• Ad Age, Friday, March 21, 2008 12 PM

Budweiser American Ale--a darker, richer beer than Budweiser lager--will roll out Oct. 6 with expectations that it will help the brewer reach a new set of consumers, according to Marlene Coulis, A-B's vice president-consumer strategy and innovation. Coulis says A-B's Michelob brand family, which has been spinning off new craft styles for more than a decade, is the model for the new brew, which is designed to help the King of Beers ride a trend of consumer preferences favoring imports and crafts over macrobrews.

Coulis says she isn't yet able to discuss the scale of the launch, and it isn't clear if Budweiser American Ale will be receiving advertising support, or who would be making the ads if it did. One reason for that: The federal label application for the brand was uncovered by Miller, which reported it on its corporate blog, perhaps earlier than A-B had intended to discuss it.

More recently, A-B has tended to roll out Bud extensions at moments when the overall Budweiser family has been struggling to post growth. Budweiser Select's 2005 launch fit that bill, boosting the brewer's growth for a year before falling into a steep spiral that has continued ever since. A-B also plans to launch a lime-flavored version of Bud Light this May.

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