WISEACRE Brewing Company has announced its plans to launch statewide distribution in five new states — Kentucky and New Jersey in February and Colorado, North Carolina and South Carolina in March. Just in time for this expansion, WISEACRE is also launching a new year-round beer Bow Echo, a hazy IPA with notes of citrus and tropical fruit and a fluffy texture derived from oats. Bow Echo Hazy IPA will join Ananda India Pale Ale, Gotta Get Up to Get Down Coffee Milk Stout and the Great American Beer Festival Bronze Medal-winning Tiny Bomb Pilsner as part of WISEACRE’s signature lineup. WISEACRE is currently sold in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Mississippi and Tennessee, so the expansion will mean that WISEACRE fans in a total of 14 states will be able to buy all of the Memphis-based brewery’s year-round beers closer to home.
“Bow Echo is somewhat of a child of MemFresh, the rotating series of small-batch IPAs we’ve worked on for a few years,” said Davin Bartosch, WISEACRE co-founder and brewmaster. “There were a lot of happy IPA fans when we launched the series and we’ve learned a ton about ingredients and processes on Hazy IPAs over those years. So we decided we’d better pump up the volume, literally, and make it available year-round. And, thanks to our new brewery, we have the capacity to get Bow Echo to fans in Memphis and beyond.”
WISEACRE’s expansion into new states comes on the heels of the completion of its new 40,000 square-foot facility in Downtown Memphis. The new brewery can produce 100,000 barrels of beer annually, nearly five times the quantity of the company’s first brewery, which it opened in 2013 and is still in operation. New canning technology and equipment has also made it possible for WISEACRE to introduce new packaging options like 16 ounce cans and 12-packs, including a 12-can Variety Pack featuring Ananda, Gotta Get Up to Get Down, Tiny Bomb and a rotating seasonal beer. Sun Bump Belgian Wit will be the first of the rotating seasonals – it made a brief appearance last year, but this marks its first full year of extended distribution.
“In light of COVID, we’ll hold off having events at bars and restaurants for now so we can continue to follow safe business practices for our staff, distributors, retailers and customers. And while this launch will look very different from those in the past, we are no less excited for it!” Kellan Bartosch, WISEACRE co-founder, said. “We will start shipping beer to new places with the promise that there will be a true On-Premise launch down the road when it’s safe. That may be in the summer or it may be well after, but we are committed to bringing the excitement of a market launch when the time is right. In the meantime, it is thrilling that, even in these times, we have distributor partners, retailers, and customers in far away places who can’t wait to drink Tiny Bomb and the rest of the WISEACRE family of beers!”
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