so there was plenty of panic when the tariffs were introduced. Article content Much of the aluminum used for canning in the U.S. comes from domestically recycled products, while just 30 per cent is sourced from raw aluminum, largely from Canada. It's only the raw imports that are directly impacted by tariffs, which means the feared price spikes have been minimal, thus far. Article content But the price of aluminum generally is based on the London Metal Exchange (LME) and the Midwest Premium indices, and while the LME hasn't changed much this year, the Midwest Premium has soared, hitting a record 60 cents per pound in early June — a whopping 161 per cent rise since January. Distributors peg their rates to these indices quarterly. Article content Article content For distributors like Core Cans, a California-based, family-run company specializing in the supply of aluminum cans and other packaging, this has meant only having to raise prices by 3 per cent thus far, says co-founder Kirk Anderson. For Craft Beverage Warehouse, a Midwest distributor, it has been closer to 4 per cent, according to co-founder Kyle Stephens. Article content But the tariffs will continue to put upward pressure on pricing, they warn, and the greater the market uncertainty and the higher the indices go, the more big suppliers and companies buy up greater quantities of aluminum to shore up their inventory. 'That's what impacts us the most,' says Stephens, noting that the reduced supply drives up the price. 'People are out there hedging, buying a ton of aluminum and driving that price up.' Article content By the third and fourth quarters, if the uncertainty continues, Sophie Thong, director of account management for Can-One USA, a manufacturer of aluminum cans in Nashua, NH, says craft brewers should expect prices to rise further. 'In Q3, it will be higher,' she says. Article content Article content Smaller brewers say they have little choice when it comes to suppliers. Most major U.S. suppliers have raised minimum order demands so high that smaller players often rely on distributors or Canadian suppliers to get the smaller orders they can manage. Article content Klein, at Spiteful Brewing, noted that the Trump administration wants the industry to source their cans domestically but that he has to work with his Canadian supplier because his former U.S. distributor raised its minimal order from a single truckload, with 200,000 cans, to five truckloads – a whopping 1 million cans he doesn't have enough room to store. Article content Also, for many brewers, buying two or more times the normal amount is about more than just the space. 'It has a negative effect on cash flow, too,' Klein adds. Article content Faced with these challenges, many in the industry are finding creative ways around the pinch. Article content For distributors and suppliers, this means working with clients to keep costs at a minimum. Craft Beverage Warehouse, for example, has adopted shared shipping, which involves reaching out to breweries by region to see if they want to be part of a group order to reduce shipping costs. Article content For breweries, some are storing as much as they can, leaning on taproom sales, and diversifying their products. 'If their beer volume is going down, maybe they're making a hop water or, if a state allows it, they might be making a hemp-derived THC product,' Stephens says. Article content While U.S. breweries do their best to adapt at home, the international market is presenting a new hurdle. Article content Canada is the biggest foreign market for American craft brewers, making up 38 per cent of U.S. craft beer exports as of early 2025. But now, amid Trump's trade war, they're dealing with rising input costs as well as retaliatory bans on the sale of U.S. alcohol in major provinces, including Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, and others. Article content Article content Last month, Alberta lifted its three-month ban on U.S. alcohol sales, but it remains in place elsewhere, and Ontario and Nova Scotia recently announced they would not order liquor stores to restock U.S. products. Ontario Premier Doug Ford has been vocal about the impact. Article content 'Every year, LCBO sells nearly $1 billion worth of American wine, beer, spirits and seltzers. Not anymore,' he said. In 2024, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario reported more than $6.2 million worth of sales of beer from New England alone. Article content While most small craft brewers don't export their products, larger ones do, and they stand to lose tens of millions of dollars in lost sales in 2025 alone as a result of the Canadian sales ban. This is another trade irritant irking the U.S., according to US Ambassador Pete Hoekstra. Article content Like he did with Canada's now-dead Digital Services Tax, Trump may soon target these Canadian sales bans for leverage in the ongoing trade talks. Article content Article content The final pint? Article content Craft brewing was a tough business before the tariffs. Last year, for the first time in two decades, more U.S. craft breweries closed than opened. Now, with packaging costs rising and trade uncertainty mounting, it's enough to drive some brewers to … well, drink, and hope for policy shifts. Article content Klein says policymakers should understand the demands Trump's tariffs are putting on smaller businesses. Article content 'I think the policymakers need to understand that the only thing they're doing is increasing costs for small businesses,' he says, noting how they're punishing him for buying aluminum cans, which he can't source in America. Article content Many American craft brewers notably do use U.S.-based distributors and suppliers, and Can One-USA, for example, set up shop just over a year ago to meet the needs of these smaller players, offering smaller minimum orders and warehousing options. But brewers with domestic supply chains are still facing higher prices, thanks to the market uncertainty.
