Monster-owned Oskar Blues is taking it easy for its 2025 innovation slate.
The brewery’s two newest offerings are Dale’s Easy IPA (4.9% ABV) and Designated Dale’s NA Pils, the brand’s first-ever non-alcoholic (NA) beer. Both are rolling out this month, and mark a continuation of Oskar Blues’ transformation of Dale’s into a brand family.
“After the successful Dale’s rebrand and product expansion in 2023, we’ve been deliberate about how to approach further growth within the Dale’s family,” senior marketing manager Aaron Baker said in a press release. “Designated Dale’s NA Pils is our exciting first step into the non-alc space, and we look forward to releasing a great-tasting non-alc pilsner made with authentic ingredients, by real brewers who take flavor and quality seriously.”
Both new offerings will be line-priced with the rest of the portfolio, a spokesperson told Brewbound.
Designated Dale’s will be available in 12 oz. can 6-packs in Colorado, North Carolina, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Kansas and Utah to start. The company plans to expand the new NA beer nationwide in early 2025 and is “exploring” direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales once national distribution ramps up, a spokesperson told Brewbound.
The introduction of Designated Dale’s comes as the NA segment is the only in the beer category to deliver double-digit growth. Year-to-date through October 6, dollar sales of NA beer have increased +29.3% at multi-outlet grocery, mass retail and convenience stores (MULO+C) tracked by market research firm Circana.
NA beer accounts for 1.03% of category dollar sales in MULO+C, just one hundredth of a percent behind hard cider, at 1.04%. The segment over-indexes in grocery stores, where it accounts for 2.53% of beer category dollars, according to Circana.
In recent years, several other major craft players have launched NA offerings, including Duvel USA-owned Firestone Walker’s 8ZERO5, its Duvel sibling Boulevard’s three NA offerings (Space Camper NA, Flying Start NA, Lemon Wheat NA), and Sierra Nevada’s Trail Pass NA family, among others.
Easy IPA is now available nationwide in 12 oz. can 6-packs and on draft. The new beer’s recipe is nearly identical to Pinner, the IPA Oskar Blues discontinued in 2019, much to the dismay of its fans, whose discontent is memorialized in a video on Twitter/X.
Oskar Blues rolled out One-y, a 100-calorie IPA, in Pinner’s place in 2019, but that beer has been discontinued. Pinner has resurfaced in variety packs, but not on its own, Baker told Brewbound.
“If you ask us, Easy IPA is Pinner,” he added. “Every beer recipe is adjusted over the years because hops naturally change over time. We’ve made slight tweaks to the OG Pinner recipe in order to nail the classic Pinner flavor profile with Easy IPA.”
The exclusion of “session” from Easy IPA’s name was deliberate, the company said in the release.
“Dale’s Easy IPA intentionally avoids the word ‘session’ on its label because it’s enjoyable without sacrificing flavor when having just one or a few,” the company wrote. “The name ‘Easy IPA’ perfectly communicates the style without dictating the occasion.”
Dollar sales of the Oskar Blues brand family have declined -14.9% at NIQ-tracked off-premise retailers in the 52-week period (L52W) ending October 5, according to data shared by 3 Tier Beverages. Those trends accelerated in the L4W through October 5, to -16.6%.
Flagship Dale’s Pale Ale is outpacing the overall brand family, and its losses are decelerating. Dollar sales have declined -6.5% in the L52W and -4.9% in the L4W.
Monster’s craft portfolio – Oskar Blues, Cigar City, Deep Ellum, Squatters, Wasatch and Perrin – ranks as the 25th largest beer category vendor in multi-outlet grocery, mass retail and convenience stores tracked by market research firm Circana. Year-to-date through October 6, the collective’s dollar sales have declined -7.5%, to $64.5 million, and volume has declined -9.3%.
Brewbound Insiders can watch a panel discussion during the 2023 Brewbound Live business conference in which Monster Brewing Company (then CANarchy Craft Brewery Collective) chief commercial officer Chris Russell expands on the strategy to extend the Dale’s brand to create a brand family.