Cigar City, one of Florida’s top craft breweries, is releasing a new variety pack that includes both beer and hard seltzer. The mix pack will include three 12 oz. cans each of three different beers and a complementary hard seltzer.

Hard Seltzer News recently reported that Cigar City Brewing is releasing a new hard seltzer, inspired by the state’s tropical flavors. The reported standout, Meyer Lemonade, will be featured in the brewery’s new Boat Drinks 12-pack, starting in early February.

The Tampa-based Cigar City’s new mixed pack is inspired by the citruses of the Sunshine State. Joining the Meyer Lemon hard seltzer is a Margarita Gose German-style Sour Ale, Paloma Gose German-style Sour Ale, and Citrus Siesta Golden Ale. All three beers are fruit forward and relatively low in ABV, selected to pair well with the spiked lemonade seltzer.

“Boat Drinks Mixed Pack is a great representation of CCB’s innovative thinking and our willingness to chart our own course,” says Maria Grieshaber, Brand Director for Cigar City Brewing.

“We’ve found success with our original Mixed 12-Pack that continues to build, and Boat Drinks presents an opportunity for us to generate even more momentum. You don’t need to be on the water to appreciate Boat Drinks, but we anticipate this mixed-pack will give you that mindset, wherever you enjoy it.”

New Hard Seltzer Strategy from Cigar City

Cigar City is releasing its new hard seltzer just in time for the city to host the first ever home game Super Bowl, when Tom Brady and the Buccaneers host the Kansas City Chiefs on February 7. Joining Meyer Lemonade in the seltzer-only mix pack are Florida Orange, Ruby Red Grapefruit, and Key Lime.

The brewery spent considerable time developing a spiked and sparkling beverage of which they could be proud.

“Well seltzer, it’s something we’ve been developing for quite a while now. Certainly, out in the market, people are excited about seltzers, they’re selling very, very well. But we didn’t want to put something out unless it was going to match the quality of our beer,” said Neil Callaghan, the brand manager at Cigar City Brewing.

“So that took us more than a few months to really dial in some of the flavors and find something that was really going to be as flavorful and interesting as our beers.” Indeed, Cigar City finds its final product to be worthy of sharing shelf space with some of its most popular beers.

Vanishing Shelf Space as SKUs Multiply

As store shelf space continues to shrink, we expect to see more beer and hard seltzer hybrid variety packs. In December of 2020, Colorado-based Bootstrap Brewing Company announced its own beer and seltzer Party Pack.

The Bootstrap 12-pack contains two cans each of six different varieties, including five beers and a seltzer kicker. The beers include Insane Rush IPA, Wreak Havoc Imperial Red Ale, Chillax Pineapple Gold, Lush Puppy Juicy IPA, Stick’s Pale Ale, and the new Sparkalicious Hard Seltzer.

The packs will rotate between three different flavors of Sparkalicious, all inspired by classic cocktails: three Sparklalicious flavors, the Greyhound, Tequila Sunrise, and Cosmopolitan.

While hard seltzer continues to surge in popularity, blending boxes with beer and boozy bubbly water is an innovative way to get the best of both segments. And don’t be surprised if we soon see beers in the pack outnumbered by hard seltzer.

Erin Grafton
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