E-Malt.com News article: USA: Molson’s Blue Moon Belgian White Ale growing at double-digit rates

Molson Coors Brewing Co., the brewer behind the Coors Light and Keystone brands, has quietly tapped into the craft beer market by developing Blue Moon Belgian White Ale, a cloudy, citrus, wheat-like beer known for being served with a slice of orange to bring out its fruity flavour, Associated Press reported August 9.

The brand, despite a low-profile, word-of-mouth marketing campaign, is now growing at double-digit rates. Sales of Blue Moon climbed 79 percent in 2005 and then more than doubled in 2006, according to Information Resources Inc., which tracks beer sales. Meanwhile, sales of Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser fell 6.6 percent in 2005 and 7.4 in 2006.

The comparison mirrors an industrywide trend showing craft beers far outgrowing their domestic beer counterparts. Sales of craft beers - which include seasonal brews like Samuel Adams Summer Ale and the full-bodied Goose Island Honkers Ale - have been rising in the past several years, while large brewers like Anheuser-Busch saw declines, according to the beer trade group Brewer's Association

Blue Moon's success has led UBS (nyse: UBS - news - people ) beverage analyst Kaumil Gajrawala to mention the beer as an example of how domestic brewers can come back from the disappointing sales of recent years.

Keith Villa, 44, is the brewmaster of Blue Moon. Molson Coors recruited the biology student and aspiring pediatrician just out of the University of Colorado and sent him to Belgium for his doctorate in brewing biochemistry.

Villa says innovation may be just the thing to entice beer drinkers back into the cold, frothy arms of the domestic brewer. What follows are edited excerpts from a recent Associated Press interview with Villa.

Q: What led you to develop Blue Moon for Molson-Coors?

A: I came back to Coors in 1992 and then got the assignment of coming up with a craft beer, something really unique. My first thought was I just got back from Belgium and while I was there, I consulted a lot of breweries and learned all the different techniques for brewing Belgium beers. One style I really liked was Belgian white. A true Belgian white is thin, tart and is served with lemon. I wanted a beer that you'd enjoy right from the start. So I formulated that, and it became Blue Moon Belgian white.

Since it's brewed with orange peel and coriander, I really pushed everyone to serve it with a slice of orange, rather than lemon, which was at that time the prevailing garnish for wheat beers.

Q. When you were first developing Blue Moon, what kind of drinker did you have in mind?

A: Actually since I'm a brewer, my first inclination was to make something that I like and that my friends like. Back then we didn't have a lot of money for doing high-tech consumer research or all that stuff. The assignment was 'Here, start this. And by the way, here's your very little shoestring budget.' So we literally had to rely on friends, a lot of friends, a lot of acquaintances. We tested it the very first year that the Sandlot (Molson's brewery and beer pub) was open. People just loved it. We couldn't make enough of it.

Q: What do you think was the turning point for Blue Moon in terms of popularity, and were you ever just afraid that the beer wouldn't become more than a small niche beer for Molson Coors?

A: In the early days, it was really slow-going and then finally, I think we crisscrossed the country enough times and talked to enough people that they finally started getting it. We never had enough money to advertise so we had to rely on word of mouth. In retrospect, I don't think people were ready for an orange slice and a beer that's cloudy back at the time.

It was hard work getting people to accept it and get over the cloudiness. I designed it to be cloudy. It has all that flavor and, from a brewer's perspective, all that good stuff is in there_ a mixture of yeast, protein and fiber, stuff that's good for you.

Q: What has allowed Molson Coors to build this craft-style brand without reinforcing the beer's connection to a large brewing company?

A: The first thing really comes back to the taste and the quality. The second thing is the credentials. I have a doctorate in brewing from Belgium. So it's not like a group of American brewers got together and did some consumer research and found the best recipe and then developed that. This is right from the ground-up.

Q: Are you the kind of drinker who would try different kinds of beers and experiment or do you have a specific flavor you prefer?

A: You name it, and I've brewed with it: Chicken beer, peanut butter beer, champagne beer. This year, I'll have a peanut butter beer again.

Q: One of the other big trends now is light beers. Are there any plans to develop a Blue Moon Light?

A: I always like to experiment and try to make new beers. One that we've won a medal with last year at the Great American Beer Festival was a nice light, drinkable beer I designed to taste like champagne. It was made with wheat and chardonnay grapes. The net result was this really nice beer that didn't smell or taste at all like beer.

Q: With so many drinkers switching over to wine and more fruity spirit drinks, what can brewers do to bring them back to beer?

A: My guess is a lot of people go to wines because they may be bored with some types of beers. But I think there are exciting beers that can bring people back from wine. Also, some folks drink wine because they think it's a bit more sophisticated or might go better with food.

Belgium used to be a huge wine producer like France, but a grape virus wiped out their vineyards, so they switched to making beers. In doing that, they paired up the beers with foods, so that's why now there are cutting-edge beers that go well with foods. I've tried to apply that same philosophy to Blue Moon.


10 August, 2007