New Belgium Ranger IPA

New Belgium is set to release a new set of beers and packaging design: http://tiny.cc/awPCR

I think this is a great move and something that can help New Belgium penetrate deeper in their own markets. The label is a big departure from their traditional water color designs which will make it unique and differentiated but the bike logo will help facilitate customer sampling.

So long as this label doesn't cannibalize other tap handles or shelf space that New Belgium currently holds, it's a great way to leverage the large and presumably quality distribution network that New Belgium has built. A beer company of New Belgium's size has a couple of key assets - a brand and a distribution network. This play seems to leverage both in the right way.

If the new brand is sufficiently distinct from the rest of the brands in the portfolio, New Belgium could even have this brewed under contract without further complicating their operations in Fort Collins - they have enough authenticity in their flagship and it's something I think they could pull off from a marketing perspective.

From a brand perspective, although there is some risk that brewing this style of beer takes New Belgium away from it's Belgian story, the IPA style is at least proven, popular and growing. New Belgium can use it's brand equity for brewing high quality tasty beers to encourage people to sample the beer. The next trick will be getting consumers to adopt in in their regular purchases or push a few other IPA styles out of the market.

I wonder which markets they will target first - Colorado of course and I would think CA would be a close second - both are nearby with strong sales teams and distributors, as well as a drinking palate that likes IPAs. I'm hopeful that the beer is as good as we'd expect from New Belgium.