Molson Coors Beverage Company’s craft beer division, Tenth and Blake, turned 10 on October 6.
“Tenth and Blake has evolved and changed and our model has developed, but we’re here 10 years later, which I don’t think a lot of small businesses within a big business-type of approach can say,” Tenth and Blake vice president Paul Verdu recently told Brewbound. “So we’re very proud ]that we’ve persisted and changed with priorities and stayed relevant.”
Indeed, Tenth and Blake has evolved.
After a long dormant period following its last acquisition in 2016, the craft arm struck a deal in January to add Michigan’s Atwater Brewery to its fold, which also includes Terrapin Brewing Company in Athens, Georgia; Hop Valley in Eugene, Oregon; Revolver Brewing in Granbury, Texas; Saint Archer in San Diego, California; A.C. Golden Brewing Company in Golden, Colorado; and Leinenkugel’s in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.
Two months after that deal, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the majority of on-premise outlets in the U.S. According to Verdu, Tenth and Blake’s craft beer brands made it through the early stages of the pandemic “quite well” as consumers turned to recognizable brands in off-premise retailers.
“Our mandate has always been to outpace the rest of the craft category growth share, whether that’s collectively as a group of brands nationally, or region by region with each of our breweries,” he said. “Our numbers show that we’re up about 20% overall, particularly in the off-premise. The rest of the category is doing well too, but maybe [up] 12%. So we’re fulfilling our mandate.”
Beyond the growth mandate, Verdu recently spoke with Brewbound and discussed the performance of Tenth and Blake’s craft brands, as well as a recently launched scholarship fund for Black, Indigenous, people of color and LGBTQ students looking to enter the craft brewing industry.
Leinenkugel’s: Bolstered by Shandy in 2020, Turns to IPA in 2021
Leinenkugel’s returned to Tenth and Blake earlier this year after a four-year absence, after Molson Coors broke the Midwest beer brand out of the craft division in 2016. In 2020, the goal was to reposition Leinenkugel’s as a midwestern craft beer brand, which Verdu said is off to “a great start.” In particular, Summer Shandy trends improved 12 points over 2019 and grew off-premise sales 10%, which Verdu said was the first time that the brand has grown in off-premise retailers in several years.
“That’s a brand that people over the years have come to know and love, and so it had a great bounce back this summer,” Verdu said. “We actually sold every ounce of it that we made.”
Heading into 2021, the Leinenkugel’s portfolio will add something it’s long lacked: an IPA. Verdu said Tenth and Blake is applying the lessons learned from its acquired craft brands to Leinenkugel’s. The result is Lemon Haze IPA, which marries the lemonade shandy experience with IPA.
“That’s a perfect way for Leinie’s to enter it,” Verdu said. “If we came out with a super hoppy mosaic double IPA or something, people would be scratching their heads. But a lemonade hazy IPA, it’s perfect for the brand and the testing that we’ve done it’s through the roof.”
Beyond an IPA, Leinenkugel’s will receive a packaging refresh in early 2021. The brand will also play in more familiar territory, releasing a session helles.
“I’ve not felt better about Leinie’s portfolio than I have in years,” Verdu said. “Shandy is still carrying the torch but the rest of the portfolio is better than ever.”
Terrapin: Pushing to Become the Top Craft Brewery in the Southeast
The goal for Georgia’s Terrapin is to build the company into the top craft brewery in the southeast region, Verdu said. He added that the company is the fastest dollar velocity growth brand in off-premise retailers in the southeast region.
Leading the way is Hopsecutioner IPA, which is up 30% year-to-date, Verdu said.
“It’s hard to find a brand that’s been around that long that’s having that kind of success,” he said of the nearly 17-year-old IPA.
Terrapin’s innovation beers are also hitting, with High & Hazy IPA and Luau Krunkles IPA and an IPA Survival Kit, performing well, Verdu said.
“The beauty of Terrapin is their flagship is crankin’, and then the beers that they’ve launched to surround it are doing really well,” he added.
Hop Valley: Stash Brands Driving Growth
Much like Terrapin’s goal of conquering the southeast, Hop Valley is aimed at unseating Deschutes Brewery as the top craft brand in the Pacific Northwest, Verdu said.
“We want it to be the No. 1 brewery in the Northwest, and we think we’re going to get that done,” he said.
