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Stone Cold Steve Austin Developing His Own Brand Of Beer
Stone Cold Steve Austin, one of the biggest entertainers in the history of professional wrestling, is thinking about body slamming the U.S. beer market with his own brew produced in Rochester.
High Falls Brewing Co. is working with the superstar — who has a well-earned reputation for downing cold ones during matches — to develop his brand.
“He was here in January and he did taste test a number of new brews that we’re working on in development with him,” High Falls Chief Executive Officer Tom Hubbard said Friday. “We’re very excited about the potential possibilities.”
Austin, the marquee name for World Wrestling Entertainment Inc., has explored opportunities for endorsements and wants to have his own beer, said John Sohigian, a WWE vice president of partnership marketing.
“We’re not approaching it as a gimmick beer, we’re approaching it as a legitimate brand,” he said.
Austin, whose merchandise accounted for $40 million in sales three years ago, visited the brewery for the first time in November, a day after he invited some High Falls executives to a wrestling show featuring him in Cleveland.
He and WWE Chief Executive Officer Vince McMahon toured the facility, and Hubbard learned that Austin was a beer aficionado who was interested in the entire brewing process.
“He’s a very engaging, personable and intelligent guy who has a real passion for beer,” Hubbard said. “And he wants to be involved in the creative development of it, which is great.”
In fact, Austin is conducting a “stone cold beer survey” on the WWE Web site (beer.wwe.com). One question reads: “If Stone Cold Steve Austin was to come out with a beer, what type of beer would you expect?”
Nothing has been finalized, Hubbard said. But if a deal between the brewery and the WWE is reached quickly, High Falls likely would begin brewing and distributing the product sometime this fall.
Sohigian said that if consumers do not like the beer or it’s not a good venture, Austin would abandon the project.
Eric Shepard, the executive editor of Beer Marketer’s Insights, a trade publication, was wary of whether a Stone Cold brew could be successful.
“It’s tough for A-B (Anheuser-Busch) to establish a new brand and they kind of know what they are doing,” he said. “A novelty is a novelty, and history is not promising.”
But Shepard said Austin may have the fans to pull it off.
“His fan base probably consists of a lot of beer drinkers,” said David Meltzer, editor of Wrestling Observer, a newsletter and Web site that covers professional wrestling.
“But it better taste really good.”
He said that Austin has a reputation for being hands-on when it comes to his merchandise, meaning that he must really like the taste of his beer.
A contract with the WWE would be a huge plus for High Falls, which has been depending more and more on contract brewing for companies such as Boston Beer Co., which sells Samuel Adams beer. High Falls also brews all the Mike’s Hard Lemonade sold in the Northeast.
The brewery also produces its own Genesee and High Falls brands, including Genesee Beer, Genny Light, JW Dundee Honey Brown Lager and Kipling Light. But sales of regional brews across the country have been declining as national brewers Anheuser-Busch, Miller and Coors increasingly dominate.
Hubbard said the brewery plans to introduce two new Dundee brands later this year.
“We are in the continued development stage of a pale ale and a lager,” he said.
If all goes as planned, both the lager and pale ale will be marketed in the fall, Hubbard said.
The pale ale would compete with beers such as Sierra Nevada and the lager with Yuengling, he said.
Source: democratandchronicle.com
High Falls Brewing Co. is working with the superstar — who has a well-earned reputation for downing cold ones during matches — to develop his brand.
“He was here in January and he did taste test a number of new brews that we’re working on in development with him,” High Falls Chief Executive Officer Tom Hubbard said Friday. “We’re very excited about the potential possibilities.”
Austin, the marquee name for World Wrestling Entertainment Inc., has explored opportunities for endorsements and wants to have his own beer, said John Sohigian, a WWE vice president of partnership marketing.
“We’re not approaching it as a gimmick beer, we’re approaching it as a legitimate brand,” he said.
Austin, whose merchandise accounted for $40 million in sales three years ago, visited the brewery for the first time in November, a day after he invited some High Falls executives to a wrestling show featuring him in Cleveland.
He and WWE Chief Executive Officer Vince McMahon toured the facility, and Hubbard learned that Austin was a beer aficionado who was interested in the entire brewing process.
“He’s a very engaging, personable and intelligent guy who has a real passion for beer,” Hubbard said. “And he wants to be involved in the creative development of it, which is great.”
In fact, Austin is conducting a “stone cold beer survey” on the WWE Web site (beer.wwe.com). One question reads: “If Stone Cold Steve Austin was to come out with a beer, what type of beer would you expect?”
Nothing has been finalized, Hubbard said. But if a deal between the brewery and the WWE is reached quickly, High Falls likely would begin brewing and distributing the product sometime this fall.
Sohigian said that if consumers do not like the beer or it’s not a good venture, Austin would abandon the project.
Eric Shepard, the executive editor of Beer Marketer’s Insights, a trade publication, was wary of whether a Stone Cold brew could be successful.
“It’s tough for A-B (Anheuser-Busch) to establish a new brand and they kind of know what they are doing,” he said. “A novelty is a novelty, and history is not promising.”
But Shepard said Austin may have the fans to pull it off.
“His fan base probably consists of a lot of beer drinkers,” said David Meltzer, editor of Wrestling Observer, a newsletter and Web site that covers professional wrestling.
“But it better taste really good.”
He said that Austin has a reputation for being hands-on when it comes to his merchandise, meaning that he must really like the taste of his beer.
A contract with the WWE would be a huge plus for High Falls, which has been depending more and more on contract brewing for companies such as Boston Beer Co., which sells Samuel Adams beer. High Falls also brews all the Mike’s Hard Lemonade sold in the Northeast.
The brewery also produces its own Genesee and High Falls brands, including Genesee Beer, Genny Light, JW Dundee Honey Brown Lager and Kipling Light. But sales of regional brews across the country have been declining as national brewers Anheuser-Busch, Miller and Coors increasingly dominate.
Hubbard said the brewery plans to introduce two new Dundee brands later this year.
“We are in the continued development stage of a pale ale and a lager,” he said.
If all goes as planned, both the lager and pale ale will be marketed in the fall, Hubbard said.
The pale ale would compete with beers such as Sierra Nevada and the lager with Yuengling, he said.
Source: democratandchronicle.com