New Belgium Begins Contract Brewing for Startup Lager Brand

They are ambitious if nothing else:

... but, then, they do know all the right* buzz words:

*"Right" for investors and marketing types, forbeer geeks? - not so much.

Seems weird then that they're brewing in Colorado at New Belgium rather than in Asheville but I guess that's dependent on NB's scheduling and marketing, excess capacity, etc.

And the reliance on the AB network? Gee, ya don't think these guys would be willing to sell their "crossover lifestyle brand" if it takes off, do you?

 

"Crossover lifestyle brand" is my favorite style of beer, though...

 

I know. I suppose those beer cans are meant to fit the cup-holders in one's crossover SUV!

 

Does anyone know anything about the beer itself. BA only says it's an AAL. The East Island website seems to work to sell T-shirts glassware, ECT.
https://www.islandcoastallager.com/

 

From the above website, under "BEER":

...but then it also says:

By which I guess they meant the "coast" of the Cache la Poudre River a few blocks from New Belgium in Ft. Collins?

 

The site was not working with Microsoft Edge but I got it to work on Google Chrome. The brewery claims no corn, rice ect is used. Guess it's not an AAL.

 

So, that's not particularly specific as far as adjunct usage.

TTB COLA label - even more vague (but it's "quaffable"!):


I know that the definition of "adjunct" has changed for the modern beer geek - pretty much doing a 180°, in fact - but I take it that neither "Good Vibes" or "Island Soul" are considered adjuncts (yet).

 

The shirts on the fifth floor came up with a crossover lifestyle branded Coastal Style Lager.

It's a Coastal Style Lager and it's contract brewed in Colorado, for a sales and marketing company.

Just Fucking Awesome. This made my day better. Coastal Style Lager. I will be looking for it when I cross over.

 

Lots of interesting stuff in that Brewbound article:

“New Belgium production declined from 955,000 barrels in 2017 to 846,000 barrels last year, representing about 56.4 percent capacity utilization across its entire brewing footprint.”

New Belgium did indeed have a tough year last year. What was there solution to declining sales? Well: “…the company’s $1.50 per case price increase this year.” Do they really think a price increase will get them back to 955,000 barrels in 2019?

The East Island Brewing Co. dude stated: “At our heart, we are a sales and marketing company but with a great love of beer,”.

“Last year, we sold 5,000 barrels into the market, and we were ranked by IRI as the No. 1 craft lager in 6-packs in South Carolina,” he said. “With New Belgium’s logistics, capacity, quality control, and supply chain support, our ultimate goal is to pass the 100,000 barrel threshold over the next 18 to 24 months.”

A plan of 5,000 barrels per year to 100,000+ barrels over a two year timespan in today’s very competitive beer market is indeed something a Marketing & Sales dude would advertise.

I suppose we will have to wait and see if New Belgium can ‘right their ship’ in 2019 and whether the East Island Brewing Co. will realize their audacious plan.

Cheers!

 

It sounds like it's a Beer For Drinking.

 

But not simply "drinking", 'Bill - QUAFFING!

 

If NB is facilitating this, couldn't they be the ones to have a Nationwide high selling lager if they wanted? Ie bells and solid gold. Basically why let a little guy get 20x growth when you yourself is struggling. Am I thinking about this wrong?

I looked them up on UT. They make one beer? Maybe NB buys them out or partners more officially. This is one of the weridrst ventures I've seen so far this year.

 

Maybe New Belgium does not believe that the market will support 100,000 barrels of a "crossover lifestyle brand" but they are willing to get paid to produce beer for another brewery? They have lots of extra capacity and they are making zero dollars for this unused capacity at the moment.

Cheers!

 

It does not appear that New Belgium would be in competition for shelf space against this innovative lifestyle branded Coastal Style Lager.

So like Jack says, those brewing machines are not making any money sitting idle. Let someone else pay you to use the equipment. And when it inevitably fails NB has no loss.

Lifestyle Branded Coastal Style Lager. I can not say that enough.
LBCSL is the new NEIPA.

 

The 'challenge' as I see it is that others are trying their darnedest to capture the 'lightening in a bottle' concept of Corona. In my opinion Corona is a crappy beer but the brewery and Constellation Brands are making boku bucks on this product. They are charging an outrageous price for a poorly brewed AAL because their customers are willing to pay to "Find your beach".

Sierra Nevada is also playing in these waters with their new year-round beer of Sierraveza. At least Sierraveza is a drinkable beer but if they are pricing this beer at $10.99 a 6-pack (what my local retailers charge) this is a hard pass for me (but others may buy this beer?).

Will the East Island Brewing Co. marketing & sales folks replicate "Find your beach"? I personally doubt it but collectively we will know in another 18-24 months.

Cheers!

 

Their year round Pilsener sounds pretty approachable at 4.8% abv, 16 IBUs. But perhaps it gets lost in their overall portfolio whilst not having an identity of its own aside from New Belgium Style Name. Or maybe the label is just unappealing to people (I don't particularly like it myself, but the label for this new beer is even worse). The reason why a particular brand takes off and why another languishes on the shelves is seldom logical in my opinion. Why is FW 805 such a massive hit compared with other similar beers? Would any random area code stamped on a label sell as much beer? Effective branding helps sell beer, but not all branding is effective obviously.

 

Solid Gold is from Founders. Bells has Lager of the Lakes.

 

Reads to me like just another "beer marketing company" having their beer contract-brewed by a brewing company with excess capacity - which has been a mainstay (though shrinking) part of the craft segment of the US since the beginning. It is how brewers like Boston Beer Co., Brooklyn Brewery, Harpoon, New Amsterdam, Penn, Pete's, Clown Shoes, Wm. Busch, Smith & Riley, Sixpoint, and countless others began (and, in some cases, never opened their own facility) and how Pabst still exists - barely - today.

Looks like before the deal with New Belgium this company contracted with "Brew Hub" - one of a number of new breweries set up to brew only for other companies. City Brewing Co, operates 3 "million barrel plus" capacity breweries (Latrobe, La Crosse and Memphis), doing the same thing.

 

This seems like it will be an inevitable emerging segment for those large national craft players that we all like to wring our hands about. The equity that brewers like deschutes or green flash or new belgium have outside of the brand equity is their super high end facilities. In a mature beer industry where some early brands find they have ultimately overexpanded they could find a decent revenue stream making that service available to upstarts.