Artisanal & Crafts

Thanks to the continued growth and popularity of upscale craft beers and their hard cider and new hard soda cousins, the beer category has a healthy head on its shoulders.

Craft beers have become so popular with consumers that major manufacturers, including Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors, are snatching up the small, artisanal brewers by the caseload and dramatically expanding their distribution into new markets. 

Anheuser-Busch parent, ABInBev, which is seeking to merge with MillerCoors, has acquired six craft beer companies in the past five years, the most recent being Tempe, Ariz.-based Four Peaks Brewing Co., producer of Tilted Kilt beer. Heineken has entered the domestic craft beer industry by acquiring an interest in Lagunitas Brewing Co., based in Petaluma, Calif., and the nation’s fifth largest craft brewer. Heineken is seeking to drive worldwide growth of the Lagunitas portfolio as demand for U.S. craft beers grows around the world, say company officials. 

The major brewers are also establishing their own “craft” products under labels that make no note of ownership by the parent company.

The newest component of the craft-brewing industry—hard sodas—is attracting female and Millennial of-age consumers to the beer aisle in droves, in the process winning back some of the sales that have been lost to the wine and spirits/mixed drinks categories in recent years, say industry observers.  

“Craft beers, while still extremely profitable and enjoying healthy growth, experienced some challenges in 2015 from flavored, sweet new product introductions,” says Bump Williams, CEO and president of BWC (Bump Williams Consulting), based in Stratford, Conn. 

“However, with 4,100-plus craft breweries in America today, the popularity of ‘local,’ the high multiples being paid for independent craft breweries, and the unbelievably strong and creative new styles and packaging being launched every day in brew pubs and tasting rooms where consumers can take home a growler of their favorite beer, I see no end in sight to the health and wellness of craft and high-end beers in 2016,” Williams says.    

One of the originators of the craft beer segment is The Boston Beer Co., brewer of the Samuel Adams line of beers.

“Sam Adams has been a leading craft brewer for more than 30 years and craft beer has enjoyed more than 10 years of growth,” says George Ward, director of off-premise national accounts at The Boston Beer Co., based in Boston. “Our brewers continue to innovate and release new full-flavored, high-quality beers.”

The company’s newest products include Cold Snap, Rebel Grapefruit IPA and the Nitro Project line.

A seasonal beer available January through mid-March, Cold Snap is brewed with an exotic blend of fruits, flowers and spices from around the world, Ward says, and is designed for “snapping consumers out of the winter blues.” 

Available in bottles and 16-ounce cans, Rebel Grapefruit is the newest member of the company’s Rebel line. This bright, citrusy IPA, brewed with real grapefruit, will also be available in a 12-ounce can ‘Pack of Rebels’ variety pack, with Rebel IPA, Rebel Rouser Double IPA and Rebel Cascade IPA.

Boston’s Nitro beers—Nitro White Ale, Nitro IPA, Nitro Coffee Stout—are brewed with nitrogen gas, in addition to the carbon dioxide that is present in all beers. “Nitrogen is mostly insoluble in beer, so the resulting bubbles are smaller and create the rich, creamy texture familiar to nitro beers,” Ward says. “Beers that use CO2 generally have larger bubbles and a more pronounced carbonated texture. When a nitro beer is poured, it creates a beautiful cascade down the side of the glass, as well as a thick, creamy head.”

Through its Cincinnati-based Angry Orchard subsidiary, Boston Beer also offers consumers a line of hard cider.

“Today’s drinkers are increasingly interested in branching out and trying new things, and cider provides a refreshing change of pace,” Ward says, noting that hard ciders deliver complexity and balance that appeal to both beer and wine drinkers. “We’re also seeing drinkers experiment with hard ciders in other ways—whether that’s incorporating cider into a recipe, mixing it into a cocktail or pairing with dinner. Cider today is similar to craft beer 30 years ago.”        

Hard cider is one of the fastest growing segments in the alcohol industry, growing a phenomenal 700 percent since 2009, says Alejandra De Obeso, brand director of Strongbow at Heineken USA, based in White Plains, N.Y.

“Cider is unique in its ability to capitalize on consumers’ desire for variety, refreshment and quality ingredients and has emerged as a popular and growing beverage alternative,” De Obeso says. 

“We believe the upscale hard cider segment offers the greatest opportunity for growth and that is where we are focusing our efforts,” De Obeso says. “In 2015, we introduced two refreshing new flavors—Strongbow Red Berries and Strongbow Ginger—and we have another very exciting new flavor coming out in the spring.”

According to De Obeso, shoppers buy hard cider as an additional purchase to beer when seeking something special, for casual parties and everyday wind-down occasions.

“Strongbow shoppers tend to be upscale with equal gender balance and have the highest repeat purchase within the category,” De Obeso says. “We recommend to shelf ciders together as a section and to go deep on flavors. New flavors expand the reach of the category and delight consumers who are seeking something new and variety.”

