WAWA, Pa. — After the success of its Winter Reserve Coffee Stout last year, Wawa is again partnering with 2SP Brewing Co., Aston, Pa., to bring back that brew and more.
In addition to the return of the Winter Reserve Coffee Stout, the Wawa, Pa.-based convenience-store chain will release Reserve Reserve, an English-style imperial oatmeal stout aged in Weller Bourbon Barrels for nine months.
Wawa and 2SP Brewing are also pairing with Hardywood Park Craft Brewery in Richmond, Va., to release a Coffee Cake Reserve Stout, and with Coppertail Brewing Co. in Tampa, Fla., to release a Snowbird Reserve Vanilla Porter. All feature Wawa Winter Reserve Coffee as the primary ingredient.
“Our friends at Hardywood and Coppertail are almost bigger fans of Wawa than we are and have been longtime friends of ours,” said Michael Contreras, director of sales and marketing for 2SP Brewing Co. “It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see something special was brewing the second we got those beer nerds in a room with Wawa's Coffee Guru, Michael Mclaughlin.”
The beers will launch with a multistate Wawa Brew Tour that will begin Dec. 6 in Chadds Ford, Pa., and end Feb. 20 in Tampa, Fla.
“At Wawa, supporting our local neighbors is at the heart of everything we do, which makes our special partnership with 2SP Brewing Co. so important to us, as well as their shared values and desire to invite other breweries to collaborate in other areas that our stores serve,” said Mike Sherlock, chief product marketing officer for Wawa.
Here’s a breakdown of when the beers will launch and where they will be sold:
- Winter Reserve Coffee Stout and Reserve Reserve: To be released Dec. 6 in Chadds Ford, available there and the soon-to-be-opened Middletown Township Wawa. The drinks will also be sold at select beer retailers in southeastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. Beers will be limited per customer and sold on a first-come, first-served basis.
- Coffee Cake Stout: To be released Dec. 13 in Richmond, Va., and sold at Wawa stores across the Richmond metro area while supplies last.
- Snow Bird Reserve: To be released Feb. 20 in Tampa and sold at Wawa stores in Florida.
Click here for a full list of tour stops and times. The first 100 customers through the door at each event will receive a brew tour T-shirt.
2SP Brewing Co. brewed about 1,000 cases of the Wawa Reserve Coffee Stout in 2018—and it sold out in a couple of hours in some stores, Contreras said. This year, it is brewing about double that, he said.
The returning brew comes in a four-pack of 16-ounce cans and costs $12.99, Contreras said, while the 70-mL Reserve Reserve costs $23.99.
Contreras said he expects the beers will go quickly again this year. Future collaborations are possible as well, he said.
Other c-stores are getting into beer-brewing partnerships. Recently, La Crosse, Wis.-based Kwik Trip partnered with Karben4 Brewing to release its Glazer Bean beer. Others include Altoona, Pa.-based Sheetz; Irving, Texas-based 7-Eleven; and Ballston Spa, N.Y.-based Stewart's Shops.
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