Odell Brewing to Launch Allkind Hard Kombucha

Last year, the Fort Collins, Colorado-headquartered craft brewery rolled out the OBC Wine Project, a collection of canned wines. Unlike the OBC Wine Project, Odell created a standalone brand for Allkind “in order to allow for growth beyond Odell Brewing’s existing presence and markets,” the company said in a press release.“Hard kombucha is a rapidly growing segment, especially in larger coastal markets where we don’t currently sell our beer,” CEO Eric Smith said in the release. “Since we’ve developed a shelf stable product that’s brewed separately from our beer, we want to give it the opportunity to meet new people in further reaching markets.”

Allkind will launch with two flavors — Super Berry and Tropical Turmeric — and will be available in 6-packs of 12 oz. cans and 16 oz. single-serve cans. Allkind is brewed with gluten free ingredients, including juices and purees, organic tea and organic natural sugars. Odell expects to earn organic and gluten free product certifications from the U.S. Department of Agriculture before the launch.

“We’ve built a separate brewing system and dedicated vessels for this kombucha, which allows us to be sure that the entire product, from ingredients to production, remains completely gluten free and organic,” brewing innovation lead Marni Wahlquist said in the release. “These certifications require a significant investment and hold us to a higher standard, which we welcome as a commitment to our fans.”

The new system will brew Allkind in 100-barrel batches and is designed to keep Allkind separated from gluten elsewhere in the brewery.

“We put significant effort into organizing a production plan that isolates the kombucha in a gluten free environment and our dedicated vessels will allow for substantial growth if the consumer demand is there,” director of marketing Alex Kayne told Brewbound in an email.

Like traditional kombuchas, Allkind ferments with a SCOBY, an acronym for symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. However, Odell has developed a “proprietary, lab-supported process” that makes Allkind shelf stable.

“It was important that we held true to the kombucha’s rich history,” quality lab manager Jordan Kelly said in the release. “Allkind was an exciting new challenge that really tested our ability to achieve a traditional ferment with consistency of flavor.”

The launch of the OBC Wine Project launch last year showed the Odell team that consumers, retailers and wholesalers were willing to venture outside of beer with the company. The success of those products — which include a red blend, a white pinot gris blend, rosé and sparkling rosé — deepened the trust between Odell and its partners, Kayne said.

“We’ve learned that our reputation in the world of fermentation has translated to new products outside of the traditional beer landscape,” he said. “Innovation has always been at the core of what we do, and it’s encouraging to see that wine has opened the door for us to look at other complex, interesting flavors centered around fermentation.”

With Allkind, Odell is able to offer a gluten free, beer-adjacent option for drinkers who can’t drink beer.

“One of our core beliefs at Odell is that we build community through beer. But we recognize that there are some folks who are left out of that community,” Kayne said. “Allkind was an opportunity to bring them in and we were going to do that with a full flavored, traditionally brewed kombucha that’s held to the same quality standards as our beer. That meant a lot to us and we think it’ll resonate with our fans, too.”

Last year, Odell’s volume increased 5%, to 132,396 barrels, making it the country’s 19th largest craft brewery by volume, according to not-for-profit trade group the Brewers Association.

Dollar sales of hard kombucha in the first half of 2020 increased 63% over the same time last year, to nearly $20 million, according to market research firm Nielsen.

Odell isn’t the first large craft brewer to use hard kombucha to capture share beyond beer. Sierra Nevada announced its Strainge Beast Hard Kombucha in February. Full Sail Brewing launched Kyla Hard Kombucha in 2018.

Hard kombucha sales are concentrated on the West Coast. More than half (51.2%) of segment dollar sales come from California, where Odell has distribution in Southern California as of early 2020. Allkind will launch in the Colorado craft brewery’s 20-state distribution footprint.