Miller will geniunely be on draft, in the fridge. Photo: William Hartz, Flickr

Beer conglomerate MillerCoors, The Wall Street Journal reports, has responded to sliding sales with some tweaking in the packaging department. For $20, their new "Home Draft" beer box will keep 1.5 gallons -- equivalent to 16 12-ounce beers -- of Miller Lite or Coors Light fresh in the fridge for about 30 days, a change from previous "mini-keg style" distribution systems meant to be consumed in one sitting (with a number of guests, of course!). This disposable, recyclable and affordable "draft beer system" has already begun test marketing in a number of cities.

MillerCoors is hoping the new packaging will help woo "the 30 percent of beer drinkers who say they prefer draft beer to the bottled or canned variety." Much like Heineken's DraughtKeg which started with strong sales before cooling off, the novelty of the gadget itself may be part of the appeal. With Miller Lite witnessing a 7.5-percent sales drop, they're happy to move product any way they can.



[Via The Wall Street Journal]

Budweiser mastered the mass-marketing of beer across America. And Miller gave us the first mainstream "lite" beer, creating a nationwide sales phenomenon. But Coors gave us the aluminum can.

The Rocky Mountain News reported that yesterday marked the 50th anniversary of Coors unveiling the U.S. beer industries "first seamless, recyclable aluminum beer can." Previously, beer was canned in tin containers that were hard to recycle and tainted the beer's taste. Industry transition to the now ubiquitous aluminum can didn't happen overnight -- other brewers with entrenched interests objected -- but eventually the entire steel beverage can industry was rendered obsolete.

To this day, Coors owns and helps operate the nation's largest aluminum can manufacturing plant. And in today's "go green" world, Coors also likes to remind us that in 1959, immediately after introducing the aluminum can, "Coors launched a recycling revolution by offering a penny for every can returned to the brewer." As they succinctly state in their environmental stewardship brochure: "We invented the recyclable aluminum can."

So Coors may or may not have been the alcoholic beverage of choice that caused that vagrant you see collecting aluminum cans to live on the street, but they're definitely the ones who helped give him a second chance!

What?! Too soon? Come on, it's been 50 years! Happy golden anniversary to Golden, Colorado's aluminum can.

[via Rocky Mountain News]

Beer snobs take note: Last year 48.7% of all beer consumed in the U.S. came via a can. Sure, that's no aluminum mandate, but it easily beats out bottles (41.5%) and the almighty draught (at a piddling 9.5%).

Pondering the power of the can isn't one of my regular activities, but after reading this article about MillerCoors continuing to tweak their highly advertised "cold-activated" technology, I was reminded that canned beer is big business -- so much so that making both sides of Coors Light cans cold-activated (with "a thermochromatic label, which changes color depending on temperature") as opposed to the former single-sided color-changing can is a news worthy event.

These can advances aren't unprecidented. Earlier this year Coors introduced the "Vented Wide Mouth" for smoother pours. And the now-ubiquitous wide mouth can itself is a relatively new phenomenon introduced in the late 1990s. But seriously, what's the big deal?

Funny you should ask; some small brewers are saying the same thing. Today I stumbled upon this interesting article on Chow.com discussing how changes in canning technology are now allowing for more canned products in the craft beer industry. Previously -- the stigma of canned beer aside -- canning micro brews wasn't even plausable. But with the recent introduction of smaller canning systems, craft brewers saw the opportunity to target new consumers. Credit Oskar Blues for leading the charge. Since canning their Dale's Pale Ale in 2002, the Colorado brewer has become nearly synomous with high-end canned craft beers... and made a name for themselves in the process.

Canned crafts have a number of appeals -- the cachet, a retro vibe, rarity -- beyond the basic portability and convenience of aluminum cans, but is it a trend that's here to stay? Well, 48.7% of beer drinkers can't be wrong. If the craft beer market continues to grow, and more craft beers end up in cans, that means more cans in our immediate future.

[Photo Credit: oskarblues.com]

Say goodbye to an era. MillerCoors is discontinuing Zima.

Trying to crack the Zima website for research was like Fort Knox. They must really want to deter underage drinkers from finding info about this antiquated alcopop, which I guess makes sense for a beverage I haven't seen or drank since high school. Even once entrance was granted, I barely recognized what I saw: Gone was the distinctive blue and black label with the thin white font -- replaced by three (count 'em, three) Zima flavors.

Reading the Zima Wikipedia page is like a who's who of forgotten trends, pointing out that Zima is probably the last vestige of the "clear craze" (quite a run!), reminding us of the oft forgotten Zima Gold failure, and sadly hinting that generations are soon to come that won't understand one lick of the classic Simpson's line "Excuse me, I ordered a Zima, not Emphysema!"

MillerCoors will still be filling orders on a first-come, first-serve basis. Nostalgia-ites, grab your Zima while you can before "zomething different" plays its final zwan zong.

...And yes, I didn't mention those early '90s Zima commercials on purpose. Some things must rest in peace.

[via St. Louis Business Journal] [Photo Credits: wikipedia.org / zima.com]

Sparks, the "caffeinated alcohol beverage with a blend of caffeine, taurine, guarana and ginseng extract," has been around since 2002 and has been owned by Miller since 2006, so it certainly isn't a new phenomenon. However, a number of questionable decisions recently have led to a massive backlash against the beverage and may well spell the end of alcohol/energy drink hybrids on the market.

General sentiment has been building that caffeinated alcohol beverages pose a risk to drinkers, especially for younger and underage drinkers who the beverages' detractors believe the products directly target. In fact, last summer, Anheuser-Busch received enough pressure that they eventually stopped making caffeinated-alcohol products. However, MillerCoors managed not only to slip by, but appears to have decided to do some flaunting.

First, the company announced they would be releasing Sparks Red this October, an addition to the Sparks product line that will have as much as 8% alcohol by volume -- a significant step up from the original Sparks' 6% ABV. Then there was backlash against what many considered to be a raunchy and unethical advertising campaign.

Well, they got publicity, but probably not what they were hoping for. As of yesterday, district attorneys from 25 states have called for the cancellation of the Sparks Red launch and, last week, the Center for Science in the Public Interest sued MillerCoors to stop selling Sparks all together. Public opinion seems to be shutting this industry down.

[Photo Credit: MillerCoors]