ScotCo launches white beer brand

Scottish Courage is extending its flagship Kronenbourg 1664 brand with the launch of a new white beer, specifically brewed for and targeted at the UK's pubs and bars.

The national brewer has thrown its hat into the speciality beer ring with Kronenbourg Blanc, an imported draught white beer that professes to be originally brewed in the 13th century by the master brewers at Brasseries Kronenbourg.

Its nationwide roll-out follows a prolonged test-marketing period in around 70 outlets in central London and Scotland.

Andy Neal, consumer marketing director of Scottish Courage, said: "Blanc tests started towards the end of the year in London and subsequently in central Scotland. This period has generated very positive feedback.

"The Kronenbourg portfolio offers individual drinks for different occasions and Blanc is designed to be enjoyed by drinkers wanting a change from their usual."

Blanc is likely to go head-to-head with other "cloudy" beers such as Hoegaarden, the market-leading wheat beer from the Interbrew stable.

Unlike Hoegaarden, Kronenbourg Blanc is not a wheat beer, but its cloudy appearance will nevertheless place it firmly as a competitor in a category reportedly growing at twice the rate of flavoured alcoholic beverages.

To accompany the launch a striking new font has been designed with a condensation effect incorporating the Head Injection Tap system, and the O-ring cooling system, which pours the beer at 3°C.

The latest addition to the ScotCo portfolio follows last year's introduction of Kronenbourg Premier Cru, a premium bottled lager aimed predominantly at the off-trade, and Kronenbourg Deco, a less well-received combination of a 275ml bottle of Kronenbourg and a packaged 25ml shot of genuine French absinthe.

Blanc will only be available in small 30-litre kegs, distributed with premium branded glassware and ideally priced at 30 per cent above premium lagers such as Stella Artois and the parent Kronenbourg 1664 brand.