Brewers add alcohol to root beer
How hard is this? After the “hard ice tea” craze, the U.S. is falling for another fad: “hard soda drinks”. The first such drink to see alcohol added to it is root beer.
Root beer, which soared in popularity as a pre-Prohibition temperance drink, is leaving its roots behind. An alcoholic version called Not Your Father’s Root Beer with 10 percent ABV has become one of the fastest-growing products in U.S. beer aisles. It was first introduced late last year by the Small Town Brewery located in Wauconda, Illinois.
This got other brewers interested. Boston Beer, which makes Samuel Adams beer, said its new Coney Island Hard Root Beer will be available nationwide by mid-August. MillerCoors, the number two brewer in the U.S., is allegedly planning to launch soda-inspired beverages early next year. You bet that AB-InBev, which do not have such a product yet, are watching the trend closely.
Root beer is an acquired taste since the traditional way to enjoy it is over vanilla ice cream.
The alcoholic version seems to have created a new category in the alcoholic beverage industry, albeit under different labels. Some call it hard soda. Others call it flavoured beer.
One of the owners of Not Your Father’s Root Beer, Eugene Kashper, who also is CEO of Pabst Brewing Co., is pushing the term “gruit ale,” which was used to describe spice- and herb-flavoured beers made centuries ago before the widespread use of hops in beer making.
Observers agree that the category has the potential to expand beyond root beer to alcoholic ginger ale, strawberry rhubarb and French toast stout.
To the rest of the world, alcoholic root beer may seem like another beverage folly, yet the root-beer blitz highlights the beer industry’s efforts to appeal to adults under age 35, many of whom prefer sweeter beers.
“There’s a tidal wave shift in consumer consumption patterns,” Mr Kashper, was quoted as saying. “Younger people are looking for something lighter and sweeter. The beer segment long-term doesn’t seem like it will be dominated by traditional, hoppy beers,” he added.
We will hark his words.
