CHICAGO -- The beer and alcohol category was well represented at the National Coalition of Associations of 7-Eleven Franchisees’ 40th annual convention and trade show held in Chicago late last month.
Major brewers, imports and crafts were joined by a couple of interesting independent drink-makers who made a sports-bar worthy collection of products for convenience-store franchisees to review, order and sample.
The bevy included a second line extension from Guinness, new craftlike releases from Anheuser-Busch, new directions for Pabst Brewing, Boston Beer and Mike’s Hard, and unique packaging from MillerCoors and Heineken.
Here’s a look at some of the products that caught CSP’s eye.
Diageo North America introduced 7-Eleven franchisees to Guinness Nitro IPA, a hoppy ale coming this fall in 11.2-ounce cans as part of the Irish brand’s Brewers Project. Diageo also sampled the first Guinness line extension—Guinness Blonde American Lager, which was introduced at the 2014 NACS Show—and its Smirnoff Ice Moscow Mule malt beverage.
Mike’s displayed its new Palm Breeze brand of lightly carbonated spritzers aimed at millennial-aged females, available in pineapple mandarin orange and ruby red citrus flavors. It also introduced the latest additions to its Mike’s Harder line—blood orange and the seasonal Jamaican lemonade—in 16-ounce cans and hinted at Mike’s Harder lemonade and cranberry lemonade coming in 25-ounce cans next spring.
Sure, the Anheuser-Busch booth was emblazoned with a Budweiser banner, but the beers being sampled were a veritable regional tour of the United States, underscoring A-B’s efforts to compete in this craft-beer world through acquisition and product development. The collection included Goose Island’s 312 Urban Wheat Ale and Goose IPA, 10 Barrel Brewing’s Apocalypse IPA, ZiegenBoc Texas Amber, Blue Point Brewing’s Toasted Lager and Elysian Immortal IPA.
Pabst Brewing and 7-Eleven have made Not Your Father’s Root Beer one of the fastest-growing craft beers in the country. Pabst won national distribution rights this past spring for the beer, crafted by Small Town Brewery. The drink is Pabst’s first craft entry. The company was quick to get it into c-store cold vaults at a premium price (recommended $10.99 per six-pack), capitalizing on the brand’s unique flavor profile.
Sure, there was Samuel Adams beer, Angry Orchard Hard Cider and Twisted Tea Hard Iced Tea, but Boston Beer also introduced franchisees to some of its smaller-batch brews. These included unique flavored beers such as Illusive Traveler Grapefruit Shandy, Jack-o Traveler Pumpkin Shandy and Coney Island Hard Root Beer.
With beers as varied and targeted as Tecate Michelada Diablo, Dos Equis Dos-a-Rita and even Strongbow Hard Cider, Heineken USA had a lot to sample, but the showstopper was—cue the music— the James Bond-inspired packaging on its house brands offering promotions for free movie tickets and other Bond goodies.
Four Loko’s latest addition goes for the gold, bumping up its already ample alcohol lever from 12% to 14% ABV to deliver “a little more kick that regular Four Loko,” the company said. Four Loko Gold has a citrus-blend flavor profile and comes in 23.5-ounce cans at the same prices as other Four Loko flavors.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.