(Aberdeen, SCOTLAND) – It hadn’t even occurred to me…

When I posted the labels for Old World IPA and Old World Imperial Stout last month, it didn’t hit me that the BrewDog name wasn’t even on them. Just the signatures of the two fellows from Aberdeen and the following: “Brewed and bottled by JBW 77.” What is JBW 77? I have no idea and failed to ask Managing Director, James Watt, when checking in on these new labels. All I know is that the company was incorporated in 2005, long before BrewDog made its first commercial beer.

The name Ocean 77 appears to be based on that company, located at “Ocean View” in Aberdeenshire. Watt says that these two beers, Ocean 77 IPA and Ocean 77 Stout, will be sold exclusively at “a key retail partner who will also be stocking the BrewDog range.” Unless Watt misspoke, the key word there is “will.” Watt says he can’t reveal the mystery U.S. chain just yet but I’m hard-pressed to think of a large beverage retailer that doesn’t already carry BrewDog. It must be one of the supermarket chains on this list, right?

Retailer-exclusives aren’t all that uncommon. BrewDog’s Old World beers linked above will be exclusive to Total Wine and More. Firestone Walker and Unibroue brew beers exclusively for Trader Joe’s. Small retailers are also in the game. Captain Lawrence Brewing has brewed one for DeCicco’s Market in New York and Schlafly brewed one for Culinaria in St. Louis.

There could be any number of reasons as to why a brewery will enter into such a deal. Imagine being a buyer for a chain and being on the fence about taking in a new product. Now a manufacturer asks, “Well, what if we make you something that will be exclusively sold here and nowhere else?” That makes their case a bit more compelling. The retailer may also be the one that approaches the brewery about a deal. In some situations, if a product is already carried by a store, an exclusive is just a creative way to thank the store for its support.

In any event, look for BrewDog to expand its reach here in the U.S. next year.