Craft Beer News Feed

Beer.Social's feed tracks what is happening across American craft beer: new taproom and brewery openings, closures and acquisitions, distributor and industry business news, notable beer releases, and festival announcements. Stories are curated twice daily from trusted craft beer publications, each with a short summary and a link to the original reporting.

• Ball CEO Says Beer Is No Longer the Can Maker's Biggest Category

  Brewbound — Aug 12, 2026, 9:02 PM UTC

  On Ball Corporation's second-quarter earnings call, CEO Ronald Lewis said beer remains an important category for the world's largest aluminum can manufacturer but is no longer its largest by share of business. Lewis pointed to beer, carbonated soft drinks and energy drinks as areas delivering growth for the packaging company. The shift is a supplier-side indicator for brewers, whose can costs and supply priorities are tied to Ball's portfolio mix.

• Alaskan Brewing Celebrates 40 Years With a Limited-Edition 40-Pack

  Brewbound — Aug 11, 2026, 9:02 PM UTC

  Alaskan Brewing is marking its 40th anniversary with a limited-edition 40-can variety pack spanning ten of its beers, including Alaskan Amber, Kolsch, Husky IPA and Icy Bay IPA. The Juneau brewery describes the pack as a thank-you to the drinkers who have supported it over four decades.

• Lawson's Finest Liquids Launches Its First Non-Alcoholic IPA

  Brewbound — Aug 11, 2026, 9:02 PM UTC

  Vermont's Lawson's Finest Liquids has introduced its first non-alcoholic IPA, saying it held the beer back until the recipe met its standards. The brewery is positioning the launch as part of a broader innovation push in 2026 as NA options keep expanding across craft.

  Lawson's Finest Liquids on Beer.Social

• Athletic Brewing Signs Multi-Year MetLife Stadium Deal With the Jets and Giants

  Brewbound — Aug 11, 2026, 9:02 PM UTC

  Non-alcoholic brewer Athletic Brewing has struck a multi-year agreement to serve as a non-alcoholic beer partner of MetLife Stadium and both NFL teams that play there, extending a sports strategy that already includes England's Arsenal FC. Brewbound's NFL roundup also reported Rhinegeist taking on a hometown beer role with the Cincinnati Bengals.

• Distributor Survey: Most Wholesalers Plan to Cut Regional and Local Craft SKUs

  Brewbound — Aug 11, 2026, 9:02 PM UTC

  Tamarron Consulting's annual Brewer Partnership survey found that 57.6% of responding beer wholesalers intend to de-emphasize or reduce SKUs from regional craft breweries in the year ahead. Local craft brands face similar pressure, signaling tighter distributor portfolios and shrinking shelf access for mid-sized independents.

• Sierra Nevada Launches Its Own Music Festival at Its Mills River Brewery

  PorchDrinking — Aug 10, 2026, 9:02 PM UTC

  Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is starting a music festival called The Hazy Hideaway, hosted at its Mills River, North Carolina brewery. The event marks the brewery expanding its destination programming beyond taproom and tour offerings into a branded music event.

  Mills River Brewery on Beer.Social

• Breakside Brewery Adds a Year-Round West Coast IPA to Its Lineup

  Brewbound — Aug 10, 2026, 9:02 PM UTC

  Portland, Oregon's Breakside Brewery has introduced a new West Coast IPA as a permanent, year-round offering rather than a limited release. The move reflects continued brewery investment in the West Coast IPA style as a core portfolio anchor.

  Breakside Brewery on Beer.Social

• Brewbound Live Frames Its Winter Conference Around Occasions Rather Than Case Volumes

  Brewbound — Aug 9, 2026, 9:02 PM UTC

  Brewbound outlined the programming thesis for its winter Brewbound Live conference, arguing that drinking occasions rather than raw case volumes will define how the beer business is judged in 2026. The event is scheduled for Los Angeles in December 2026, with early registration now open.

• Kona Brewing Hawai'i Recognized as an Independent Craft Brewer by the Brewers Association

  Brewbound — Aug 9, 2026, 9:02 PM UTC

  The Brewers Association has formally recognized Kona Brewing Hawai'i as an independent craft brewer, qualifying the Hawaii-based operation to carry the trade group's independent craft brewer seal. The designation separates the islands' brewing business from the Kona brand's mainland ownership under Anheuser-Busch. The recognition was announced this week via the beer industry press wire.

• Heimark Distributing Strikes Deal for Alford Distributing in Southern California

  Brewbound — Aug 9, 2026, 11:04 AM UTC

  Independent Anheuser-Busch "red network" wholesaler Heimark Distributing has reached an agreement to acquire Alford Distributing, based in Imperial, California, the two companies announced. The deal extends Heimark's footprint in Southern California and adds to the ongoing consolidation among independent beer wholesalers, which affects how craft and import brands are routed to market in the region.