For consumers seeking a bold new taste, a bottle of Rogue Cold Brew IPA might just hit the spot. Brewed by Newport, Ore.-based Rogue Ales and Spirits, Rogue Cold Brew IPA blends Stumptown Coffee Roasters’ Cold Brew Coffee with an IPA made using Rogue Farms hops for a unique interplay of hops and coffee flavors. Beginning in April it will be available in 22-ounce bottles nationwide, as well as on draft in bars and restaurants. 

“Stumptown’s Cold Brew Coffee and Rogue IPA are two of my favorite things,” says Rogue brewmaster John “More Hops” Maier. “I would describe it as Oregon IPA meets Oregon Cold Brew Coffee.”

Hard soda

The beer case is now meeting the soda machine with the introduction of “hard sodas,” alcohol beverages featuring soft drink flavors, such as orange, ginger ale and root beer.

On January 4, the MillerCoors Innovations division of MillerCoors launched Henry’s Hard Soda. “Henry’s Hard Soda is a new line of hard sodas in fun, familiar flavors, made with real cane sugar and 4.2-percent alcohol by volume,” says Kenneth Harley, innovation and multicultural marketing communications manager for MillerCoors, based in Chicago. “We chose to lead with Ginger Ale and Orange flavors because they have familiar and pleasing taste profiles that bring you back to simpler, happy times and offer delicious refreshment.”

Henry’s Hard Soda is targeting Gen X men and women (ages 34 – 49), Harley says. “We recommend placing Henry’s Hard Soda in between flavored malt beverages (FMB) and mainstream imports,” he says. “When these two sections are not together, we strongly advise to have them placed with the FMB category.”

In December, Anheuser-Busch launched Best Damn Brewing Co., “a brand platform with the simple mission to bring you the Best Damn thing you’ve had all day,” say company officials. Its first product is Best Damn Root Beer.

“We’ve seen a growing consumer interest in sweeter taste profile, and we jumped at the opportunity to brew an easy-drinking, hard root beer,” says Rashmi Patel, vice president, Share of Throat at St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch. “People like beers that are approachable, down-to-earth and don’t take themselves too seriously, so Best Damn Brewing Co. aims to bring all the flavor without any of the fuss.”

Some retailers may express concern selling an alcoholic adult beverage with the word “soda” on its label, but Harley says MillerCoors stresses that Henry’s Hard Soda is an adult product.

“Craft soda is a growing segment and is geared toward adults,” he says. “We’re calling Henry’s a ‘hard soda’ to clearly communicate that the product contains alcohol. Packaging clearly indicates the product’s alcohol content as well as adequate information to understand what the product is—the word ‘soda’ has been associated with carbonated drinks for decades. The flavor profile of Henry’s Hard Soda is a carbonated, alcoholic soft drink.”    

To maximize sales and profitability of craft beers and related products, retailers should merchandise by segment and brand shelf visibility and display the craft product both in and out of the beer department, where legal, says Boston Beer’s Ward.

“When retailers clearly identify the craft beer area, it makes it easier for drinkers to shop for their favorite brands,” Ward says. “And when brands are kept together and placed at eye level, drinkers can easily identify them. At the same time, craft beer is still an impulse purchase for many curious beer drinkers. By displaying craft beer at key locations, like at the end of the aisles, where shoppers might shop, they’re more likely to choose leading, well-known beer brands before they continue their shopping.”     

A Real Glass Act

There are glasses for beer, wine, champagne, brandy, cocktails, aperitifs, and now there is one specially designed for hard cider. 

Officials at Angry Orchard Hard Cider have created the Orchard Glass, designed specifically for drinking hard cider. According to company officials, hard cider is a unique beverage situated between beer and wine, each with specific glasses designed to enhance the taste of those adult beverages, but none developed to bring out the highlights of hard cider. 

Angry Orchard’s cider making team decided to enlist the help of several cider and sensory experts to create a new glass from scratch, specifically designed for the unique, fresh apple flavor profile of Angry Orchard’s Crisp Apple. The cider experts drew initial sketches, tested more than 50 glass options with a vast variety of shapes and openings, and then had hand-blown samples made to test their ideas. 

“The Orchard Glass has significant drinker benefits,” says Roy Desrochers of Tufts University Sensory and Science Center, who participated on the panel. “Our team of trained and certified descriptive sensory panelists evaluated the glass and determined the Orchard Glass improves the cider drinking experience from a flavor, aroma and ergonomic perspective when compared to a traditional pint glass or bottle.”

The Orchard Glass offers four key benefits: Nucleation seed, small etching at the bottom of the glass to slightly enhance carbonation; rounded bowl to help collect and concentrate the cider aromas; chimney, the glass narrows from a wide bowl to a more concentrated opening for more intense aromas; and straight lip/beading, which places cider at the right spot on the palate, at the front/middle of the tongue.

“To me, craft cider is all about apple expression, and this glass really delivers an improved apple intensity, flavor and aroma, which is so important to most hard ciders but especially our Angry Orchard Crisp Apple,” says Ryan Burk, head cider maker at Cincinnati-based Angry Orchard, a division of Boston-based The Boston Beer Co.