Edmonton Journal
07-07-2025
- Business
- Edmonton Journal
Nearly tapped out: Trump's tariffs and trade winds threaten America's craft brewers
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Patrons huddle around the 30-foot-long wooden bar at Spiteful Brewing on Chicago's Northside, enjoying drinks, televised sports, and games ranging from darts to Dungeons & Dragons. Article content 'It's a corner tavern without the booze,' says co-founder Jason Klein, noting they only serve beer they brew on-site, not liquor. What customers don't see is the storeroom, where Klein is engaged in another game: playing Tetris with supplies. Article content Article content U.S. President Donald Trump's aluminum tariffs have forced U.S. breweries to consider stockpiling cans as a hedge against rising costs, but for small brewers like Klein, space is limited. Article content Article content 'It's like a puzzle back there for us. We've had to sacrifice on things like grain so we could hook up on cans,' he says. But Klein is facing more than just logistical challenges. Article content Trump imposed 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum in February, citing the need to promote domestic manufacturing and protect national security. He then doubled them to 50 per cent in June, and small brewers are feeling the squeeze. Trade talks are underway, with Canada looking for deals to reduce or avoid Trump's tariffs. Both sides aim to conclude a deal by July 21. If no deal is reached, the tariffs will remain. Meanwhile, higher costs threaten the thin margins and production capacity of smaller U.S. brewers, while trade tensions are limiting export opportunities for the larger ones, particularly in their biggest market, Canada. Article content Article content An industry on the edge Article content American craft brewing took off in the 2010s but has since faced challenges, including oversaturation, COVID, and inflation. 'Everything's gone up,' Klein says. 'Grain has gone up. Hops have gone up. Storage has gone up.' With input prices rising, brewers feel pressure to raise prices but worry about going too far. Article content 'At some point, you're not going to pay $14, $15, $16 for a six pack,' Klein says, noting that sales have already slipped. Article content The whole industry is grappling with this trend. U.S. craft beer production peaked in 2019 and has since declined, according to the Brewers Association. The U.S. craft brewing industry saw a 3.9 per cent drop in barrel production between 2023 and 2024 and a slight decline in its overall U.S. beer market share, dropping to 13.3 per cent. Its retail value grew by 3 per cent to $28.9 billion, but that was largely due to price hikes and strong taproom sales. Article content Now, the industry is facing even higher production costs related to the price of aluminum cans. Article content Aluminum cans are the go-to for US breweries because they are light, easy to ship, and more environmentally friendly, as aluminum is recyclable. As of January, cans accounted for 75 per cent of the craft beer market share, according to Beer Insights, so there was plenty of panic when the tariffs were introduced. Article content Much of the aluminum used for canning in the U.S. comes from domestically recycled products, while just 30 per cent is sourced from raw aluminum, largely from Canada. It's only the raw imports that are directly impacted by tariffs, which means the feared price spikes have been minimal, thus far. Article content But the price of aluminum generally is based on the London Metal Exchange (LME) and the Midwest Premium indices, and while the LME hasn't changed much this year, the Midwest Premium has soared, hitting a record 60 cents per pound in early June — a whopping 161 per cent rise since January. Distributors peg their rates to these indices quarterly. Article content Article content For distributors like Core Cans, a California-based, family-run company specializing in the supply of aluminum cans and other packaging, this has meant only having to raise prices by 3 per cent thus far, says co-founder Kirk Anderson. For Craft Beverage Warehouse, a Midwest distributor, it has been closer to 4 per cent, according to co-founder Kyle Stephens. Article content But the tariffs will continue to put upward pressure on pricing, they warn, and the greater the market uncertainty and the higher the indices go, the more big suppliers and companies buy up greater quantities of aluminum to shore up their inventory. 'That's what impacts us the most,' says Stephens, noting that the reduced supply drives up the price. 