Fifty West Brewing Co. recently announced the release of its craft beer cans in the Greater Cincinnati area. Patrons can purchase its three core beers — Coast to Coast IPA, American Lager and Doom Pedal White Ale — at restaurants, bars and retail locations throughout the city. Distribution began on Jan. 30.
Managing Partner Bobby Slattery has cultivated the Fifty West brand for five years and couldn’t be more thrilled to release cans to his hometown.
“It’s been a long road arriving at this can launch,” said Slattery. “I felt strongly that staying away from cans in the early years of the business, granted us a learning curve to be adventurous and gain experience without massive consequences. We’ve spent time perfecting our brewing techniques and flavor profiles, while steadily growing our draft presence and our brand throughout the city. Our four core values of craftsmanship, tradition, innovation and especially patience played key roles, as we wanted to ensure we got everything right, including the look of the cans, so that consumers can feel confident in our taste and quality, amidst countless choices on shelves. We’re ready to meet our mounting retail demand, and I couldn’t be prouder of our team as our journey continues.”
Production Manager Scott LaFolette focused heavily on quality control on the road towards canning. He said: “We made a large capital investment in equipment for our craft beer laboratory. Each of our core canned beers went through countless tests and tweaks until we arrived at exactly how we wanted each of them to taste. We hope Greater Cincy enjoys these beers as much as we do, and we look forward to working with our distribution partner Stagnaro Distributing to ensure our cans hit as many shelves as possible.”
Retailers are looking forward to Fifty West becoming more ubiquitous throughout the city.
“Kroger has been waiting five years for Fifty West beer to be available on shelves,” said Denton Davis, adult beverage/DSD category manager for Kroger. “I look forward to seeing their beautifully designed cans and quality craft beer in our Kroger beer aisles. I’m sure most people will agree, the wait was worth it.”
The entire month of February will include can sampling events throughout the city with chain and independent retailers. Check your local shop for their events schedule to interact with the Fifty West crew and sample the new wares.
This can launch is only the beginning, with many more craft beer varieties planned for launch in the future. Look to summer 2018 for the launch of Punch You in the EyePA to coincide with Fifty West’s annual Punch-Out event, and stay tuned for further releases.
