Today’s craft beer consumer is adventurous—experimenting with different flavor profiles and styles. To help their customers enjoy new beers, craft brewers have adopted a tasty method of sharing their diverse products: the variety pack.
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. recently released its first mixed 12-pack, the 4-Way IPA Variety Pack. It contains four different beers that range in color, flavor and alcohol content, but are all hop-forward beers.
Sierra Nevada successfully took one of their most popular year-round selections, Torpedo Extra IPA, and mixed it in a variety pack with three other brews that any consumer with the palate for Torpedo would likely enjoy.
Head brewer Alex Violette of Upslope Brewing Company in Boulder, Colo., explains how variety packs are a low-risk way for consumers to experiment: “Doing it this way [variety packs] is not a big risk for them [the consumer]. Consumers might know they like one or two of our beers, and this gives them a chance to try some of the others.”
Upslope began selling variety packs in 2013, and have used them as an experiment for the brewery. They typically release a mix pack with at least one new beer to see how it performs in the marketplace. If a beer does well, Upslope will eventually transition to offering six-packs of the new beer. Their latest variety pack will feature their Thai-Style White IPA (launching late May).
One new take on the variety pack is Southern Tier’s Fuse Box. The Fuse Box features three beers from Southern Tier’s line-up including their IPA, Porter and PMX, a bottle-conditioned pale ale. While the 12-pack is designed to give its fans options, Southern Tier takes it to the next level by encouraging them to blend or “fuse” any combination of the beers to create new experiences. The packaging itself has a fusing directory with suggestions, and beer enthusiasts are encouraged to share their favorite concoctions on the Southern Tier website.
These are just a few examples of variety packaging—there are many more out there. Some packs are seasonal or style-centric, while others span a brewery’s core brands, but all foster the adventurous spirit of the craft beer industry.
Do you have any favorite variety packs?
Grant Puza is the current Craft Beer Program Intern at the Brewers Association. A Certified Beer Server and homebrewer, Grant spends most of his time educating himself further in the world of craft beer. If not visiting a local brewery, you might also catch him somewhere in the woods backpacking, rock climbing or snowboarding.
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