"Never count a beer marketer out."
Recently, we used those words as something of a back-handed compliment to Anheuser-Busch. In the form of their Rita brand, the St. Louis brewer had found a clever way to enter the responsible-marketing-toxic alcopop market without setting off a riot among anti-alcohol groups. Turns out, AB's not the only clever big brewer.
Recently, we used those words as something of a back-handed compliment to Anheuser-Busch. In the form of their Rita brand, the St. Louis brewer had found a clever way to enter the responsible-marketing-toxic alcopop market without setting off a riot among anti-alcohol groups. Turns out, AB's not the only clever big brewer.
Launched not long after A-B's Ritas, MillerCoors' Redd's takes marketing sleight-of-hand to an even higher level. Most folks try it thinking it's cider. The enormous red (Get it?) apple on the label suggests... um... cider. And the word "apple" is right there, too, in the generic description. Cider and juice are the only apple beverages, right? But then there's "ale" at the end of the description. Confused?
"Ale," it turns out, has a loose enough definition that everything from the dark Newcastle Brown to every one of the hundreds of hop-heavy craft-brewed IPAs, can use the word. Oddly, Redd's can, too. But let's just agree Redd's has about as much in common with those other ales as Ritas do with real tequila margaritas.
Redd's is definitely an alcopop. And it's made like every other alcopop. Brew beer; take all the flavor out; add whatever sweeter, less polarizing flavor you like, in this case apple... or now, strawberry.
"Ale," it turns out, has a loose enough definition that everything from the dark Newcastle Brown to every one of the hundreds of hop-heavy craft-brewed IPAs, can use the word. Oddly, Redd's can, too. But let's just agree Redd's has about as much in common with those other ales as Ritas do with real tequila margaritas.
Redd's is definitely an alcopop. And it's made like every other alcopop. Brew beer; take all the flavor out; add whatever sweeter, less polarizing flavor you like, in this case apple... or now, strawberry.
An actual Redd's product.
How far off can Redd's chocolate ale be? Or, recognizing the amount of business alcopops do with the legal-age challenged, maybe a co-branded Redd's Skittles® ale.
Not an actual Redds product... yet
Not surprisingly, just like all those other alcopops, Redd's is seeing its original flavor offering decline. Alcopop drinkers are apparently serial triers, easily distracted by whatever new flavor shows up on shelf. And so the churn begins with the coming of Redd's strawberry ale. Ever sweeter flavor options are a common alcopop development when the original flavors start to mature (a term probably ill-chosen, given who's doing much of the drinking).
But first things first. Perhaps fearing a softening hold on the alcopop-drinking crowd due to its wimpy 5% alcohol-by-volume (high for a beer, low for an alcopop), Redd's is bringing us "Wicked Redd's" spiked with 8% alcohol, a 60% increase. "Wicked" enough to get Debbie drunk... way faster. So much for being clever.
Just imagine if all the time, energy, and creative effort that went into bringing the Redd's brand to market had instead gone into one of the dozen or so MillerCoors beer brands now heading south.
Re-writing the opening line of this article: "Never count a beer marketer out... except when they're supposed to be marketing beer."
Re-writing the opening line of this article: "Never count a beer marketer out... except when they're supposed to be marketing beer."
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