Driving Hop Valley to become the second-best selling craft beer brand in Oregon are the Stash series of IPAs, including Bubble Stash and Stash Panda.
“Bubble Stash [IPA] is a runaway freight train,” Verdu said. “Stash Panda [IPA] for Hop Valley is off to an even faster start than Bubble Stash was.”
Revolver: Getting a Refresh in 2021
Texas’ Revolver has struggled with the loss of on-premise sales, which flagship Blood and Honey hefeweizen skews heavily towards, Verdu admitted. Still, the brand is “holding its own” in the off-premise, he added.
Helping offset the negative trends was the launch of Blood and Honey Citrus Blonde, which launched over the summer and has become the company’s second-best selling brand, Verdu said.
In 2021, Revolver will unveil a packaging redesign, which Verdu called among the best he’s been involved with.
“Frankly, we had issues with [Revolver’s] packaging standing out on shelf and hanging together as a line of products and being differentiated from each other,” he said. “It’s truly a game changer in terms of how this brand is going to look on the shelf.”
Saint Archer: Rebounding After Gold Fades
Another on-premise brand facing challenges due to the pandemic was San Diego’s Saint Archer. However, after pivoting and building around newer brands, Tropical IPA and Hazy IPA, the brand is now growing double digits in off-premise retailers, Verdu said.
Tropical and Hazy are now the top two selling brands in Saint Archer’s portfolio, and both are offered together in a variety pack, which Verdu said is the second best-selling variety pack in California.
“I believe the Hazy IPA is the No. 4 hazy in Southern California and there’s a lot of them, as you know,” he said. “Tropical is the No. 1 fruited IPA in all of California.”
The “hibernation” of Saint Archer Gold — the Michelob Ultra challenger launched separately from the craft beer brand and given a national release, including a Super Bowl ad buy in regional markets — in July was expected to provide a “halo effect” to lift other Saint Archer brands.
“We never had a chance to get there,” Verdu said.
When Gold vanished from shelves, Gold’s chain placements didn’t transfer to core Saint Archer brands.
“When those placements went away for Gold, they didn’t naturally fall into base Saint Archer,” he said. “So we felt it. And we’ve had to push really hard to get additional chain placements for core Saint Archer here in the fall.”
Saint Archer’s team has been successful in securing those placements, and the loss of Gold hasn’t left a hangover with the brand’s image in the eyes of consumers.
A.C. Golden Variety Packs Up Triple Digits
The strategy for A.C. Golden’s Colorado Native brand is to continue building around its two variety 12-packs — the Trail Pack and Day Pack.
“Those are collectively up about 122% this year,” Verdu said.
Atwater: Integration Continues
Molson Coors remains “bullish” on Michigan’s Atwater Brewery, Verdu said. The company closed on the acquisition in June, and integration of the brand is ongoing. Verdu said the company is working to strike a balance between maintaining the culture and DNA of what made the brand successful while bringing the potential to expand into new states, build chain business and help with procurement.
“It’s been a really good transition so far,” he said.
The goal for Atwater in 2021 is to deepen its distribution within its home state of Michigan, while also expanding more into Wisconsin, Illinois and Ohio.
“We have to win in Michigan,” Verdu stressed.
Tenth and Blake Breweries Launches Scholarships at 3 Universities to Diversify Craft Brewing
In late September, Tenth and Blake launched the Tenth & Blake Brewing Education Scholarship Fund to support people of color and LGBTQ+ students working toward degrees in brewing and fermentation sciences.
Students at Middle Tennessee State University, Oregon State University and Colorado State University in the program would receive scholarships worth $10,000. Scholarship recipients would also work full-time, paid internships between their junior and senior years at Terrapin, Hop Valley or A.C. Golden.
“In four years’ time, we’ll have 12 students on scholarship from underrepresented communities studying brewing and or fermentation sciences with the hopeful career aspiration of entering the craft industry, whether it’s ours or some other brewery,” Verdu said. “If we keep that funnel going, it can be really a game changer. It’s not going to happen in six months or 12, or 18, or two years even but down the road we’re gonna have a pipeline of talent that’s going to bring new thinking and new ways of working in a whole new perspective.”
Verdu said the goal is for the other Tenth and Blake craft breweries to partner with local universities to expand the scholarship program.