Elysian Brewing will try to rocket flagship Space Dust IPA to another stratosphere in 2021.
The Anheuser-Busch InBev-owned, Seattle-headquartered craft brewery’s goal is to make fast-growing Space Dust the nation’s top selling IPA.
Space Dust has a ways to go before reaching that rare air. The beer is currently the fifth best selling IPA in off-premise multi-outlet and convenience stores tracked by market research firm IRI. Year-to-date through October, off-premise dollar sales of Space Dust are up 21.8%, to more than $66 million, the firm reported.
The top seller remains Lagunitas IPA, with off-premise dollar sales topping $89.2 million (+18.6% compared to last year) through November 1, in IRI-tracked multi-outlet and convenience stores. In fact, Lagunitas IPA is the third best selling craft offering, trailing just Molson Coors’ Blue Moon Belgian White and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.
Rounding out the top five selling IPAs are Sierra Nevada Hazy Little Thing IPA (+77.7 YTD, $79.5 million), New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Imperial IPA (+83.5% YTD, $74 million) and Founders All Day IPA (+16.7% YTD, $71.2 million).
Despite the crowded field, Elysian general manager Kyle Fitzsimmons is confident Space Dust can reach the top spot.
To help drive that effort, A-B will triple its investment in Elysian’s “Open Space” campaign, which will include an “anthemic video” that draws inspiration from a couple silent films from the 1900s, and will highlight the “rebellious spirit” of the brand, Fitzsimmons said. That video will launch on digital platforms on January 1, 2021.
“We haven’t really built a campaign simply for Space Dust itself,” he said. “The Open Space campaign, we put it out there this year, but not nearly to the level that you’ll see it next year. So tripling that investment will be a big part of how we get there.”
Fitzsimmons also sees an opportunity to expand distribution via Space Dust 12-packs, which he said will be a major focus for the company and its wholesaler partners in 2021.
“Really driving that 12-pack can and bottle will be a big, big part of our push for next year,” he said. “And as we bring our big marketing investment, we think that the 12-pack, as people shift to some of those larger packs, will be a perfect play for that.”
Another big play for Space Dust in 2021 will be expanding distribution of 19.2 oz. single-serve cans beyond the Pacific Northwest to the rest of the West Coast in 2021, Fitzsimmons said.
Beyond Space Dust, Elysian will look to bolster its hazy IPA Contact Haze in Year 2 with a strong push of 12-packs. Fitzsimmons noted that Contact Haze was the No. 2 craft innovation in dollar sales according to IRI.
Following the success of Contact Haze, Elysian will look to build a Contact family of brands in the first quarter of 2021, with the national launches of two new IPAs: Full Contact, an 8.8% ABV imperial hazy in 6-packs and on draft, and Altered Contact, a 6.8% ABV tart IPA that will be available in the company’s new mixed 12-pack called “The Contact Trilogy.” Contact Haze and Full Contact round out the offerings in the Trilogy pack.
Fitzsimmons said the success of the company’s mixed 12-pack in 2020, which featured Space Dust, Contact Haze and Superfuzz blood orange pale ale and was the No. 5 craft innovation in the U.S., led to the addition of the Trilogy pack.
“It’s a good opportunity for us to one, try out some new innovations like Altered Contact, and then make it the only place you can get it, and then give people what they want, which is always going to be innovation in a larger pack,” he said. “And I think variety is pretty crucial as well.”
Overall, the Elysian brand family is up 40% year-over-year, Fitzsimmons said.
“All things considered, I think we delivered our plan pretty well,” he said. “We started with a pretty aggressive plan to focus on Contact Haze and Space Dust in 2020, and I think it’s pretty well paid off.”