Boosted by the growth of its flagship Allagash White, Allagash Brewing Company bucked the craft beer segment’s trajectory (-3%) to reach +6.2% dollar sales growth in 2022, the company reported.
“Although craft trends have been tough this year … especially in the last few months, we are growing, and we are also outpacing the category,” sales and hospitality director Naomi Neville said today during a virtual press conference.
Overall, sales of Allagash White (“really a powerhouse flagship brand for us,” Neville said) increased +10% year-to-date through October 9, according to data the Portland, Maine-based brewery shared. Draft sales of White increased +18% and are “close to pre-pandemic levels.” Dollar sales of White 12-packs have increased +23%; the format was introduced in select markets in February 2020 and distribution expanded throughout the year.
White’s success this year has boosted Allagash to the 47th best selling craft brand family nationwide, “despite only being in 19 states and [Washington,] D.C.,” and the brewery is “one of only 11 top 50 craft breweries showing growth this year,” Neville said.
In its home state of Maine, Allagash White is the best selling craft beer and the sixth largest beer overall.
Allagash White will remain the company’s top priority, but it will have a new No. 2 next year in Hop Reach, the company’s first-ever year-round IPA, which it announced in August. Hop Reach will roll out to Allagash’s full footprint between January and March.
The 6.8% ABV beer will be available in 16 oz. can 4-packs, 12 oz. can 6- and 12-packs, and half-barrels and sixtels. Allagash will introduce White in wrapped 6-packs of 12 oz. cans to match Hop Reach.
Hop Reach’s malt bill includes Allagash’s proprietary two-row base malt, raw white wheat, Carapils, Munich, local pale malt and rolled oats. Hops used include Nugget, Mosaic, Idaho 7, Cascade, Citra, Cashmere and El Dorado.
“American with West Coast influence is probably the best way to describe it,” brewmaster and VP of brewing operations Jason Perkins said. “Very aroma forward, of course, big pungent hop aroma, kind of a layered hop aroma. We didn’t want to just go straight up tropical or straight up citrus only or straight up pine. We really intended all along to have those three – tropical and citrus and pine – playing well with each other.”
With the addition of Hop Reach, Allagash finally plants a flag in the IPA segment, which accounts for 44.5% of all off-premise craft dollar sales, according to market research firm IRI. The company has released IPA offerings before, but never in its core lineup.
“It’s just such a huge part of the craft beer landscape that we really weren’t playing in in any significant way,” Neville said. “Just the opportunity for extra sales is very appealing.”
Both Allagash White and Hop Reach will receive the lion’s share of the company’s marketing budget and attention next year.
“We’re going into 2023 with a focus on driving core growth with these two brands,” Neville said. “We’ll continue to innovate, but we’ll be putting the majority of our focus and our marketing dollars next year behind these.
“With a witbier and an IPA, we’re playing in over 50% of the craft beer market,” she continued. “We’re excited to have these two distinctly different and popular styles in our portfolio.”
New Seasonal Rotator Series
In addition to Hop Reach, Allagash will roll out a new family of seasonal rotating beers, the Report Series: Wildlife Report, Beach Report and Snow Report, available in 16 oz. 4-packs.
“This seasonal program will have a more cohesive look and feel to it than ever before,” Neville said. “Through our Report Series, we’re using approachable imagery and language like ‘spring ale’ or ‘summer lager’ to help make traditional Belgian styles that we love like biére de gardes and saisons as accessible as possible to all types of beer fans.”
Wildlife Report (biére de garde, 8% ABV), the first in the series, will be in the market from mid-February through mid-April. Beach Report (summer lager, 4.2% ABV) will roll out in mid-May through mid-July. Snow Report (honey saison, 8.5% ABV) will be available from mid-October through mid-December.
The decision to exclude biére de garde and saison from Wildlife Report and Snow Report’s respective packaging was very much on purpose to broaden the beers’ appeal to drinkers of all knowledge levels, Perkins said.
“We’re not calling out either one of those beer styles specifically on the front of the package, and that’s very much intentional,” he said. “We’ve recognized over the years that it’s important for us to meet the consumer where they are.
“If you want me to talk about the history of biére de garde and how that beer is made – and it very much honors that tradition – I’m happy to do that. And we’ll do that for the people who want to talk that way,” he continued. “But for others, we just want them to have a really drinkable, easy beer to reach for. If they don’t want to fuss over it, they don’t have to.”
Popular limited releases Two Lights (lager with sauvignon blanc must, 6.7% ABV) and Haunted House (hoppy dark ale, 6.66% ABV) will return. Two Lights will be available from mid-July through mid-Septtember and Haunted House will roll out in mid-August through mid-October.
All limited releases will be available in 16 oz. 4-packs and on draft.
New Markets and Other Highlights for 2022
Beginning in February 2023, Allagash will fill out the rest of Illinois with Peoria-based Marketplace Selections, a craft-focused beer, wine and spirits wholesaler, Neville said. Marketplace Selections’ territory includes nearly the entire state, except for the seven counties in the Chicagoland area, where Allagash is already sold.
Earlier this fall, Allagash announced plans for a new flagship tasting room in Scarborough, Maine, about 15 minutes away from its home base in Portland. The new location will open in 2024, and Allagash’s Portland taproom will remain open until then.
As it prepares for the evolution of its Portland facility, Allagash has announced The Cellars, a new tour and tasting experience that will begin welcoming guests this week.
In addition to achieving sales growth in a competitive environment for craft beer, Allagash was honored by several organizations, including being named to business publication Fa@Allsts Company’s Brands That Matter list and making a repeat appearance on the Best Companies Group’s list of Best Places to Work in Maine. Allagash took the No. 1 spot on Tamarron’s Craft Brewer Performance Survey this year for the third time.
The brewery’s recycling co-op program, which allows fellow Maine craft breweries to combine recyclable materials, recycled more than 40 tons of material from a combined 20 participants in 20222.
Listen to Jason Perkins discuss the program shortly after its launch in April 2021 on the Brewbound Podcast.
Allagash produced a record 117,798 barrels of beer in 2021, a +24% increase year-over-year, according to the Brewers Association. The company is now the 23rd largest BA-defined craft brewery by volume, and the 32nd largest brewery in the U.S. overall.