6/14 UPDATE: Here is what a spokesperson passed along to us with respect to these packages… “Our seasonal brews, Samuel Adams OctoberFest and Samuel Adams Winter Lager, will be available nationally in cans in 12-packs. 16oz cans of Samuel Adams Boston Lager will be available for single-serve occasions. We hope to offer these starting in the Fall.” Convenience stores? Ballparks?
—
Original Post:
(Boston, MA) – The Boston Beer Company has at least three new can packages coming this year if recent label approvals for any indication.
Approvals are in for Samuel Adams Octoberfest 12oz. cans, Samuel Adams Winter Lager 12oz. cans and Samuel Adams Boston Lager 16 oz. cans.
The company started with Boston Lager 12-packs of 12oz. cans this past spring and soon added Samuel Adams Summer Ale 12-packs of 12oz. cans soon after.
Summer Ale was only released in several states though CEO, Martin Roper,
tells the Tales from the Cask podcast that the company will go with national with future seasonals in cans. That includes Octoberfest, Winter Lager, the Samuel Adams ‘spring seasonal’ and Summer Ale.
That’s right…Roper didn’t specify Alpine Spring which has been the spring seasonal two years running. Whether the brewery is going in another direction is unknown though Samuel Adams did not highlight seasonal growth in its first quarter earnings call for the first time in a while. Beer sales were soft industry-wide with larger producers.
On a (likely) unrelated note, a label for Samuel Adams Ruby Mild was approved by the TTB.
And in case you missed it, we tweeted yesterday that Samuel Adams Utopias does appear to be returning in 2013. The beer is normally released every other year though this will actually be the third straight year due to a special edition being released in 2012.
Elsewhere on the Tales from the Cask podcast, relating to the Angry Orchard Hard Cider brand, it was reported that Boston Beer has invested in orchards in the U.S. and part of that plan will be to grow varieties that would be unique in the U.S..
A request is out to the company for more information on these items.