'People are out there hedging, buying a ton of aluminum and driving that price up.' Article content By the third and fourth quarters, if the uncertainty continues, Sophie Thong, director of account management for Can-One USA, a manufacturer of aluminum cans in Nashua, NH, says craft brewers should expect prices to rise further. 'In Q3, it will be higher,' she says. Article content Article content Smaller brewers say they have little choice when it comes to suppliers. Most major U.S. suppliers have raised minimum order demands so high that smaller players often rely on distributors or Canadian suppliers to get the smaller orders they can manage. Article content Klein, at Spiteful Brewing, noted that the Trump administration wants the industry to source their cans domestically but that he has to work with his Canadian supplier because his former U.S. distributor raised its minimal order from a single truckload, with 200,000 cans, to five truckloads – a whopping 1 million cans he doesn't have enough room to store. Article content Also, for many brewers, buying two or more times the normal amount is about more than just the space. 'It has a negative effect on cash flow, too,' Klein adds. Article content Faced with these challenges, many in the industry are finding creative ways around the pinch. Article content For distributors and suppliers, this means working with clients to keep costs at a minimum. Craft Beverage Warehouse, for example, has adopted shared shipping, which involves reaching out to breweries by region to see if they want to be part of a group order to reduce shipping costs. Article content For breweries, some are storing as much as they can, leaning on taproom sales, and diversifying their products. 'If their beer volume is going down, maybe they're making a hop water or, if a state allows it, they might be making a hemp-derived THC product,' Stephens says. Article content The Canadian crackdown Article content While U.S. breweries do their best to adapt at home, the international market is presenting a new hurdle. Article content Canada is the biggest foreign market for American craft brewers, making up 38 per cent of U.S. craft beer exports as of early 2025. But now, amid Trump's trade war, they're dealing with rising input costs as well as retaliatory bans on the sale of U.S. alcohol in major provinces, including Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, and others. Article content Article content Last month, Alberta lifted its three-month ban on U.S. alcohol sales, but it remains in place elsewhere, and Ontario and Nova Scotia recently announced they would not order liquor stores to restock U.S. products. Ontario Premier Doug Ford has been vocal about the impact. Article content 'Every year, LCBO sells nearly $1 billion worth of American wine, beer, spirits and seltzers. Not anymore,' he said. In 2024, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario reported more than $6.2 million worth of sales of beer from New England alone. Article content While most small craft brewers don't export their products, larger ones do, and they stand to lose tens of millions of dollars in lost sales in 2025 alone as a result of the Canadian sales ban. This is another trade irritant irking the U.S., according to US Ambassador Pete Hoekstra. Article content Like he did with Canada's now-dead Digital Services Tax, Trump may soon target these Canadian sales bans for leverage in the ongoing trade talks. Article content Article content The final pint? Article content Craft brewing was a tough business before the tariffs. Last year, for the first time in two decades, more U.S. craft breweries closed than opened. Now, with packaging costs rising and trade uncertainty mounting, it's enough to drive some brewers to … well, drink, and hope for policy shifts. Article content Klein says policymakers should understand the demands Trump's tariffs are putting on smaller businesses. Article content 'I think the policymakers need to understand that the only thing they're doing is increasing costs for small businesses,' he says, noting how they're punishing him for buying aluminum cans, which he can't source in America. Article content Many American craft brewers notably do use U.S.-based distributors and suppliers, and Can One-USA, for example, set up shop just over a year ago to meet the needs of these smaller players, offering smaller minimum orders and warehousing options. But brewers with domestic supply chains are still facing higher prices, thanks to the market uncertainty.
