We talk a lot about how the American beer business is doing. It’s the whole point of the column, really. Yet the weekly onslaught of news — Molson Coors boycott! Tilray Brands ripoffs! Kroger-Albertsons megamergers! — can obscure the bigger picture. Today, Hop Take is rolling out its first-ever Beer Business Report Card, a quarterly wellness check on the industry based on scan data, regulatory developments, and indelible ~vibes~.
Just like high school (where nobody has ever encountered a beer, of course, because that would be illegal) we’re assigning letter grades in each subject in our curriculum, curated by your humble Hop Take columnist. Unlike high school? Well, everything else, basically. Let’s review.
Subject: Government
Grade: A-
Comments: The beer industry reached a milestone this quarter with the introduction of the CHEERS Act, which would convey tax benefits to bars and restaurants for installing or upgrading their draft beer systems. Sure, the bill isn’t perfect, but what bill is? We’re encouraged to see a creative approach to the federal legislative process — especially considering the industry also had to file comments with the Treasury Department about labeling requirements and brace for a government shutdown that never came this quarter. This grade also reflects new franchise law reform in Wyoming, the quick defeat of that harebrained bill in Tennessee to ban cold beer, and the much-improved performance in February’s federal tax-paids, which reached their highest levels since spring 2021 this past quarter. Can’t have a government without taxes!
Subject: Fluid (Sales)
