Planning Ahead of the Curve With New Legislation

In a day where innovation is key to breweries’ success, refreshing your brand every once in a while just can’t hurt. 

In Park City, Utah, Wasatch Brewery announced a brand refresh along with the release of some new beers.

This didn’t come out of nowhere, though. The refresh was sparked by a new Utah law that allows stronger ABV beers on shelves in stores. Previous legislation only allowed 4% ABV beers, which has since been increased to 5% ABV. The change went into effect November 1.

Our founders did a lot of legislative heavy lifting in the early days, allowing craft beer to take place in the state of Utah,” Maxwell Christen said, Senior Marketing Manager for Squatters and Wasatch Craft Beers. “We felt the current change in Utah legislation was the perfect time to be disruptive in the market and provide Utah craft beer lovers an updated look and feel to celebrate with.”

Wasatch is introducing two new beers to the lineup, slated to begin appearing on shelves at the beginning of this month, Pickup Lime Sour Ale (4.8% ABV) and Island Hop Tropical IPA (5% ABV.)

The new beers also bring with them an updated look, with clean, bright, font-driven graphics and prominent logo placement, and away from painterly images, according to a press release. 

“The craft beer segment is more cluttered and competitive than ever, and our longtime Creative Director, Scott Doutre wanted to continue the irreverent attitude of Wasatch and speak loudly and clearly to the craft consumer at the point of sale,” Christen said.

An ever-evolving market means innovating to stay relevant.

“With some adjustments to ABV at grocery and convenience stores according to Utah’s new legislation we believe this effort will position our brewery, distributors and retailers for a focused effort of maximizing the opportunities of expanded distribution, sampling and accelerated velocity with the craft drinker,” Christen said.

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