Gambrinus Takes Texan Mindset to “Domestic” Space – Beer Business Daily – beer industry news and numbers

Dear Client:

Gambrinus’ Spoetzl Brewery (makers of Shiner Beer) is entering the “classic” beer space with a classic of its own: Texas Special.

Indeed, the company is digging deep into its vault to revive the heritage brand, believing it has found white space in the increasingly crowded space of domestic, er American lagers with a decidedly Texan approach. 

It plans to compete in the space this year with Texas Special at a “fair” price point and sizable investment, all while keeping a healthy distance from the notable Shiner brand. 

We’ll dive deeper into all that and more below, but first, the brand. 

A NEAR 100-YEAR-OLD BRAND. If you haven’t heard of Texas Special, have no fear, it is an old, old beer. Yep, the brand goes back as far as modern U.S. brewing history goes back, with its debut coming at midnight the morning of December 5, 1933 to celebrate the repeal of Prohibition. 

It was the beer coming out of Spoetzl for several decades, until “large-scale domestic brewers began using aggressive pricing and tactics, effectively making the small-scale production of beers like Texas Special unsustainable,” per press materials.

REVIVING, REVAMPING AND RETOOLING. Now, after 60 or so years, the brand is making its return with a revamped recipe, and a new-to-world sidekick in Texas Special Light. Original Texas Special checks in at 4.4% ABV, while Texas Special Light clocks in at 4% ABV and holds 98 calories.

The two launched on draft this week in Texas and will roll out in package across the state on March 2nd (Texas Independence Day) in 12-packs and 24-oz. cans, with 12-packs holding a “fair” price point of $13.99 a pop.

BBD caught up with Shiner brand director, Nick Weiland, and Gambrinus national sales director, Tom Doyle, to uncover more about the play at hand.

A LONE LINE IN THE LONE STAR STATE? Speaking to the why of the revival, Nick told us plainly, “We want to have the opportunity to have a Texas brewed beer from a Texas brewery that sits in that heart of the beer category at a more accessible price point.” 

He acknowledges “there are plenty of Texan beers at the high-end of the spectrum (i.e. craft), and there are some at the economy end of the scale that are cheap and cheerful beers (i.e. Lone Star).” 

But this, Nick contends, is “a high-quality premium beer at the heart of the category, a Texan beer that’s sold at that domestic price tier from a 100% Texas brewery,” something he claims has “not existed.”

So, that’s “the opportunity,” Nick said, to sit smack in that domestic/American segment with full Texas flair.

KEEPING A DISTANCE FROM SHINER. In light of its desire to exist squarely in that space, you won’t find much connection between Texas Special and the mother brand, Shiner. Indeed, Texas Special’s packaging, while carrying nods to Spoetzl Brewery, will be absent of any Shiner cues (see brewpic below). And it will hold a degree of separation on shelf too.

They haven’t had any retailers tell them that the Texas Special line needs to sit next to Shiner brands on shelf, and don’t anticipate that happening, but if somebody were to say it, they’d tell them they don’t want it there, Tom said of their “strong conviction” to keep the two separate. “It needs to be where other domestic brands are,” he said.

$1 MILLION MARKETING PLAN OUT OF THE GATES. While Texas Special might appear as a stand-alone brand on shelf, it is set to receive Shiner backing behind the scenes, as they’ve got “a lot lined up” for the brand this year, Nick said.

“All in all, we’ve got a million-dollar marketing plan that we’re rolling out,” he said, which will “include a variety of tactics across a heavy digital paid social influencer plan, a layer of out of home, and a lot of opportunities in experiential and activations.”

Out of the gates, Nick said they’re the “title sponsor” of San Antonio Icehouse Week this month, wherein they’ll roll the new line to close to 50 different Icehouses across the greater San Antonio area, “which are just the kind of accounts that Texas Special is a perfect beer for.” They’ll follow that up by being “the title domestic beer sponsor” of Cattle Country Music Festival music festival in Gonzales over April. They’ll also have some activations around the Austin area during South by Southwest next month and later in the year during Austin City Limits. 

Last but not least, and among other food and music festivals they plan to activate this year, Nick said they’ll use their relationship with the Texas State Fair (where Shiner is an ongoing sponsor) as an opportunity to get Texas Special out and have it be “front and center.”

“So, we’re really leaning heavily into getting the beer out there, and driving these opportunities that make it feel natural, organic, almost like a brand that’s always been there,” Nick said, “like it never went away.”

Closing out, Nick and Tom tell BBD that as “excited” as they are about the new line, distributor and retailer partners are just as “excited… From our vantage point, our distributors have plenty of domestic national beer brands. What they don’t have is a domestic Texas beer brand. And now they do.”

BEER UNDERPERFORMS THE LATEST WEEK OF SCANS, BUT THE USUAL SUSPECTS KEPT GROWING

Another week of scandata, another tough showing for beer. In fact, the week ended 2/16 in the latest Circana saw beer fare the worst of the bev alc categories, as wine got a boost from Valentine’s Day. 

