@dinfontay.com recounts what are, in his opinion, the most important storylines and turning points for the beer industry in 2025.

My father, Nick Infante, adored the American beer business. A week ago, he passed away. My column today at @vinepair.com is a tribute to his lifelong passion for the trade, and a challenge to its leaders to hold close all that makes it unique.

🍻 Even in a challenging year, brewers pushed forward to open impressive new breweries in 2025. Here are 26 of the best, according to the pros.

In a country dominated by artificially carbonated keg beer, cask ale can be challenging to serve well. These breweries are pulling it off. vinepair.com/articles/bre...

Czech brewers are making low-alcohol beers that are complex, rich, and fun to drink, offering a blueprint for other brewers to do the same.

VOS Selections, the lead plaintiff on this suit, is a ~4-decade family-owned wine/spirits importer out of NY. As the owner told @vinepair.com after the initial win in the Court of International Trade in late May: "When they asked me to be lead plaintiff, I thought ‘Somebody needs to step up.’"

Chardonnay remains the most celebrated white variety in the world, but what cult whites do collectors seek out outside of the grape?

From classic Provence expressions to thought-provoking bottles from the Finger Lakes, here are the best rosés under $25.

Bapple's comeback boomed, but ABI has once again stopped shipping the brand—leaving competitors an angle on the national thirst for apple-flavored beers. At @vinepair.com I evaluated the macrobrewer's scarcity strategy in context of another LTO gambit: McDonald's infamously successful hog arbitrage.

Busch Light Apple's return to shelves this year has been nothing short of triumphant, begging the question: Why isn't it around year-round?

Prosecco is famous for its fizz, yet, much to the confusion of everyone, the confounding era of bubble-free Prosecco is here.

And your Hop-ocalypse Now from the latest @vinepair.com Hop Take 🤯: vinepair.com/articles/hop...

The THC drinks category is undeniably exploding, but can the growth predictions actually hold up? If it's going to happen, now is the time.

With the cocktail renaissance well into its third decade, it's time to step back and consider the greatest bar teams of all time.

Currently, three of the top five breweries in the United States aren't breweries at all, they're meaderies.

🎧 It's always a treat to join The @vinepair.com Podcast to talk about my recent coverage. In this episode, I recapped the state of play for the hemp-beverage business and my reporting at the Hemp Beverage Alliance's 2025 Hemp Beverage Expo: pod.link/1402310626/e... (clip via @zgeballe.bsky.social!)

What can today's distillers learn from the last bourbon bust? I try to answer that question, with the help of some folks who actually lived through it (ahem Eddie Russell) in my latest article for @vinepair.com vinepair.com/articles/bou...

The first beer can was sold in 1935, and from that point forward breweries and manufacturers have revolutionized its form.

having gotten a sneak preview of @timmckirdy.bsky.social's new mezcal miniseries for @vinepair.com i can't emphasize enough how stoked i am for the show

Part 2 of Cocktail College's new series on traditional mezcal! Mezcal's taste as we know today was shaped by prohibitions, corruption, and outside meddling...and all more recently than you think. Listen for yourself. open.spotify.com/episode/4faV... @vinepair.com @timmckirdy.bsky.social

The period from Memorial Day to Labor Day is traditionally the most important season for selling beer. There are all sorts of exceptions to this rule, but as I wrote this week at @vinepair.com, none are big enough to offset what’s shaping up to be another rough summer for the American beer business.

The bourbon industry is looking at some tough times right now. How can distillers learn from the sector's last big bust?

The Bull City has become the site of a most unusual monthly bar brawl known as Giant Robot Fight Club, the first of which was held in December 2024. vinepair.com/articles/dur...

The Four Horsemen made its debut on Grand Street in 2015. A decade later, the Brooklyn wine bar is still an influential presence.

