Articles published under the media release byline are news produced by the relevant business and remain unedited by Brews News. This media release was circulated by Ballistic Beer Co.
Why is Queensland owned and operated Ballistic Beer Co. refreshing its packaging and tweaking its core range product offering? Because customers wanted them to!
Just after their third birthday, Ballistic began working on a fresh look and fresh taste with the relaunch taking place early June.
Ballistic Beer Co Head Brewer Lachy Crothers said earlier this year, they started thinking about how customers perceived their beers and brand.
“We conducted a number of focus groups and online surveys to gather as much information as we could – our customers told us our old, one-colour can designs didn’t reflect the liquid inside.”
Crothers said they listened and made a number of changes to the range culminating in a four-point plan: a liquid refresh, can refresh, name refresh and price refresh.
“We had a great base to work from and the designs and beers have served us very well but in the craft beer business if you aren’t evolving and moving forward you’re going backwards,” said Crothers.
“We have used this opportunity to make some of the changes we have been wanting to make for some time.”
The can refresh means the designs are lighter, brighter and better reflect the personality of the beers so consumers can see the beers on the shelf and easily identify what style of beer is in each can.
Wade Curtis, Ballistic Beer Co. Marketing Project Manager, said research indicates that customers usually select the type of beer they buy based on the style of beer, the brand of beer and the price.
“As a smaller producer we don’t have a huge advertising budget so we need our cans to jump off the shelf and into customers’ hands to try – we think the changes we have made do that,” said Curtis.
The changes to the range are as follows:
| OLD | NEW | TASTING NOTES | CHANGES |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pale Ale 5.2% | Pale Ale 4.6% | Light and refreshing. A light bright contemporary Pale Ale with tropical and spicy hop notes. | Reduced ABV but maintained fullness of flavour. Changed water salt profile to enhance softness of palate. |
| Dirty Word Lager 5% | Lager 4.4% | A crisp and refreshing lager, dry and light in body with noble hop characters. | The Springfield Pilsner recipe replaces Dirty Word Lager entirely and Dirty World Lager is retired. Reduced malt and hop complexity to make the beer more approachable and reduced ABV. |
| Pilot Light 3.5% | Cold One 3.5% | A full bodied, bright tropical and complex beer punching well above its weight. Easy Tiger is an out and out craft beer high in flavour and self-control. | The beer will have a new and improved recipe based on the old Pilot Light recipe but tweaked into a more easy drinking, but still noticeably hoppy, mid strength pale ale. A new hop bill to make it less piney and lighter and brighter. Changed water salt profile, added more oats and wheat, changed mash schedule to increase fullness of body, and changed lautering process to reduce astringency. |
| Revelation IPA 6.5% | IPA 5.8% | Contemporary IPA on trend with Aussie drinkers. Light malt body designed to prop up brighter hops. Complex yet inviting hop bill with fruity, piney, berry and earthy characters. An IPA for drinking. | The recipe for IPA has been totally revised to reduce the malt character and increase the vibrance of the Australian Vic Secret hop aroma. |
| Oaked XPA 5.8% | Oaked XPA 5.5% | A full bodied Xtra Pale Ale. Fresh mango and grapefruit notes are complimented from vanilla characters from the toasted American oak. | There will be no changes to the flavour of Ballistic’s most highly awarded beer except for a slightly lower ABV. |
The changes in ABV have also allowed Ballistic to maintain, or in some cases reduce, its wholesale prices and in turn make the beers more appealing to retailers and more affordable for customers.
“While the objective of the refresh was not to change prices we didn’t feel we could reduce the alcohol percentage and save on excise without passing this saving onto our wholesale and retail customers,” said Ballistic Beer Co CEO David Kitchen.
“We are banking on the new look, the tweaked recipes and the renewed marketing messages to really drive the Ballistic brand out of the current COVID-19 impacted environment and into the traditional beer buying periods of summer and Christmas.”
It’s the best reason to go Ballistic!
Consumers can find Ballistic Beer Co. beers in pubs and bars (once they reopen), independent bottleshops, major chain bottleshops and Ballistic’s own breweries and bars.
Great work Ballistic! Can’t wait to try