In recent years, the beverage alcohol industry has flocked toward buzzwords like “flavor-forward” as a way to describe products with a bold taste. And the products are all the rage, with the American drinking public largely reaffirming its collective thirst for uncomplicated, easy-to-approach drinks. Consider the success of products like White Claw, BeatBox, and Skrewball peanut butter whiskey. Today, however, we’re turning our attention to one of the earliest successful forays into flavor-forward beer by the country’s biggest brewer.
On this episode of “Taplines,” we’re joined by Jeff Musial, a bev-alc industry veteran who was working in research and development for new products at Anheuser-Busch in the mid-aughts. This was a heady moment for the St. Louis giant. Bud Light volumes would peak in 2008, the same year the Brazilian-led Belgian outfit InBev would complete its hostile takeover of the firm. But before any of that, Jeff and his team would launch a new line extension of the A-B flagship, Bud Light Lime, which cracked the code on flavor-forward fruited light lagers for the United States’ leading purveyor of ‘em. Tune in for more.
