GLBC Announces Successful Christmas Ale Season

January 28, 2013—Cleveland, Ohio—Fresh 2012 sales data shows that Great Lakes Brewing Company’s (GLBC) seasonal Christmas Ale continues to produce impressive numbers. Although this spiced holiday ale is available just eight (8) weeks out of the year, sales data from SymphonyIRI, a leading market research group, showed the following impressive stats for Christmas Ale in the Grocery Store channel:

In Cleveland, Ohio scan data:

• #1 beer brand in dollar sales, domestic segments included, in the last 13 weeks YTD 12/30/12
• #1 craft brand in dollar sales for the entire year of 2012 YTD 12/30/12

In State of Ohio scan data:

• #1 brand in dollar sales in Craft/Import segments in the last 13 weeks YTD 12/30/12 (note: Christmas Ale generated 344% more dollars than the next closest brand in that time frame)
• #1 craft brand in dollar sales for the entire year of 2012 entire year of 2012 YTD 12/30/12

In Total US scan data:

• #9 craft brand in dollar sales in the entire country for the last 13 weeks YTD 12/30/12, despite Category Weighted Distribution of only 7.2%

Christmas Ale is a holiday ale brewed with honey, spiced with fresh ginger and cinnamon, and available while supplies last starting in November. Approximately 359 batches of Christmas Ale were produced in 2012, which utilized more than 215,000 pounds of honey (almost $500,000) and 7,000 pounds each of fresh ginger and cinnamon. In 2012 GLBC continued their zero-waste partnership with Mitchell’s Homemade Ice Cream, collaborating for the second year on Christmas Ale Ginger Snap ice cream, which was sold at GLBC’s Brewpub and at Mitchell’s locations during the holiday season.

Christmas Ale has won multiple gold medals at the World Beer Championships conducted by the Beverage Tasting Institute and continues to garner national attention from media and consumers alike.

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Great Lakes Brewing Company, which is comprised of a Brewery and Brewpub, was founded in 1988 by brothers Pat and Dan Conway as the first microbrewery in the state of Ohio and today remains Ohio’s most award-winning brewer of lagers and ales. For more information visit greatlakesbrewing.com.