(Burlington, VT) – On December 21st, we wrote to Alchemy & Science Co-Founder, Stacey Steinmetz, about The Just Beer Project. She declined to elaborate… “We are still tinkering!” We wrote up this long post anyway and vowed to save it for the newsletter re-launch which unfortunately took six weeks. News finally surfaced about the project this week though little has developed since its launch so here it is…as it was then.

[Note: this went live to newsletter subscribers shortly after midnight on the East Coast.]

—

Alchemy & Science, the Boston Beer Company (BBC) subsidiary led by two former Magic Hat Brewing executives (Founder, Alan Newman, and Director of Marketing, Stacey Steinmetz) has kickstarted its third beer brand: The Just Beer Project.

What we know thus far:

A&S filed the brand as a new business entity in Pennsylvania (where one of the BBC facilities is based) on November 13th. Shortly before that, BBC filed two label approvals (just keg collars, no package): one for Just IPA and another for Just Beer.

Just two weeks later, The Just Beer Project made its soft debut at an unassuming Burlington bar, Three Needs Taproom & Brewery. Here is a shot of the taphandle. A tipster tells BeerPulse that they’ve seen Just Beer, an easy-drinking session ale, on tap at a few watering holes around Burlington.

Steinmetz declined to offer information for this story saying, “We are still tinkering!”

The other Just Beer:

So, what about the other Just Beer? The brand that Bill Russell created under Buzzards Bay Brewing during the summer of 2009?

It appears to be done though Buzzards Bay did not answer its phone on late Friday afternoon to confirm.

The ItsJustBeer Twitter handle is just a shell and the website now redirects to a new (but blank) WordPress blog created two weeks ago. Buzzards Bay Brewing is still very much alive and kicking but hasn’t mentioned the Just Beer brand since October 21st on Twitter. Curiously, a Just Beer label made its way to approval just two days before the aforementioned BBC labels on November 12th. And an email newsletter arrived on November 24th still referencing the Just Beer brand as if nothing had happened.

Brand identity:

While complexity and innovation around beer styles is still the center of buzz these days (yes, the session movement is there, too), Russell’s idea apparently caught the eye of Alchemy & Science. Not that Newman hadn’t been tooting the anti-beer geek horn for quite a while himself, describing the beer geek culture as “one of the industry problems.”

The modus operandi for The Just Beer Project?

The brand’s premise looks to be about as basic as its logo (though still not as basic as Russell’s logo for the brand, pictured to the right).

Marketing that can be seen on the brand’s Facebook page (and coasters) says, “The beer to order while figuring out what beer to order.” Also, “The beer that beer would drink.”

Just Beer might appeal to the beer drinker curious about craft but likely to stand in a liquor store aisle or at a draft line-heavy bar for five minutes, overwhelmed by the options, before making a decision.

Opportunities in Casual Craft:

According to a survey of craft beer drinkers taken in 2011 (via NACS – subscription), about half of the ‘casual craft’ consumers illustrated in the above scenario will buy a very familiar mass domestic. In one-third of the cases, they’ll buy a familiar import. In only 16% of cases, will they pick a ‘craft’ option and more than likely something they are familiar with thanks to television like Samuel Adams or Blue Moon. And more than likely only if they’re attending a special gathering or are having a night out.

That same survey claims that ‘beer geeks’ make up 12% of all craft consumers, ‘core craft drinkers’ make up 56% and this ‘casual craft’ group makes up 34%. ‘Casual craft’ makes up only 20% of sales though.

Those last two numbers are only going to grow as mainstream attention does.

For some drinkers, though, the leap from mass domestic/import to Blue Moon/Shock Top/Samuel Adams is too far a jump.

Consider this chart:

 

Samuel Adams has a huge lead over other large ‘craft’ brands in appeal to ‘casual craft’ drinkers.

That’s where The Just Beer Project could make a splash, especially when you consider the importance of in-store displays to this type of drinker. 75% are influenced by what they see in the store. The Just Beer branding is simple but is bold, jumps out and carries a straightforward message.

The Big Picture:

How does Alchemy & Science fit in with the overall plan for The Boston Beer Company? For the baseball fans out there familiar with this term, could it act as a “farm system” cultivating brands that drinkers flock to before trading up to Samuel Adams? It would be a smart move for Boston Beer to create brands that funnel drinkers into Samuel Adams (imagine the possibilities around co-branded events and collaborations down the road considering Boston Beer’s resources). That or A&S will ‘incubate’ a mix of craft brands across all segments…from the most casual to the geekiest.

It will take years to flesh out but who knows…maybe A&S could become the craft beer version of vertical integration applied to the beer drinker life cycle.

Make Carnegie proud…or just make beer.