• by Erik Oster , September 26, 2023

Molson Coors’ Blue Moon LightSky is kissing the “sky” goodbye, and rebranding as Blue Moon Light.

The move is part of a broader 2024 refresh from Molson Coors for the craft brand it launched in 1995, which also includes updated packaging design across the Blue Moon family of brands in early 2024 -- including Blue Moon’s original Blue Moon Belgian White Belgian-Style Wheat Ale (which has held that full moniker since MillerCoors reached a settlement with The Confederation of Belgian Breweries over its use of “Belgian White” in late 2000).

Molson Coors Beer & Beyond blog described the refresh as the first “brand update” for Blue Moon’s flagship since 2019, and an attempt to "provide  a kickstart to the top craft beer, the top light craft beer and the No. 2 draft handle in the U.S.”

At a recent distributor convention in Orlando,  Molson Coors Vice President, Above-Premium Beer Courtney Benedict explained the updated packaging is designed to give Blue Moon a more cohesive identity across its full brand family, adding, “We know that closing the deal at shelf is the critical touchpoint,” according to Beer & Beyond.

"In the past few years, we haven’t been telling a unified story, and Blue Moon’s new look brings all the brands together,” Rose Sokolnik, senior marketing manager for Blue Moon brands at Molson Coors, told Beer & Beyond. She said the new packaging performed well in consumer testing, which found it made the product easier to find, increased desirability and purchase intent, adding, “It was important to get the Blue Moon banner logo front and center across all packs; that’s how consumers shop for Blue Moon."

The refresh also seems timed to coincide with Blue Moon wading into the nonalcoholic category for the first time, with Blue Moon Non-Alcoholic Belgian White Belgian-Style Wheat Brew making its debut this December (allowing it to reach store shelves before Dry January).

The company claims it will be “the first non-alcoholic wheat brew from a major brewer” to hit the market. Athletic Brewing, the independent Milford, Connecticut-based nonalcoholic brewery listed as the 13th largest craft brewer for 2022 by the Brewers Association, and largely responsible for revolutionizing the nonalcoholic beer category, does brew a witbier and hefeweizen -- both styles of wheat ale -- but neither are widely released.

Updated packaging for the Blue Moon brand family will roll out in February, 2024. That will be a big month for Molson Coors’ beer brands, with Coors Light also taking center stage in the company’s Super Bowl ad.