• Las Vegas Brewing Scene: August 2026 Openings and Events Roundup

  PorchDrinking — Aug 8, 2026, 9:03 PM UTC

  PorchDrinking published its monthly rundown of the Las Vegas-area beer scene for August 2026, covering new brewery and taproom openings alongside the month's local beer events. The roundup is a useful snapshot of how the Nevada market is developing at a time when brewery openings nationally have slowed.

• Lone Tree Brewing Rolls Out Its Oktoberfest-Season Lager Lineup

  Brewbound — Aug 8, 2026, 9:03 PM UTC

  Colorado's Lone Tree Brewing announced its slate of Oktoberfest-season lagers for fall 2026 in a press release distributed Aug. 7. The announcement lands as breweries across the US shift into the fall seasonal selling period, when Marzen and festbier styles typically anchor taproom and retail lineups.

• Ballast Point Ownership Feud Lands in Court, With One Side Warning of 'Operational Collapse'

  Brewbound — Aug 8, 2026, 11:04 AM UTC

  Competing ownership factions at San Diego's Ballast Point Brewing are suing each other in San Diego County Superior Court, with one group alleging that roughly $3 million in unauthorized loans taken between mid-2025 and February have put the brewery at risk of failure. The plaintiffs also accuse a fellow ownership group member of embezzlement. The dispute puts one of American craft beer's best-known names back in the spotlight after years of ownership changes.

• Hemp Recap: State Attorneys General Push for a Permanent THC Ban as North Carolina Retreats

  Brewbound — Aug 8, 2026, 11:04 AM UTC

  A group of state attorneys general is pressing federal lawmakers for a permanent ban on intoxicating hemp-derived THC products, while North Carolina has pulled back from its own restrictions. The regulatory back-and-forth matters to brewers and distributors who have been weighing whether THC beverages represent a growth category or a competitive threat.

• Heineken USA Volumes Fall by High Single Digits as Lagunitas Picks Up Share

  Brewbound — Aug 8, 2026, 11:04 AM UTC

  Heineken USA reported a high-single-digit volume decline in its latest results, though its craft subsidiary Lagunitas gained share within its segment. Separately, Heineken shareholders approved the appointment of the company's incoming chief executive.

• Molson Coors Says It's 'Not Satisfied' With Share Performance After Q2 Losses

  Brewbound — Aug 8, 2026, 11:04 AM UTC

  Molson Coors reported second-quarter losses and acknowledged dissatisfaction with its market share performance, while holding its full-year 2026 guidance in place. The results add to a difficult stretch for large domestic brewers as overall US beer volumes continue to slide.

• Tilray to Stop Brewing at Terrapin's Athens Facility; Taproom Stays Open

  Brewbound — Aug 8, 2026, 11:04 AM UTC

  Tilray Brands will end brewing operations at Terrapin Beer Co.'s Athens, Georgia production facility next month, with the taproom remaining open to the public. The move follows a pattern the cannabis-and-beverage company has established with other craft brands in its portfolio, including Revolver and Hop Valley, where large-scale production was consolidated elsewhere while hospitality space stayed in service. It comes as Tilray continues reshaping its beer holdings, having recently agreed to sell Atwater Brewery back to its former owner.

• True North Ale Company Launches Season of the Witch

  Brewbound — Aug 7, 2026, 9:04 PM UTC

  True North Ale Company has released Season of the Witch, its newest autumn seasonal offering. The launch follows the brewery's other recent fall-oriented releases as it builds out its seasonal lineup heading into the back half of the year.

  True North Ale Company on Beer.Social

• Press Clips: Cutwater Scores Super Bowl Ad, SweetWater Logo Lawsuit Wraps, Motorworks Temporarily Closes Bradenton

  Brewbound — Aug 7, 2026, 9:04 PM UTC

  Brewbound's latest industry roundup collects several developments, including Cutwater securing a Super Bowl advertising slot and the resolution of SweetWater Brewing's logo dispute. It also reports that Motorworks Brewing has temporarily shut its Bradenton, Florida location. The column aggregates items first reported in Brewbound's Insider newsletter.

• Sarene Craft Beer and Remarkable Liquids Swap Territories in New York and New Jersey

  Brewbound — Aug 7, 2026, 9:04 PM UTC

  Two craft-focused beer distributors have agreed to a dual acquisition that redraws their maps in the New York–New Jersey market. Sarene Craft Beer is taking over Remarkable Liquids' New Jersey business, while Remarkable Liquids picks up Sarene's territory to the north. The swap gives each wholesaler a more concentrated footprint in a competitive Northeast craft market.