As the college football season officially kicks off, Exile Brewing’s Swarm golden ale – a beer collaboration with the Swarm Collective, a 501(c)3 non-profit that supports University of Iowa athletes via name, image and likeness opportunities (NIL) – has sold 20,000 cases in its first two months in market.
The Swarm Collective and, in turn, U of I athletes are the beneficiary of 20% of the revenue from sales of the 4.1% ABV golden ale that is now available in 12 oz. can 12-packs, 16 oz. can 4-packs and on draft.
Exile director of sales and marketing Nick Cervine told Brewbound that the brewery finished 2022 with around 14,000 barrels of production. This year, the company is on pace for 20,000 barrels due to Swarm. When the company released 16 oz. 4-packs of the beer on June 26, in the lead up to the July 4 holiday weekend, it led to the biggest week of sales ever for the company.
“Our previous record was probably 6,500 cases,” Cervine said. “That week, we did 7,700 cases of sales.”
To accommodate production of Swarm, Exile is sunsetting several “legacy brands” and one-off specialty releases such as hazy IPAs and sours.
“Our high end one-offs, all that stuff has pretty much been cleared from the schedule for the remainder of this year, just because it ties up tank space operationally,” Cervine said. Certainly, it’s ‘make way for Swarm’ right now because that volume is real.”
With the University of Iowa’s first football game of the season set for Saturday in Iowa City, Cervine expects sales to pick up with displays in HyVee grocery stores in the state and placements in major grocery and convenience chains such as Fareway, Casey’s and Kum and Go.
Nevertheless, Exile has bigger hopes for Swarm than the college football season.
“I don’t want people to think of this as a tailgate beer,” Cervine said. “I want them to think of this as their everyday beer.”
Cervine has already heard anecdotal reports from retailers that consumers are making Swarm a regular purchase at retail stores.
“It’s one thing for a brewery from Des Moines to turn out a really good looking product and really good tasting product, and to donate this amount to the Swarm so that the University of Iowa athletics can reach new heights,” he said. “Not only are we doing that, but the people that made this thing happen are Iowa alumni.
“It wasn’t just a business move. It truly was born of an ambition to make Iowa Athletics better from people who are fans. When people hear that message, I think that’s gonna resonate and that’s what’s gonna create brand loyalty.”
In August, Swarm sold around 7,000 cases, trailing only Exile’s flagship offering, Ruthie gold lager. Cervine noted that Ruthie is a decade-old brand with the advantage of “an extremely strong” draft presence and established chain placements.
As Swarm gains distribution and on-premise traction, Cervine believes it can eventually exceed sales of Ruthie.
“Ruthie took 10 years to build,” he said. “This beer is entering the market in that tier of sales, which is wild.”