Where bev alc dollars were down 1.7% for the week, beer was down 3.7%, while spirits were up almost 2% and wine, usually faring the worst of the group, was up 0.8% (sparkling wine up 8.2%). 

“The data has recorded 6 weeks of 2025 and thus far results have been a bit confusing,” wrote Circana’s Scott Scanlon, offering some perspective. “Initially we had to sort through calendar alignment and then the question of Dry-Jan at a period when consumers are viewing healthier as longer than a month.  The SuperBowl was lackluster to year ago comps despite the larger than anticipated increase week of SB to prior week.”

But as much as we keep pointing to anomalies in the data, ostensibly due to weather, or weird comps, or whatever, the same brands seem to be growing regardless, while the rest is a sea of red. 

Case in point, even in this not-great week for beer, we see the Michelob brand family up 3.6%, White Claw up 2%, Busch brand fam up 1%, Pacifico up almost 10%, Sierra up 2.3%, Cayman Jack up almost 13%, Clubtails up 8.4%, Guinness up almost 6%, Victoria up 46%, Goose Island up 9.1%, Athletic up 21.9% (well after Dry January, at this point).

As for what’s ahead, Scott said, “if previous trends can be trusted, we should see a fairly consistent range until St. Patrick’s holiday.  Will be focused on potential shift to value-oriented products from premium as consumer sentiment declined recently.  The spirits category has already seen de-premiumization, but beer and wine continued biased toward premium.”

JACK IS BACK! AI ENERGY SIGNS REDWOOD WHOLESALERS  

Last Thursday, Jack Owoc’s Ai Energy Drink announced it has struck a “strategic partnership” with Redwood Beverage Company, the private equity juggernaut that has purchased some of the largest A-B wholesalers in the country, making Redwood the top U.S. A-B wholesaler. 

The partnership will sees Ai Energy go through Redwood partners in key markets — Silver Eagle Distributors in Texas, Heidelberg Distributing in Ohio and Kentucky, and Pepin Distributing in Florida — “significantly expand[ing] Ai Energy Drink’s national footprint, ensuring widespread availability across key markets,” per announcement.  

Prior to this announcement, we didn’t know terribly much about Ai’s route to market. Last fall we learned via Beverage Digest that Jack planned to use Europa Sports Partners and Muscle Foods USA to cover a swath of U.S. gyms. While it was unclear from the story if Jack would immediately use beer distributors for the off-premise retail trade, he seemed to be reconnecting with some of them. And of course, you can order the brand online (including on Amazon). 

The Redwood announcement came with some interesting timing: Last Thursday was of course also the day that Celsius announced it would take on Alani Nu, which largely goes through the A-B network. We’re not sure what will happen to Alani’s distribution, but Celsius, itself 8.5% owned by PepsiCo., goes through the Pepsi network. 

“NOOTROPIC ENERGY.” Jack’s new offering blurs the lines between energy and functional beverage. He says that Ai Energy “creates an entirely new, highly noticeable effect on key neurotransmitters like dopamine, acetylcholine, norepinephrine, and serotonin—establishing a groundbreaking new category that focuses primarily on the brain: nootropic energy,” he says. 

But that’s not all. The company has also just struck a partnership with Kyowa to include “the highly researched Cognizin ingredient into upcoming Ai Energy™️ Drink formulations,” which it promises will further enhance Ai Energy’s nootropic benefits, “supporting mental clarity, focus, and cognitive performance.” 

ICYMI: REYES TAKES ON FULL BROWN-FORMAN PORTFOLIO IN CALIFORNIA

Fresh off the news a couple of weeks ago that Reyes would take on Tito’s in California, the company is announcing that it has struck a partnership with whiskey et al. giant Brown-Forman in California, effective May 1, to distribute their full portfolio (as we alerted yesterday).  

Recall that Reyes has already been a “strong” partner to Brown-Forman,”supporting its Jack Daniel’s & Coca-Cola RTD in California since 2022,” per release. “Brown-Forman currently distributes its remaining spirits in California through Republic National Distributing Company.”

Brown-Forman’s EVP and president of Americas, Michael Masick, said that “optimizing our routes to market is critical” as they continue to grow. 

“After careful consideration, including a formal request for proposal process that began in 2024, we’re confident that Reyes Beverage Group is the ideal partner to help us achieve our ambitious growth objectives in this key market,” he said.  

TOM DAY: B-F PARTNERSHIP AN OPPORTUNITY TO “FURTHER POSITION” REYES AS A TOTAL BEVERAGE DISTRIBUTOR. For Reyes’ part, chief Tom Day said the company is “thrilled to continue building our relationship with Brown-Forman and represent their full portfolio of legacy brands, led by the world-renowned Jack Daniel’s, in California.

