The Brewers Collective West (BC West) — the western division of Anheuser-Busch InBev’s (A-B) craft business unit — will continue to focus on innovation as it transforms into more of a “beverage company” in 2022, Christine Perich, general manager of BC West, detailed to Brewbound.
The Brewers Collective divides its portfolio into three buckets: national breweries, East regional breweries, and West regional breweries. BC West includes 10 Barrel Brewing (Bend, Oregon); Breckenridge Brewery (Littleton, Colorado); Four Peaks Brewing (Tempe, Arizona); Karbach Brewing (Houston, Texas); Redhook Brewing (Seattle, Washington); and Widmer Brothers Brewing (Portland, Oregon) and Square Mile Cider Co.
Over the past four years, the Brewers Collective has doubled its share of craft innovation, and produces five of the top 10 craft innovation brands in the U.S.: Karbach Ranch Water variety pack and original, Goose Island 312 lemonade shandy, Elysian Full Contact IPA, and Wicked Weed Hop Spectrum variety pack. The unit’s brands now account for one of every five cases of craft innovation sold in the total U.S., according to Perich, citing data from market research firm IRI.
Breweries in the western division have recorded a seven-month growth streak, growing every month except for January and February. Going into 2022, BC West intends to focus on four style trends: light and easy; imperial, tropical and hazy IPA; modernized favorites; and craft beyond beer.
“Prioritization may shift around, but we feel like those are the styles that consumers are really leaning towards, so we’re trying to have those options available,” Perich said.
The Brewers Collective’s top brands in these style areas for the new year include: Elysian Space Dust IPA; 10 Barrel canned cocktails and a new IPA; and the Breckenridge Juice Drop IPA family. Outside of the west, the Brewers Collective will be expanding its Goose Island Lemonade Shandy and Beer Hug brands, the Wicked Weed Dr. Dank IPA family, and Devils Backbone Brewing Company’s Smash family of ready-to-drink canned cocktails.
“It’s about being a broader beverage company, versus just solely focused on beer,” Perich said. “This comes back to listening to our consumers and listening to what they want, and being the beverage company that meets them there.
“Consumers don’t think as literally as we think,” she continued. “They just think about what they want for what occasion, and I think there’s opportunity for brewers, especially craft brewers, to really meet consumers there because they have that innovation wheelhouse going all the time.”
Karbach’s Ranch Water family will also be a focus in 2022. Released in January, the 4.5% ABV hard seltzer is the No. 1 craft innovation in the Houston market, and second largest craft innovation nationally year-to-date through October 24, according to IRI data shared by Perich. In the new year, Karbach will continue to expand the brand outside of its home state of Texas, after adding distribution in Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Colorado, and Tennessee this year.
In addition, Karbach will be expanding its IPA family — leaning on the momentum of its Rodeo Clown double IPA — as well as its Love Street kölsch-style blonde ale.
Breckenridge will continue expansion of its Juice Drop hazy IPA. The Juice Drop 6-pack is No. 5 in food stores year-to-date in the brewery’s home state of Colorado, according to IRI data shared by Perich. Additionally, the brand has posted double-digit growth each month since March. Other brands expanding nationally will be Breckenridge’s porter variety pack, as well as its seasonal Oktoberfest and Christmas Ale.
Locally, the brewery’s Palisade Peach Wheat will be a priority, as well as Juice Drop. In 2022, the Juice Drop IPA brand family will expand to include an imperial and a session IPA. The brewery will also release a variety 12-pack, which will include a pineapple orange IPA.
Both the Widmer Brothers and Square Mile Cider brands will receive a refresh in 2022, with Widmer’s launching early in the year. The Portland, Oregon-based brewery is also investing heavily in its Hefe Sunlife. The 4% ABV citrus wheat will receive a 360 marketing campaign in 2022. With its own brand refresh, Square Mile will be looking into cider-based seltzer versus its traditional hard cider.
Redhook’s Big Ballard IPA family will also have a 360 media plan in the new year. Along with its Big Ballard Imperial IPA, the brewery will add a Hazy Big Ballard in 2022. In Washington, Big Ballard was No. 3 in MULO+C year-to-date, and the No. 4 craft brand in volume sales in the state, according to IRI data shared by Perich.
10 Barrel Brewery’s new release will be Rock Hop Cold IPA — a cold fermented lager made in collaboration with Danner, a Portland, Oregon-based boot company. Additionally, the brewery will prioritize its canned cocktails, adding a new Mai Thai to its offerings that now include Greyhound, Moscow Mule, Blood Orange Vodka Soda, and Lemongrass Lime Vodka Soda.
As it celebrates its 25th anniversary, Four Peaks will double down on its WOW Wheat Ale, launched in 2020 as a charitable beer in collaboration with The Joy Bus, a non-profit restaurant in Phoenix, Arizona. In the spring of 2022, the brewery will add a 25 oz. single-serve can SKU.
“The Arizona market really likes the 25 oz., which is a little bit different for us.” Perich said. “We’re very focused on meeting the consumer where they’re at, and where the consumer is really drawn towards [is] those single-serves. We’re trying to provide the brands that make the most sense.”
Additionally, the brewery will add a WOW Light 12-pack and a 6-pack of 12 oz. slim cans, as well as limited “Kilty Pleasures” variety pack of its flagship Kilt Lifter brand. It will also focus on its IPA family, which includes Hop Knot, Hazy IPA, and Imperial Hazy.
Beyond the western division, the Brewers Collective’s national brands include Kona, Goose Island, Elysian, Omission, Virtue Cider and Golden Road. The eastern division includes Blue Point (Patchogue, New York); Devils Backbone (Roseland, Virginia); Platform Beer Co. (Cleveland, Ohio); Wicked Weed (Asheville, North Carolina); Veza Sur (Miami, Florida); Cisco Brewers (Nantucket, Massachusetts); Wynwood Brewing (Miami, Florida); and Appalachian Mountain Brewery (Boone, North Carolina).