Braxton Brewing Co. has formed a partnership with brand investment marketer Andrew Sauer to spin off its Garage Beer light lager into a new company: Garage Beer Co.
Sauer, who will serve as president of Garage Beer Co., will focus “on growing distribution, sales and notoriety” of Garage Beer, while Covington, Kentucky-based Braxton will handle production of the 4%-ABV, 95-calorie beer.
Speaking to Brewbound, Braxton co-founder and CEO Jake Rouse described the creation of Garage Beer Co. as “a true partnership” with Sauer. Braxton will maintain an equity ownership stake in the newly formed business along with Sauer.
“The newly formed Garage Beer Company has the ability to bring more resources to growing Garage Beer to a much larger footprint than Braxton can,” Rouse said. “It just basically allows us to level up focus and an ability to scale in a much larger way.”
In addition to producing the lager, Braxton will continue selling the beer in its taprooms and promoting it throughout the Cincinnati area, Rouse said. As a small but growing craft brewery, Braxton learned that it has “a very limited skill set,” Rouse said.
“Our skill set is that we know better than most how to resonate a brand in call it Dayton through the state of Kentucky,” he said. “We understand that customer, our brand is recognized with that customer, and we can really grow it.
“When we want to go bigger — and we tried this with our Vive Hard Seltzer brand — it takes a different skill set,” he admitted. “You’re not thinking as much about feet on the street as you are about a broader national marketing campaign.”
Sauer will bring a national brand perspective to Garage Beer and “truly focus on growth,” with a dedicated sales and marketing team for the brand, Rouse said.
As president of Garage Beer Company, he will also have the autonomy to lead the organization, including raising capital. A CPG marketing professional who previously worked for Jim Beam and J.M. Smucker Company and most recently served as CEO of Hilo Nutrition, Sauer will be tasked with “fueling stronger, more strategic growth, including attracting new consumers, shelf space and celebrity talent,” according to a press release.
“This team expansion, to us, will allow the Braxton team to do what they love the best, and to get back to their roots as beer makers,” Sauer said in the release. “While we get to focus on bringing the best light beer on the market to more people, we’ll focus on our Midwest roots first, and expand into new corners of the world who are thirsty for something authentic, innovative and different. We’re all really excited about the growth and expansion potential of this amazing brand.”
Garage Beer launched in August 2018 as a 15-pack priced at $15.99. The brand maintained that $15.99 price point until last year, when retailers increased it by about $1, Rouse said.
The spin off comes as Braxton has reformulated Garage Beer’s recipe to make the beer “lighter.”
“We were able to take the brand under 100 calories per 12 oz. serving, and in doing so maintain its flavor profile in a very big way, but make it a little bit lighter so it’s easier to consume for the masses,” Rouse said.
Garage Beer also received a packaging refresh and will begin hitting retail shelves in 16 oz. 6-pack cans, 12 oz. 15-pack cans, and 19.2 oz. single-serve cans over the next couple of weeks, Rouse said.
In 2021, Braxton Brewing’s production was flat at an estimated 20,000 barrels, according to the most recent data available from the Brewers Association. Braxton ranked as the largest taproom brewery by volume in the south region as designated by the trade group.
With Sauer taking the lead on marketing and selling Garage Beer, Rouse told Brewbound that Braxton will be able to focus on launching new brands and opening new brewery locations in the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport and in Union, Kentucky.
“I’m excited overall about what Braxton has in store and super excited as we continue to use most of our capacity for Garage Beer while we grow together,” Rouse said.