MPL Brands

Milton, Delaware-based Dogfish Head is launching Where the Wild Hops Are, the first installment of 2022 in its Off-Centered Art Series of beers. Each year the series features label designs from a different artist and this year that role will be filled by Max Mah, a printmaker and illustrator based in Montana. Where the Wild Hops are is an unfiltered IPA brewed with four wild-derived hop varieties. Mahn’s packaging artwork depicts a box trap baited with a large hop amid an overgrown forest. The beer is at 6.5% and was blended with a small quantity of wild ale aged four years in French oak barrels. It’s available now nationwide in 6-packs of 12-ounce bottles.

MPL Brands has expanded its Rancho La Gloria wine-based RTDs with AgaVida, a new agave-based RTD. The new line comes in four flavors—strawberry, mango, peach, and green apple—with all made from blue agave nectar and sweetened with agave syrup. The line comes in at 5% abv and 80 calories per serving. Rancho La Gloria AgaVida is now available at Walmart across the U.S., with wider distribution coming soon, for a suggested price of $13 a bottle.

Merchant du Vin is debuting Rochefort Triple Extra, the first new beer from Rochefort since the 1950s, in the U.S. market. The 8.1% abv brew is billed as a reinterpretation of the Belgian tripel style, made with barley malt, wheat malt, hops, yeast, spices, and orange peel. It commemorates “Forte Bière Blonde Extra,” a similar beer brewed at Rochefort from 1920 to about 1923. Rochefort Triple Extra is available now in the eastern U.S. and will reach western markets in the next few weeks.

Information courtesy of Shanken News Daily

On the Rocks Premium Cocktails, part of the Beam Suntory portfolio, is introducing a limited edition Manhattan expression made with Basil Hayden Dark Rye. Weighing in at 32.5% abv, the Manhattan offering is available in select stores nationwide and online through Drizly with a suggested retail price of $13 a 375-ml bottle. The On the Rocks range also includes a Cosmopolitan (made with Effen vodka), Mai Tai (Cruzan rum), Old Fashioned (Knob Creek Bourbon), Margarita (Hornitos Tequila), Jalapeño Pineapple Margarita (Tres Generaciones Tequila), and Aviation (Larios gin).

MPL Brands has expanded the Rancho La Gloria line of wine-based RTDs with two new lower calorie Margaritas. The new Rancho La Gloria Skinny Margarita comes in Classic Lime and Strawberry with both at 9.9% abv and 90 calories per 5-ounce serving. They’re made with lime juice and other flavoring, and agave wine. The new cocktails have launched in Target stores nationwide for $9 a 750-ml., with expansion into retailers like HEB, Kroger, Harris Teeter, and Safeway set for early 2022.

Brooklyn, New York’s Q Mixers has launched Tropical Ginger Beer, the company’s third release in the category, following its original ginger beer and a hibiscus-flavored offshoot. The new release is made with ginger, agave, mango, passion fruit, and pineapple, and is currently available in Kroger and through the company’s website. Q Mixers is planning to expand the release in 2022.

Fort Worth, Texas-based TX Whiskey is launching three canned cocktails. The new trio of RTDs are TX Whiskey & Cola, TX Whiskey Ranch Water, and TX Whiskey & Sweet Tea, all 7% abv. They are made with TX Blended Whiskey and are available now exclusively in Texas, where a 4-pack of 12-ounce cans retails for a suggested $13.

Mesa, Arizona-based Cider Corps is releasing a seasonal version of its popular Fruit Salad cider. Made in collaboration with local package store Bottleshop 48, the Winter Fruit Salad cider features flavors of cranberry, plum, blackberry, blueberry, cherry, and pomegranate. It’s at 6.5% abv and is available now at the Cider Corps taproom and at specialty bottle shops around the state.

Port house Croft has launched Pink & Tonic, a new RTD made with rosé Port. The 5.5% abv canned cocktail comes in 250-ml. cans and is made using a house-developed tonic water. The RTD is now available across the U.S. in 4-packs for a suggested price of $18.

Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Drake’s Organic Spirits is launching an addition to its Boxtail lineup. The newcomer to the array of boxed wine-style RTDs is Drake’s Perfect Margarita Boxtail, which joins Minted Mojito, Watermelon-Tini, Mango Punch, and Black Cherry Limeade. It’s made with Drake’s Organic Tequila, triple sec, and lime and other citrus juice. Drake’s Margarita Boxtail is at 12% abv and retails for $20 a 1.75-liter within the company’s 44-state distribution area.

San Diego, California-based Coronado Brewing Company is launching Coronado Hard Cider. The company will start with a duo of flavors called Nice & Dry and Super Fruit. The former is at 6% abv and is intended as a classic, crisp cider, while the latter is at 5.5% abv and is made with acai berries and blueberries; both are certified organic. They will be available on draft and in 4-packs of 16-ounce cans starting December 10 at the Coronado Bay Park Tasting Room and will hit San Diego County retailers in early January 2022 with wider California distribution coming online in the spring.

New York-based Drifter Spirits is adding to its Drifter Craft Cocktails lineup with a fourth flavor. Created by the team that brought Svöl Aquavit to the U.S., the new line extension is Nordic Style Gin & Tonic (7% abv), which celebrates aquavit with its inclusion in the cocktail. Formulated in partnership with bartender Steva Casey, the Nordic Gin & Tonic features Svöl Danish-Style Aquavit and Perry’s Tot Navy Strength Gin from the New York Distilling Company along with pear juice and allspice. The new G&T joins Drifter’s existing Spicy Margarita, Moscow Mule, and Passion Fruit Caipirinha RTDs, retailing for $20 a 4-pack.

Information courtesy of Shanken News Daily