Beer Industry Chaos: Closures, Bankruptcy, and Bud Light

This week, we’ve got brewery shutdowns, tax trouble, distributor bankruptcies, fading beer brands, political drama, and an endangered brewing tradition involving free candy.

We start with the troubling news that Salted Nut Rolls may be endangered. For brewers, these are more than just a gas station snack. Grain suppliers have been known to toss free Salted Nut Rolls into grain orders, and over the years they have become a bit of a brewing legend. If they disappear, brewers may have to face the horrifying possibility of ordering thousands of pounds of malt without receiving a complimentary candy bar.

From there, we get into the shutdown of Terrapin Brewery and what it means for one of Georgia’s most recognizable beer brands. Terrapin has been part of the craft beer landscape for decades, so we take a look at how things reached this point and what could happen next.

There’s also more drama surrounding Ballast Point. The brewery has changed hands, expanded, contracted, and survived a billion-dollar acquisition that became one of the biggest cautionary tales in craft beer. Now there are new questions about whether Ballast Point is in serious trouble again or possibly finished altogether.

21st Amendment Brewery is dealing with a massive tax bill, Minocqua Brewing has had its license revoked, and Bud Light continues to lose ground. We look at what is happening with each of these stories and whether Bud Light’s decline is finally beginning to level off or if the brand still has further to fall.

We also check in on Conservative Dad’s Ultra Right Beer. The brand arrived with a lot of attention, plenty of political messaging, and big promises about becoming an alternative to Bud Light. So where is it now, and did it ever become a serious beer company?

Meanwhile, the second-largest beer distributor in the United States has filed for bankruptcy. That is a massive development with potential consequences for breweries, retailers, employees, and drinkers across the country. We break down what happened and why distributor problems can ripple through the entire beer industry.

Finally, we lighten things up by asking a very important question: What exactly is a Pennsylvania Swankey? Is it a beer, a cocktail, an old regional drink, or something that sounds far more exciting than it actually is?

Grab a beer and join us as we work through another week of strange, frustrating, and occasionally ridiculous beer news.

Thanks for listening to Beer Guys Radio!  Your hosts are Tim Dennis and Brian Hewitt with producer Nate "Mo' Mic Nate" Ellingson and occasional appearances from Becky Smalls.

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