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.
MillerCoors sampled the latest addition to its Redd’s Wicked line—black cherry—which rolled out this month. It also featured “new” packaging, including Chicago Bears-specific 12-packs and a throwback to the original packaging for Miller Light.
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.
BuzzBallz is a newcomer to many 7-Eleven franchisees. BuzzBallz are real-liquor-based drinks available in 200-ml containers and four-packs at 8% to 17% alcohol by volume. Flavors include Peachballz, Tequila ’Rita, Cran Blaster, Choc Tease, Strawberry Rum Job and more.
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.