“This partnership represents a significant opportunity for Reyes Beverage Group to further our position as a total beverage distributor and leverage our deep market knowledge and industry expertise to drive growth for Brown-Forman. We are confident that our combined strengths and shared values will create a powerful synergy, delivering exceptional results for both companies.”

“B-F HAS “ONGOING COMMITMENT” TO “EVOLVING ITS DISTRIBUTION NETWORK.” One has to wonder whether such B-F moves will be limited to California. The announcement later added that the partnership “reflects Brown-Forman’s ongoing commitment to evolving its distribution network to ensure long-term success in the U.S. The company recognizes the dynamic landscape of the beverage alcohol industry and is proactively adapting to capitalize on new opportunities.”

Note, the company is still with RNDC in many other states. “We value the relationships we’ve built with RNDC, including throughout the 23 other states where we work together, and we appreciate their continued partnership and focus on our shared success,” said Robinson Brown IV, B-F’s SVP and managing director, USA & Canada. 

RNDC’S LOSSES, REYES’ GAINS? The addition marks yet another top spirits brand springing for Reyes instead of RNDC in California. Recall, back in 2022, Sazerac jumped ship from RNDC to Reyes in the state (as well as in a few Texas cities and Hawaii). Then, Tito’s opted for Reyes in California last month. Now, Brown-Forman is following suit as well. 

WSWA CONVENTION: THE AGE OF “COMPETITIVE COLLABORATION” 

Earlier this month, our editors at Wine & Spirits Daily summed up some of the major themes from the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America’s annual Access Live convention, with some 2,000 in attendance. 

Collaboration across tiers was a top theme throughout the conference, particularly as it relates to advocacy efforts. 

“We need to align as a group – because the more voices, the stronger the message,” said WSWA chairwoman Dina Opici during the opening general session. Indeed, she opined the importance of getting involved, noting that while “WSWA is leading the charge” on the advocacy front, “they can’t do it alone. It takes everybody.” 

WSWA’S TOP PRIORITIES. Dina highlighted a few key priorities for the trade group this year. They aren’t so different from that of beer, as they include:

• Working with the new administration on proposed tariffs as well as retaliatory tariffs;
• The upcoming Dietary Guidelines; and
• Preservation of 199A tax deduction for family-owned businesses  

“We need to be present in the conversations that impact our longevity,” she added. Speaking of that…

HEALTH MESSAGING AND DIETARY GUIDELINES. Dr. Laura Catena joined Dina on stage to discuss the recent reports issued on the health effects of alcohol consumption and the impact on the Dietary Guidelines. 

The first report issued by the National Academies of Science Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) “brings us back to ‘in moderation,’” said Dr. Catena. 

She then pointed to a couple of issues with the second report issued by the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking (ICCPUD). For one thing, “they implied causality” between bev alc consumption and certain cancers rather than just noting an association. She also noted a concern about the members of the group themselves, with a few having anti-alcohol ties. 

“What is correct in the ICCPUD report is when they look at harms for excessive alcohol consumption,” she continues. “It’s the moderate consumption conclusions that are questionable.” 

Dr. Catena also encouraged audience members to write a public comment and contribute to the conversation. The public comment period is open until February 14. 

THE AGE OF “COMPETITIVE COLLABORATION.” SipSource analysts Danny Brager and Dale Stratton shared a look at the latest data as well as the forecast for 2025. 

“No bev alc category is immune from the current challenges,” said Danny, noting “that’s not really something we’ve seen in the past.” Part of that is because it’s not just one thing impacting bev alc consumption. Indeed, Dale pointed to consumer changes, competitive threats, the state of the economy and anti-alcohol attacks. 

In 2024, wine and spirits were collectively down 5.5% in volume and 5% in revenue. As per usual, spirits fared better than wine, with total spirits volumes down 3.7% and revenues down 4.3%, while wine volumes were down 7.2% and revenues were down 6.3% for the 12-month period. 

Dale said he’s “moved into the acceptance” stage– “the numbers are what they are. That doesn’t mean defeat, it means we need to figure out next where we’re going to go.” 

Danny added it’s “time to focus on rejuvenating category growth. We’re largely in the mature stage of the product lifestyle,” suggesting we’re moving into “the age of collaborative competition.” 

“Recovery will be slow, but Q1 comps are strong. Spirits in Q1 2024 were down 4.8% in volume and down 5.7% in revenue while wine saw decreases of -9.5% in volume and -7.6% in revenue,” said Dale. “In 2025, we should expect to see less impact from inventory management at the retail level – what destocking can happen already has. Retailers can only destock so far before failing to meet their consumers’ needs.” 

The SipSource forecast model shows trends stabilizing at about -5% in 2025 for total spirits (minus RTDs), under current conditions.

BREWPIC: Reintroducing Spoetzl’s Texas Special

Until tomorrow,

Harry, Jenn, Jordan and Bianca

“Character is power.” – Booker T. Washington

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