Mezcal's grown exponentially in the last 15 years, thanks in part to cocktails. For @vinepair.com's Cocktail College podcast, @timmckirdy.bsky.social looks at mezcal's most traditional producers and the culture they work to maintain in the face of breakaway capitalism. Ep 1 dropped today 🔗 👇 1/

Thinking about this article today. The excellent people at Bar Volo in Toronto have lost access to their Meta accounts. We don’t own our online lives, and we really should be thinking about this more. @vinepair.com

And your 🤯 Hop-ocalypse Now 🤯 from the latest @vinepair.com Hop Take: vinepair.com/articles/hop...

At the moment, Garage Beer is the biggest success story in U.S. craft beer (B.A. definition). Beyond celebrity ownership, there’s a lot going on. And guess who's making it under contract. H/T to @kimberlyaclements.bsky.social & others, for @vinepair.com. vinepair.com/articles/kel...

Garage Beer’s path to success offers insight into how small brands can make things work today and hints at where the industry might be going.

Manhattan's iconic Waldorf Astoria Hotel reopened on July 15 after a lengthy restoration that introduced glorious new drinking experiences.

Bartenders love to hate Espresso Martinis, but maybe it's time to cut the drink some slack and appreciate it for what it is. Hear us out.

"When I interviewed people for this piece, I began each session by asking them to recall their fondest Sasha story. This query was more often than not greeted with some sort of wistful, grasping version of, 'Oh, God,' followed by 'I have two.' These featured tales come from a pile of abundance."

“This is definitely a correction in the alcohol market and it’s definitely going to weed out a lot of the brands that hadn’t made it to the right scale yet, or inefficient operators or brands that didn’t have a reason to exist.” vinepair.com/articles/inv...

My report for @vinepair.com is live now:

Jotted down some quick thoughts for @vinepair.com the significance of Anheuser-Busch's call to move Cutwater out of RNDC's warehouses and to Southern Glazer's in California and a dozen-ish other states. (Scroll to the "VP Pro Take" section for my analysis.)

Earlier this month, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale won a Gold Medal at the World Beer Cup — in the ESB category. For @vinepair.com, I talked to @fullersjohn.bsky.social, @atjbeer.bsky.social and WBC competition director Chris Williams to find out what happened. vinepair.com/articles/how...

Spirits additives have been in the news a lot, almost solely related to #tequila, despite the fact that they're widely used across categories.

These are the 25 most important tequilas of the last 25 years according to experts. See which bottles made the list here.

From a breezy seaside destination in California to the lush landscapes of Austria, here are the top 10 wine destinations for 2025: vinepair.com/articles/bes...

As the Obama presidency began and the global financial crisis waned, high-octane beer was the spirit of the era.

What are the tracks that drive hospitality workers to the brink of insanity? We asked 10 #bartenders from around the country to find out.

People around the world are looking at the U.S. differently. For @vinepair.com, I talked to bartenders, writers and Catoctin Creek’s @scohar70.bsky.social, whose April 9 thread (linked) made me start asking questions. The answers weren’t fun. bsky.app/profile/scoh... vinepair.com/articles/how...

Many classics follow the Golden Ratio, which calls for two ounces of spirit, one ounce of sweetener, and one ounce of something sour for balance. Here are some easy-to-make builds that share the same fundamental DNA.

From New Western to London Dry, we tasted through all that gin offers to identify the best bottles.

Prosecco’s popularity is growing as Champagne sales slump, begging the question: Is the Italian sparkler coming for the French wine’s crown?

Scotland’s southern neighbor has become a powerhouse of distilling, though it still faces challenges in the U.S. market.

Whether you're looking to get the most booze for your buck or exploring drinks to avoid, here are some of the world's strongest cocktails.

From traditional interpretations of the drink to more complex builds, here are six bartenders redefining the Japanese highball right now.

President Trump’s “Liberation Day” and its associated tariffs are here. Here's how they will impact the beverage industry, according to pros.

At best, brandy represents a confusing offshoot of wine and, at worst, a hopelessly uncool catchall. That is, unless you're a bartender.