Brewbound Awards 2025: Best New Product - Sierra Nevada Pils

Speaker 1 [00:00] Joining me now to discuss Brewbound's 2025 best new product is Ellie Pressler, Chief commercial officer for Sierra Nevada. We're here to talk about Sierra Nevada pills, our best new product. Thanks for being here.

Speaker 2 [00:15] Thank you for having me and thank you for recognizing Pils.

Speaker 1 [00:18] It was a pretty unanimous choice with the judges. So,

Speaker 2 [00:22] well, glad to hear it.

Speaker 1 [00:23] Yeah, well, pills launched earlier this year as a draft-only offering and Launching only on draft to start. OK. That, that's fairly new at this point, although, you know, we've heard for years that brands are built in the on-premise. And then Sierra comes back with a new packaging format for you. It's 8 packs of 8.4 ounce cans. When you reflect on this release. What stands out to you? Why, why do you think it resonated so well with consumers? Yeah,

Speaker 2 [00:55] I think it starts really first with the liquid, and the development of this from a liquid perspective was really just such a passion project of Brian Grossman, who is our chief brewer, and it's a liquid, um, and, you know, a pilsner that's, um, you know, very much a nod to the heritage of the style with our kind of unique twist on it. And it's a liquid that really emulates and showcases our, our commitment to that kind of finest quality and purest ingredient, right, that we put on all of our brands and our packaging because you really can't hide anything in this liquid and the work that Brian did with our brewing team. To develop that liquid um was really, really, you know, special and so from a, you know, a brand and a marketing perspective when we talked about it as a team is how do we build a brand and a launch strategy that is going to stand up to the liquid that had been developed and so that's really what we sought out to do. So how do we be really clear to consumers about what this is. Know that they can expect all that they know and love about Sierra Nevada from a a quality and a commitment to the ingredient perspective in this launch, and for us we thought the best way to showcase this was through the on-premise and it's, uh, felt like at the time maybe a bit of a bold choice. I've loved hearing, you know, Lester Jones from NBWA and others start to talk a little bit more about the on-premise being such an important. Role, um, within our segment on industry and frankly a place where I think we need to kind of dust back off and bring some shine and energy back to. And we saw that work well with pills. And then as we started to transition that into the package, we really were thinking about it and came back to an email that that Brian had sent the team as we were working on this project, probably over a year ago now, about the some of the best pilsners that he's enjoyed in Europe and really how they were in this specific pour size, specific glassware that you got to drink while they were cold and crisp and refreshing. And we thought about that and said, well then, as we bring this into package, we need to maybe do it a bit differently and so that's where we started thinking about what are the different formats and ways that we could do that and where we landed on that 8.4 ounce can and even, you know, put a quote from Brian on it to really help us, you know, fully tell that story. And uh I, I think right now we're really happy with that choice, right? Time will continue uh to tell, but we're incredibly proud of the liquid and the brand and really just honored by the recognition uh from the Brewbound team.

Speaker 1 [03:34] So when you're bringing a new package format to market with your wholesalers and getting your retailers on board, how do you pull them in? How do you get them excited about this? How do you, you know, sell it to them? Well,

Speaker 2 [03:48] I mean, for us, we told the story of the liquid and, and the brand more than anything. Um, but I will be honest, I was nervous about it. I was nervous first internally. Was my team going to embrace it? And thankfully, you know, they, they did. They really understood it and were energized by what we were doing. And then we had to start talking to wholesalers and our retail buyers about it, and wholesalers by and large really embraced it, frankly, much faster than even I expected. I, I figured this would, we'd have to put on our selling shoes a little bit. But they really frankly understood it um and were willing to try something new and different, and I think that there have been others right, that have paved the way. I also think because they have broader portfolios in many instances, so they're now in a place where they're using and and looking at different case counts and pack formats and things of that nature. And honestly, they also want to bring energy back to beer and craft. So trying things different is something that they're really, I think, willing to do, and we found that, you know, our retail buyers thankfully, mostly embraced it, but we had a few that definitely were like, hey, we might sit on the sidelines and wait. We're not, we're not sure we're not. I'm not sure if we, if we want to be the ones to kind of go out with this, but frankly, by and large, our distribution, especially for a fall package launch in limited markets, exceeded our expectations, and many of the buyers really did understand the heritage of what we were doing, the nod, what we were trying to create, and how frankly it could deliver on several different trends they were hearing from their consumers and drinkers, right? It can be a different way to potentially moderate if you're looking for that, right? It's also a style that really resonates and ultimately when folks would try the liquid and the quality of the liquid, they've more than like embraced all of the other elements of how we were bringing the brand to life.

Speaker 1 [05:35] How are you viewing the year two opportunity for Pils?

Speaker 2 [05:38] Yeah. You know, we think that we will really accelerate growth, but it is going to be this balance of continuing, frankly, to focus in the on-premise and grow the draft business to continue to drive trial, bring drinkers into it so that then they can return, right to their, their. Purchase for their home use or their events and their socialization and buy it in the package format and so we'll really be working to accelerate growth focusing on it as one of our core four priorities as we go into 2026 across our portfolio and really making sure that we don't lose sight of that that draft and on premise while we continue to expand and grow package nationally.

Speaker 1 [06:20] Well, thank you for doing this, Ellie. We really appreciate it and congratulations.

Speaker 2 [06:24] Thank you, Justin. We really appreciate it and are very honored to receive this award for Pils.