Allagash Brewing Re-Enters Wisconsin After a Month-Long Market Test
After a successful trial run last month, Portland, Maine-headquartered Allagash Brewing announced this week that it will permanently expand distribution of its offerings to Wisconsin.
“Our beer had such a good time in Wisconsin that we’ve decided to let it stay,” the company wrote on social media. “Starting now, we’ll be supplying our Wisconsin friends, year-round, with Curieux, Tripel and, of course, Allagash White.”
Allagash is the country’s 28th largest craft brewery by volume, according to not-for-profit trade group the Brewers Association. Prior to the nationwide shutdown of bars, restaurants and other venues due to the COVID-19 pandemic, about 70% of Allagash’s volume flowed through the on-premise channel. The company turned its focus to driving off-premise volume through product and package innovations, and tested two markets — Wisconsin and Florida — that it previously distributed beer to before retrenching.
Beechwood Sales & Service, a Sheehan Family Company wholesaler, will distribute Allagash’s products statewide in Wisconsin.
Outside of Wisconsin, Allagash released specialty offerings Saison Violette and Little Sal this week to the rest of its national footprint, excluding Wisconsin. Both beers feature wild lowbush Maine blueberries.
Allagash’s full-time distribution footprint stretches along the eastern seaboard from Maine to Georgia, with distribution to Chicago, central and southern California, and Washington, D.C. Wisconsin is its sixteenth state.
In February, Allagash founder Rob Tod addressed the New England Brew Summit in Portland, Maine, and shared the philosophy guiding the company’s distribution choices: “Don’t be a mile wide and an inch deep.” Multi-state wholesaler leader Jerry Sheehan doled that advice out to Tod years ago.
A decade after its 1995 founding, Allagash distributed 5,000 barrels to 26 states. After retrenching from 11 states and focusing on key areas, Allagash’s volume reached 104,103 barrels in 2019.
Connecticut-Based Two Roads Expands to Minnesota
Stratford, Connecticut-headquartered Two Roads Brewing announced Wednesday that it has expanded distribution of its products to Minnesota.
“We plan to focus on our unique offerings from our Area Two Experimental Brewing facility as well as select beers from our consistently reliable Two Roads core lineup,” director of sales Meghan Zachry said in a press release.
Area Two is the company’s sour beer and barrel-aging facility, which produces “lambic-style sour beers, beers aged in barrels obtained from distilleries, wineries and other sources as well as beers spontaneously fermented from local, airborne yeast,” according to the company’s website.
Two Roads offerings shipping to Minnesota include Two Juicy Hazy Juicy IPA, No Limits Hefeweizen, Tanker Truck Passion Fruit Gose and H2Roads Craft Hard Seltzer.
Clear River Beverage Company in Rush City, Minnesota, will distribute Two Roads products to Minneapolis, Saint Paul and surrounding areas.
“They produce world-class products across multiple styles,” Clear River vice president Jake Sauter said in the release. “We cannot wait to see the excitement in Minnesota for their brands this summer and beyond.”
Two Roads’ footprint includes California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and the United Kingdom.
In 2019, Two Roads’ volume declined 2%, to 62,008 barrels, but declining volumes at other craft breweries landed it on the BA’s list of the top 50 craft breweries by volume for the first time, at No. 47.
New Belgium Goes ‘Back to the Future’ to Deliver 1985 IPA in Chicago
Fort Collins, Colorado-headquartered New Belgium Brewing tapped into drinkers’ affinity for 1980s nostalgia yesterday when it teamed up with Minibar Delivery to deliver its Voodoo Ranger 1985 IPA in a vintage DeLorean, the car best known as a time machine in the Back to the Future movie franchise.
“More people are utilizing beer delivery services than ever before,” Voodoo Ranger brand manager Dave Knospe said in a press release. “So, we thought, how can we bring a bit of fun to that experience? We’re excited to unveil 1985 IPA in such a nostalgic way.”
1985 IPA, a hazy IPA, is the Voodoo Ranger line’s newest rotating offering and checks in at 6.7% ABV, 30 IBUs and offers “bodacious drinkability,” according to the release.
Special deliveries were made for a few hours in Chicago only, a city that features prominently in several other popular movies made in the 1980s. Proceeds from the sales will be donated to the Comp Tab Relief Fund, which supports hospitality industry employees in the Chicago area.
One lucky recipient of a DeLorean delivery was Chicago-based Revolution Brewing CFO Doug Veliky, who documented the car’s arrival on Twitter.
Thanks to @newbelgium/ @voodooranger for the beer and especially for entertaining my son. pic.twitter.com/IgzudplMkF
— Beer Cruncher 📈📢 (@beercruncher) July 15, 2020