Boston Beer Co. has launched a non-alcoholic ready-to-drink (RTD) fruit brew called General Admission in the US.
The Samuel Adams brewer has released the fruit-infused seltzer water and low alcohol beer blend brand in select markets, including Albany, New York; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Indiana. Additionally, consumers in various states across the country can purchase the product online through direct-to-consumer shipping.
General Admission, described as combining “the flavour attributes of a non-alcoholic beer and a fruited seltzer water”, is available in four flavours: Lemon-Lime, Orange Ovation, Grapefruit Groove and Raspberry Remix.
“The non-alc category is seeing explosive growth and it is becoming a sizable piece of the industry. In fact, non-alc is now bigger than hard cider,” said Tim Kerrigan, The Boston Beer Company’s assistant head of innovation.
“Knowing that, we wanted to create a new type of product that offers a much broader view of what we believe non-alc can be. We believe it’s actually alcohol drinkers that are the primary consumers of non-alc products, and we must find a way to make something that appeals to everyone, whether they drink spirits, beer, wine or only non-alc.”
General Admission, with an abv of less than 0.5%, joins Boston Beer’s previous alcohol-free products, including Samuel Adams’ Just The Haze non-alcoholic beer and Dogfish Head’s non-alcoholic Lemon Quest, among others.
“With General Admission, we’ll be testing not only how drinkers respond to the product itself, but also how we can best leverage a direct-to-consumer platform as an impactful sales tool for the future,” Kerrigan added.
“Because General Admission is non-alcoholic, we have the opportunity to simultaneously test and market our hypotheses on both a regional and national scale, both at traditional retail locations and through the growing e-commerce channel – it’s really a win from all angles.”
At the beginning of April, Michael Spillane succeeded Dave Burwick as CEO of Boston Beer as the latter opted to retire after six years at the helm.
Announcing the news in February, the Samuel Adams brewer said during Burwick’s tenure as CEO, “Boston Beer’s revenue more than doubled and its stock generated average annual returns of 12%”.
