USA – Molson Coors Beverage Company has released a new brand called Blue Moon LightSky, a 95-calorie, light citrus wheat beer brewed at its revamped brewery in Denver, Colorado, USA.
The Blue Moon LightSky, which launched nationally at the beginning of February, is said to be brewed with real tangerine peel and pours light golden in color with a slight haze.
According to the brewer, the 4% alcohol-by-volume beer packs bright citrus notes on the nose, complemented by a touch of malt sweetness and finishes clean with a hint of tropical fruit.
“We wanted to brew a beer that had all of the flavor and qualities of Blue Moon but in a lighter profile,” says Sarah Irizarry, associate marketing manager for the brand.
“Drinkers are shifting to more premium, yet lighter offerings. But they’re still interested in flavor and they still want to drink beer. We know Blue Moon LightSky delivers on that.”
Packaged in white 12-ounce slim cans and 16-ounce single-serve cans dominated with a vertical “LightSky” in blue script, the year-round beer will be backed with a marketing campaign that includes television spots slated to debut in March.
Molson Coors said that the brand has already secured robust initial distribution in national and regional chain retailers.
Like other Blue Moon beers such as Blue Moon Mango Wheat and Blue Moon Iced Coffee Blonde, Blue Moon LIghtSky was developed at the brand’s at its RiNo brewery in Denver, USA.
The brewery was recently installed with new equipment to bump its brewing capacity up 50% to 4,500 barrels to meet growing global demand for its range of craft beers.
The roughly US$250,000 expansion in RiNo is the first of several planned capital improvement projects in Colorado for Molson Coors. The company has also revealed plans to invest hundreds of millions to upgrade its giant brewery in Golden, Colorado.
Molson Coors says that Blue Moon LightSky is a key part of the company’s effort to reshape its portfolio and align its offerings behind consumer trends fueling market growth amid seismic shifts in the beer industry.
Among these macrotrends is a shift toward products that fall into two spaces: one led by health and wellness trends and another driven by flavor.
Blue Moon LightSky hits both of them, says Andrew Walker, vice president of above premium beer at Molson Coors Beverage Company.
“We wanted to make this beer unique and distinctive to the Blue Moon portfolio,” Walker says. “We think Blue Moon LightSky is going to bring new drinkers into the Blue Moon family of brands and continue to elevate the brand as a whole.”
