Using craft-brewer cues--small-batch brewing, evocative ingredients, hand-packaging, fancy glassware--here's how the Wauconda, Illinois "Small Town Brewery" (a craft name if there ever was one) describes its product...

This remarkable overnight success--arguably the first game-changing innovation in the craft-beer segment--has turned a few heads in the beer business. After launching the likes of Miller Fortune, the Ritas, and Mixxtail cocktails aiming to steal business from hard liquor, BigBeer is now paying close attention to this seemingly softer angle. MillerCoors has strongly hinted it's well on its way to launching a similar product, possibly as soon as the fall. And what do we call these new beverages? Hard soda? Craft-co-pops?

Even more interesting, how will the craft community respond?

So far, Not Your Father's Root Beer has drawn little commentary from the craft-beer world, at least if our Twitter feed is any sign. It's almost as though these beer geeks are refusing to take a root beer seriously. Or they figure it's a passing fad... much the way BigBeer felt about craft beers back when. If that's the case, they might want to reconsider.

Bitter. Hoppy. Heavy. Thick. Complex. Isn't it possible that one important weakness of many craft beers--their less-than-pleasant taste (and after-taste) experience--opened up an opportunity? In particular, the darker, heavier craft beers often overwhelm the senses. While craft-beer cognoscenti may wistfully savor over-the-top flavor notes, many ordinary folks can barely stomach one serving. But what if you could pour a dark beer in your glass telling everyone you're something of a beer connoisseur, but have it deliver a more pleasant taste?

Could this root beery concoction be the first really tasty and drinkable "dark craft beer?"

How soon will other craft brewers follow? When will their legion fans get out their snifters to appraise the taste notes of an alcoholic root beer float? Or will they choose to mock this new segment as a fad unworthy of their talents? If so, they're taking a big risk.

Watch for BigCraft--Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada--to react first. (Edit: Indeed, as was pointed out by Twitter friend "@L_Staff," Sam Adams already has, sort of. They're selling Coney Island brand root beer via their shadowy Alchemy & Science subsidiary.) Neither can afford to miss a root-beer growth spurt. Sam Adams once famously ran an ad (now scrubbed from the internet) proclaiming they'd never brew a light beer. Saying "never" is a mistake they're unlikely to repeat. 

In a business with way too many offerings already, something tells us, craft brewers may soon be adding even more.

Reader advisory: 
There is some tongue-in-cheek in what follows.

Bud Light has long pitched itself as a party-hearty staple. But from Spuds Mackenzie to "Up for Whatever," the brand has never had a product-based claim to link the beer to the party. Sure there were always plenty of alluring girls, fun locations, and rock music, but the question remained unaddressed: What makes Bud Light so special for a party? What makes it unique?

Well, we've stumbled on a pretty darned good answer from an unexpected source. Before we say where it came from, here's the new claim we propose for America's #1 beer...

Bud Light is the beer that keeps your senses sharp, 
so there's no reason to stop the party!  
Boom.

Now when you're getting ready for the party--a couple of 6-packs after work, or several cases with friends all night--you don't have to worry that you'll dull your senses by drinking... as long as you keep downing Bud Light. Finally, a never-before-offered, provocative claim for this light beer!

What's that you say? There's no way you can claim a beer "keeps your senses sharp." That'd be prohibited by federal law. Or would it?

Well, the Alcohol Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau (TTB) does have very specific rules about claims like that in Title 27, Pt 7, para. 7.54.

"Prohibited statements" include health statements "of a therapeutic nature"
and "statements that imply a physical or psychological sensation result(ing) from consuming the malt beverage." Like sharp senses?

Craft beer does it

But wait! Good news for Bud Light! Those rules must be out-of-date! Or ignored. How do we know? Well, there's at least one major craft beer out there claiming it "keeps your senses sharp." And it's selling very well. While Founders All Day IPA has more alcohol than any light beer, that alcohol apparently doesn't dull a drinker's senses. It says so right there on the label. And Founders had to get that copy approved by the TTB, so it must be a legit claim for a beer. Especially so for an even lower-alcohol light beer.

So, go to it Bud Light! No reason the craft brewers should get to play by a looser set of rules. After all, they're the ones always whining that BigBeer benefits from favoritism. Fair's fair.

Just imagine this recent "Don't stop the party" Bud Light ad featuring Pitbull updated with the "Keep your senses sharp!" claim.

It'd be just about irresistible!