Lester Jones on Beer's Moneyball' Play; Carbliss Founders on Their Under-the-Radar Heater

"While placements in off-premise chains such as Walmart, Kroger, HEB, 7-Eleven and others are analogous to home runs, getting a tap handle is a solid base hit on the way to scoring, and brewers shouldn't lose sight of those singles. Jones also discusses why he believes craft beer's funk is potentially ending, why the ethanol pie was cut too many ways, how beer is competing for dayparts and why beer needs to bring fun and socializing back."

"The fun part is, when we come out to places like Vegas, if you're not in the industry, you've never heard of us, Adam says. But at the same time, if you're looking at the Circana or Nielsen data, we're a top three, four, five brand in dollars. So it is a fun, cool thing to be this biggest thing that some people have never heard of."

On-premise channels like bars, restaurants and social gathering spaces present a scalable growth opportunity for beer, delivering consistent base hits versus occasional off-premise "home run" placements. Tap handles and on-premise placements provide reliable incremental gains that move the category forward. Indicators suggest craft beer's funk may be stabilizing while an overly fragmented ethanol market diluted share. Beer competes across dayparts and must refocus on fun and socializing to regain relevance. A family-run canned cocktail brand uses a methodical approach to brand building, expanding into warm-weather markets and ranking highly in Circana and Nielsen despite limited mainstream recognition. Industry distribution moves include major outsourcing shifts.

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