Craft Brew News 1/10/20
(Courtesy of Brewbound www.brewbound.com)

Heineken USA Giving Away 31-Packs of Non-Alc Beer for ‘Dry January’

Heineken USA (HUSA) is giving away 1,000 31-packs of its non-alcoholic beer, Heineken 0.0, as part of a campaign to win beer-drinking occasions during “Dry January.”

Dry January is a month of no consumption of alcohol, which one in five Americans told YouGov they would be observing to start 2020.

In an effort to capture those presumably lost drinking occasions, HUSA launched a promotion December 27 to give away its “January Dry Pack” — which includes 31 cans of Heineken 0.0. The packs won’t be available at retailers.

In an effort to boost the non-alcoholic beer brand again in 2020, HUSA has committed another $50 million to the brand and plans to give away 10 million samples throughout the year.

Through December 1, HUSA was the fifth largest beer company in the U.S., with off-premise dollar sales of $1.3 billion (down 2.4% year-over-year), according to market research firm IRI.

New York Lawmaker Proposes Doubling State Beer Tax

Manhattan assemblyman Harvey Epstein introduced a bill Monday that would more than double New York’s excise tax on beer from $0.14 per gallon to $0.30 per gallon in an effort to help fund State University of New York and the City University of New York, according to the Times-Herald Record.

According to Epstein’s estimates, the increased tax could generate about $96 million annually and puts the excise tax rate in line with the state’s wine excise tax. In the bill’s legislative memo, Epstein noted that the state’s beer excise tax is the 12th lowest in the nation.

Nevertheless, the bill is likely to struggle for support given Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s vocal support for the state’s craft beverage makers. As proof of Cuomo’s backing of the state’s alcohol industry, the governor is expected to push for the Legislature to pass legislation to allow alcohol sales in movie theaters during his State of the State address.

Backlash Beer Company Exits Boston Area Taproom

Boston’s Backlash Beer Company has exited its taproom in the Roxbury neighborhood over the holidays, according to an Instagram post.

In the Instagram post announcing the taproom closure, the company said it would continue contract brewing the brand.

The company said “You’ll still be able to find our beer on the shelves of your local beer shop and on draft in Massachusetts, Maine, and beyond.”

Backlash’s landlord had been advertising the space for rent since midsummer as a ”fully built out brewer/tap room space in Boston.” Backlash, which started producing beer under contract in 2011, opened its $1.5 million brewery in September 2018, behind schedule and $250,000 over its original budget, according to reports.

Bill Would Allow Cold Beer Sales at Indiana Grocery, Convenience Stores

A bill to allow grocery and convenience stores to sell refrigerated beer has already been filed in Indiana’s state Senate, according to WIBC 93.1 FM. Currently, the state only allows liquor stores and restaurants with to-go sales privileges to sell cold beer.

Indiana’s legislative session starts on January 6.

Although the bill has already been introduced, hope for its passage is dim. Indiana Grocery and Convenience Store Association president Joe Lackey told WIBC that some lawmakers will have to retire before it garners enough support to pass.

Lackey told the outlet “At a time when grocery stores are going out of business all over the state, people are complaining about food deserts, but yet, cold beer would be one of the things that would allow some of those stores to stay open”.

Although legislation legalizing Sunday sales of alcohol in the state’s grocery, liquor, drug and convenience stores was passed in 2018, an effort to change the cold beer prohibition failed.

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