Dear Client:

With their 8th Street pub currently closed down in Tempe, Arizona, Four Peaks Brewing says they have “a lot” of draft beer set to go to waste. But instead of letting those kegs “die a long, sad death,” the Anheuser-Busch owned brewer is offering up a sweet deal to get them into consumer’s hands.

Indeed, over the next few days, Four Peaks will be “offering drastically discounted kegs of Four Peaks beer for pickup or delivery.”

We’re talking $100 half barrels, and $40 sixtels. And they’re not charging a deposit on the kegs. But they are offering an incentive to bring the shells back… more beer. The brewer said it will reward customers who bring back the shells with “a $25 gift card for a half barrel and a $10 card for a sixtel.”

[Ed. Note: If you’re wondering is there really that many people that can house a keg in the area… Well, the consumers in Four Peaks’ may be better suited than most. Tempe, as you may know, is also home to Arizona State University, one of, if not the largest universities in the country, so it’s likely there’s a high number of kegerators in the area.]

The beers available in this blowout sale include: Kilt Lifter, 8th Street, Hop Knot, Golden Lager, Raj IPA, Peach Ale, Pitchfork, Elk Mountain Smash, Prosser IPA, Hazy AZ, American Light Lager, ML209, and A Wheat Of Their Own.

If you live within a five-mile radius of Four Peaks 8th Street pub, they’ll deliver the kegs right to your door for 25 bucks. The brewer notes that that “the $25 delivery fee will go to the One Fair Wage Emergency Coronavirus tipped and service worker relief fund.” If you live outside the delivery zone, you can pick the kegs up in person at the pub.

WINE & LIQUOR “BLOWOUT” TOO. Four Peaks’ website had a similar note for their Grill & Tap location in Scottdale, but in addition to the kegs they’re offering growlers and six-packs, as well as a “wide range” of wine and liquor bottles for “drastically discounted prices.”

Discounts will include $10 growlers, $7 six-packs, $100 kegs, $10-$15 wine bottles, and $10-$45 liquor bottles. The sale will take place from noon to 8pm tomorrow and Saturday. Peep the brewpic below to see the full list and prices. In case you’re wondering, yes, such a sale is currently legal in Arizona. We understand that Governor Doug Ducey has made the call to temporarily allow restaurants to sell beer, wine, and spirits to-go as long as they are in a sealed container. (And also that the local restaurant association is pushing to make such allowances permanent.) 

We checked some of the other sites belonging to A-B’s acquired craft companies to see if they were carrying out blowout sales too, but didn’t find anything similar. All of A-B’s acquired craft is selling beer to-go, but most of them are selling six-packs or cases at the most. Blue Point Brewing is offering up kegs (half barrels and sixtels) but they are listed at twice the price or more than what Four Peaks is slinging them for. 

3 DAUGHTERS BREWING RUNNING BOGO SALE AT THEIR TASTING ROOM

3 Daughters Brewing out of St. Petersburg, Florida is also offering up a sweet deal for consumers – buy one get one six-packs at their tasting room.

The brewer said the BOGO sale was originally intended to be a one-time event as part of #TheGreatAmericanTakeout, but “after seeing how much people enjoyed it… we’ve decided to make that an everyday thing.”

So now, from 12-6 pm every day, customers can stop by their tasting room and buy a six-pack 3 Daughters’ beer, cider or seltzer at regular price and get a second one free. “There is no limit on how many (unless we run out entirely!) so feel free to get as much as you need,” the brewer said.

WHEN WILL “LONG TAIL” AND INNOVATION BUYS COME BACK? 

We caught up with IRI Principal – Client Insights Patrick Livingston this week on the trends they’re seeing at retail. 

As CBD has been covering, legacy brands are growing right now. Craft stalwarts that had been flat or declining before COVID hit — many of which were ceding share directly to newer items — are now seeing the reverse trend, as people want to buy things they know. To wit: The Sam Adams family is up 25% in the 4 weeks to 3/29, for example, and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale has recently seen double and even triple-digit growth in recent weeks in certain regions. 

Part of that has to do with these brands’ availability in larger packs, as well, which have become much more popular in recent weeks. As BBD reported today, for example, 12 packs are up 36% in the COVID era (the three weeks to 3/22), vs. having been up 13% YTD to March 1 (per IRI Multi-outlet and convenience). 

So when will consumers start buying those long tail and innovation brands again? We asked Patrick. 

As you’ll read in tomorrow’s BBD, Patrick is looking at shopping habits through the lens of three COVID-spurred phases: Stockpiling, replenishment, and recovered.

“We’re going to look at it really closely when we fully enter the replenishment phase,” Patrick said of craft’s long tail opportunity.

“…We are seeing a certain level of resilience of the longer tail, even through the first three weeks of stockpiling,” he answered. “And I do expect it to come in even more over this kind of ‘restocking’ phase. And I believe that there is a window of opportunity there.”

He added that they’re both concerned about and supportive of the craft brew community, “specifically small and local craft beer, whereas they are facing some of those difficult challenges given their reliance on taproom sales.” 

LOCAL CRAFT STILL OUTPACING GENERAL CRAFT IN IRI. “I will say, I’m proud to report that local craft, as far as we are tracking these off-premise sales in IRI, is still outpacing the craft beer segment. So even post the [COVID] impact, Local Craft is up 32.3%. All other craft up 28.9%. So not much of a difference. But Local Craft is still alive and well in the off premise.  

“We’ve been helping a lot of clients with specific store-level data, specific supply chain data, helping them with out of stocks, helping them to reach the right stores with the right products. There’s a lot to be done there, a lot of work and now is the time to double down efforts on the off premise and continue to develop ways to reach consumers in that channel.” 

BREWPIC: The prices from Four Peaks’ beer, wine and liquor “blowout” sale in Scottsdale

ED. NOTE:  We are taking tomorrow off for Good Friday (unless big news breaks).  We hope you and yours have a wonderful Easter weekend, and we’ll be back at you on Monday with more insightful news.

Until then,

Jenn, Jordan, and Harry 

“I haven’t slept for ten days, because that would be too long.”

– Mitch Hedberg

———- Sell Day Calendar ———-

Today’s Sell Day: 7

Sell days this month: 22

Sell days this month last year: 22

This month ends on a: Thurs.

This month last year ended on a: Tues.

YTD sell days Over/Under:  +1