Beverage Dynamics

Beverage Dynamics May-June 2016

Beverage Dynamics is the largest national business magazine devoted exclusively to the needs of off-premise beverage alcohol retailers, from single liquor stores to big box chains, through coverage of the latest trends in wine, beer and spirits.

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Summer Selling Guide 40 Beverage Dynamics • May/June 2016 www.beveragedynamics.com ers. The slightly sour wheat ale, fl avored with salt and spiced with coriander, is still very much a niche brew, but a couple dozen craft companies—including the two largest—have pro- duced examples. "Samuel Adams Got to Gose is a brand new brew and a lighthearted twist on the brisk yet fl avorful gose," reports Boston Beer's communications specialist Ashley Leduc. "In addition to the traditional salt and coriander that are hallmarks of the gose style, we brewed our version with a hint of cucumber." The gose, together with a new helles, are part of the Beers of Summer variety 12-pack. Sierra Nevada's version breaks with tradition and includes fruit. "Earlier this year, we released Otra Vez, a German gose- style beer brewed with grapefruit and prickly pear cactus," according to Bill Manley, the company's small-batch product manager. "This light, tart, wheat ale has a very complex and lay- ered fl avor profi le, but the mild tartness and the zing from the grapefruit and the cactus keeps this beer interesting sip-after-sip and it really hits the spot from a refreshment standpoint." Sierra Nevada also includes two all new beers in the 12-beer Summer Pack: 11.5 Plato (a session IPA) and Hoppy Lager, an American-hopped India pale lager, a hybrid style that plays off the huge popularity of IPAs. Oregon brewer Deschutes has combined two recent trends— session-strength beer and fruited India pale ale—in their new summer seasonal, which shipped in mid-April. Jason Randles, digital marketing manager, explains that "hop Slice Session IPA will be replacing Twilight Summer Ale and will be our fi rst bot- tled session IPA. Brewed with Meyer lemon, Hop Slice balances fl oral hop notes and a subtle citrus kick." The beer is hopped with Azacca, Galaxy and Amarillo and, at 4.5% ABV, presents summer-appropriate strength. Other breweries are adding fruit to various beer bases for summer refreshers. Radler, the traditional German style blending lemonade with lager, was an emerging favorite last summer. This year, United States Beverage will introduce Moosehead Radler, a less conventional blend of three juices—grapefruit, grape and lemon—with beer. United States Beverage brand director Geor- gia Homsany notes that "the great thing about Radler is that we've seen all kinds of people drawn to it, from beer drinkers looking for something refreshing and easy to drink, to women who don't typically like beer that have fallen in love with it." In- store sampling will be a key component to the launch. Leinenkugel has a portfolio of shandies—shandy being the radler style's British cousin. Marty Maloney, manager of media relations for parent company MillerCoors, calls Leinenkugel Grapefruit Shandy "the No. 1 new craft offering of 2015." Ini- tially sold only in six-packs, this brew returns this year in a wider range of formats. Maloney adds, "then there is the beer that's become a staple of the season, Leinie's Summer Shandy. The traditional weiss beer with refreshing natural lemonade fl avor continues to grow year-after-year and is the highest-velocity national craft in Amer- ica." The weiss beer, being German, breaks with shandy's UK pedigree, but that scarcely matters to its fans. Also joining the Shandy Sampler pack is a new Watermelon Shandy, a mix of traditional weiss beer balanced with a hint of watermelon fl avor for a taste made for summer. Echoing the theme of beers dosed with fruit, Blue Moon's new summer seasonal is Belgian Table Pils, which is a "balanced, easy-drinking pilsner with hints of citrus." In addition, the look of the Blue Moon line has been redesigned. Heineken USA is bringing back a limited edition offering, Dos Equis Azul, in the Beers of Mexico Variety Pack. Jonathan Simpson, director, Shopper Marketing, notes that "Dos Equis Azul, a blend of signature golden wheat lager and blue agave, is the perfect summer addition, joining favorites Dos Equis Lager, Tecate and Sol, all in one convenient Fiesta Pack." Heineken USA is also debuting a new limited-release ale from Newcastle. Caley Amber Ale is a collaborative effort with the company's Caledonian Brewery in Scotland. "Caley Amber Ale is made with a blend of whole fl ower hops to create a full bodied

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