The Dead are helping raise Dogfish Head’s trends.
The Boston Beer Company-owned, Milton, Delaware-based craft brewery’s launch of Grateful Dead Juicy Pale Ale earlier this year has returned the brand to growth for the first time since 2019, co-founder Sam Calagione told Brewbound last week.
“The launch of Juicy Pale Ale is now officially the biggest new product launch in the history of Dogfish,” Calagione shared, adding that it has already surpassed 60 Minute IPA’s launch to become the biggest volume debut in Dogfish’s 30-year history.
“I haven’t been more excited going into a summer season since 2017 or 2018 for just the trajectory that we’re on now,” he said.
Calagione officially revealed the beer in December at Brewbound Live, announcing a 5-year partnership with the Grateful Dead. Juicy Pale Ale is now available nationwide, and outselling 60 Minute IPA in some states west of the Mississippi, he said. The beer has also generated more than 3 million organic social impressions, with the help of the Grateful Dead’s team and band archivist David Lemieux, and garnered more than 2 billion earned media impressions, including coverage in Rolling Stone.
Calagione said the company is now shipping “full containers” of the beer to Michigan, California and Nevada thanks to Juicy Pale Ale, which “hasn’t happened since we had the TV show [Brew Masters in 2010].” He added that scan data isn’t capturing “how great this beer has been for us,” due to Dogfish Head skewing heavily toward independent accounts in the Northeast and on-premise accounts, which make up more than 40% of its sales.
Juicy Pale Ale was featured at the Sphere in Las Vegas during Dead & Company’s 18-show residency this past spring. The beer sold “hundreds and hundreds of cases per night” at the venue, but also benefitted from sales in bars attached to casinos on the way to the venue, Calagione said.
“We had bars that were selling as much as the Sphere itself,” he added. “Completely turned around our numbers in the state of Nevada. Certainly got us back to growth there.”
The bump in sales has led Dogfish Head to more than double its forecasts for the beer, with more than 250,000 case equivalents (CEs) packaged so far, Calagione said.
“We’re on an amazing trajectory,” he added. Calagione believes the company was finally able to get its wholesalers enough inventory just ahead of Memorial Day weekend. However, keeping the Grateful Dead-branded tap handles in stock has also proven a challenge, with some winding up on eBay.
Handles have been out of stock for more than a month, and a recent restock of 500 handles was depleted in hours. Calagione credited Boston Beer’s sales team and Dogfish Head’s brand team, led by Jon London, with pushing the launch while maintaining Dogfish Head’s other core brands.
“60 minute draft handles are 95% what they were when we launched Grateful Dead,” he said. “So we haven’t had to sacrifice a boatload of tap handles to have the success that we’re having. So it’s really been a halo for a whole portfolio.”
The halo has extended beyond just the beer, with nearly $250,000 in co-branded Dogfish and Dead merch sold thus far.
The success of Juicy Pale Ale has led it to become a priority in convenience, available in 19.2 oz. cans alongside 90 Minute IPA. Juicy Pale Ale singles will feature the Dead’s “Steal Your Face” logo for a limited time for a three-show concert series in San Francisco this August to celebrate the band’s 60th anniversary. Cans will ship to California and “other relevant places where the Deadhead activities are going on,” Calagione said.
Juicy Pale Ale’s roll out has lined up with a big year for Dogfish Head, including a packaging refresh emphasizing the brand’s shark and shield logo under London’s brand guidance. In addition, the brewery has moved production of its canned cocktails in-house.
The push will continue all summer long, with the Calagione family taking a boat tour for promotional events in coastal cities in Massachusetts and Maine to celebrate Dogfish Head’s 30th anniversary. Classic summer film Jaws is also celebrating a milestone year, and Dogfish Head is the official beer of the movie’s weekend-long 50th anniversary later this month on Martha’s Vineyard, where much of it was filmed.
Juicy Pale Ale’s upward trajectory has the brand poised to eclipse 60 Minute sales within the next two years, should its trends prove sticky. Calagione credited the upward trajectory to the partnership with the brewery, the Dead, Lemieux and Rhino Records.
“We believe this is a brand we can grow together for decades, not years,” he said.