The beer biz never sleeps at American Craft Beer. And here’s just some of what’s been happening in the beer world while you were enjoying the Super Bowl weekend.
Beer Overtakes Wine in France
Call it a ‘generational change” if you want, but the fact that beer is currently outselling wine in France, a country renowned for its wine and its wine consumption, is big news.
According to data from the country’s national agricultural products office, sales of lagers and ales for at-home consumption in France have overtaken wine for the first time. Bottom line, wine sales have fallen by 18% in the last 14 years. And beer sales rose 16% over the same period.
Tom Bott, co-founder of London-based brewery Signature Brew, told The Sun is growth is a “testament to how beer has developed over the past ten years. Plus beer is cheap — you can sit down and drink it with friends and it brings them together.”
Words to Drink By
“When I die, I will decidedly not be regretting missed opportunities for a good time. My regrets will be more along the lines of a sad list of people hurt, people let down, assets wasted and advantages squandered.” Anthony Bourdain – American celebrity chef, (1956-2018)

(Courtesy Anheuser-Busch)
Anheuser-Busch Now Contract Brewing Pabst
When one thinks of Anheuser-Busch, beer brands like Budweiser, Bud Light, and Michelob Ultra readily come to mind, but a slacker classic Pabst Blue Ribbon, never, at least until now. On Jan 3, Pabst announced a new contract brewing agreement with Anheuser-Busch InBev, according to a report from Brewbound.
Pabst has been contract brewed for nearly two decades, primarily through a production deal with Molson Coors, which ended in 2024, this arrangement has been in place since the late 1990s when Pabst closed its own brewing facilities in Milwaukee.
And now in 2025, Pabst is being contract brewed at AB InBev’s several US production facilities.
###