Blue Moon, which MillerCoors calls “the top-selling craft beer in the U.S,” will release a new brand called Blue Moon LightSky, a 95-calorie light citrus wheat beer brewed with real tangerine peel and dry hopped with Azacca hops.
Coors plans to roll out in test markets a new above-premium, 92-calorie light beer made with organic ingredients called Coors Peak, which will debut in three flavors: pure light beer, citrus and berry.
And Leinenkugel’s is preparing to release a new brand called Leinenkugel’s Spritzen, which combines Leinenkugel’s beer with a splash of flavored hard seltzer and checks in at 93 calories.
Each of the new releases is part of MillerCoors’ effort to reshape its portfolio amid seismic shifts in the beer industry.
“The biggest opportunity we have as a company is to premiumize our portfolio,” says MillerCoors Chief Marketing Officer Michelle St. Jacques, who unveiled the new brands to distributors last night in Las Vegas. “And that starts with aligning our offerings behind some of the biggest consumer trends driving market growth.”
MillerCoors will also introduce Keylightful, a “cheeky, fruit-forward raspberry lime version” of Keystone Light priced to recruit more 21- to 24-year-old drinkers into the beer category.
The new beer is intended to “deliver flavor, sessionability and affordability,” says Josh Wexelbaum, director of economy brands at MillerCoors. Because many beer drinkers enter the category through the economy segment, “we felt it was important to give them another way in, through familiar flavors and a brand they know and trust,” Wexelbaum says.
Like Coors Peak, Keylightful will launch in a handful of key markets in the first quarter.