Braxton Brewing was ready to leave 2020 in the past and start the new year off right. The Northern Kentucky brewery did just that by debuting two new products, a new variety pack as part of their VIVE Hard Seltzer brand and a collaboration beer with a legendary Cincinnati ice cream company.

Braxton launched PUNCH, a fruit punch hard seltzer part of their VIVE Hard Seltzer brand at the end of February. Braxton launched PUNCH with four flavors; Original Punch, Sunrise Punch, Tropical Punch and Southern Punch.

Hard seltzers have taken over the market. That’s no secret. There are now over a hundred brands of hard seltzers. Braxton knew if they wanted to grow their hard seltzer brand, they needed to make something different. Something that hadn’t already been done before. Braxton saw the consumer trend and popularity of variety packs and built upon that.

“So Vive as a traditional flavor profile is great and it’s awesome,” Jake Rouse, Braxton Brewing’s CEO and co-founder said. “But in reality, we really needed to make sure that we were doing something that was special. We took a hard look at the brand and really wanted to understand what can we do to kind of make something special that really stands out. And so, what we landed on was creating punch-based hard seltzer.”

“We really did our due diligence to understand what are the opportunities, what are the gaps,” Rouse continued. “And where we landed wast here’s a big, big, big opportunity for customers to try fruit punch, kind of that nostalgic flavor profile.”

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Braxton followed up the release of PUNCH Vive Hard Seltzer by once again partnering with Cincinnati-based and family-owned ice cream company, Graeter’s Ice Cream to brew a Caramel Machiatto Milk Stout.

Why did Braxton decide on Caramel Machaitto for this beer’s flavor? The Caramel Machiatto Milk Stout coincides with the launch of Graeter’s annual March Mystery Flavor, Caramel Macchiato.

“Anytime we have an opportunity to combine new with new, it usually lines up to create something really special,” Rouse said. “So when we sat down towards the end of 2020, with the Graeter’s team, they outlined their big priorities. And we really wanted to partner up on the release of their brand new ice cream, which is caramel macchiato ice cream. And so because of that, we were able to work together to recreate this milk stout.”

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The partnership between Braxton and Graeter’s began in 2017, and since the two have collaborated on six beers. Previous collaborations include Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip Milk Stout, Blueberry Pie Brown Ale, Black Cherry Chocolate Chip White Stout, Ice Cream Pumpkin Pie Ale and Key Lime Pie Ale. 

“The relationship with Graeter’s has been really fantastic,” Rouse said. “It all started with them looking for, ironically, wanting to create a beer-flavored ice cream.  My brother and I’ve been local family businesses, you know, we really wanted to create something special. And when we heard that they were interested in working with us, we basically sat down with their team and said, “Hey, even if it’s just for us in this room, we really need to make sure that we are at least get a shot at creating black raspberry chip ice cream.” And so they said “Yeah, let’s give it a shot.” We tried it together and absolutely fell in love with the beer. And so with that kind of sparked this amazing partnership with two family businesses coming together to really promote you know, everything that’s great about the tri-state area.”

“To be honest, when we get together with Graeter’s, it’s all about, you know, what’s fun?” Rouse continued. “What can we do that’s fun for both companies, right? And how do we promote both companies together to kind of do something that’s really special.”

The two have done just that over the past four years with their six beers. And due to the local-ness of the two companies, they decided to keep the Caramel Machiatto Milk Stout local as well. Caramel Machiatto Milk Stout is only be sold in Northern Kentucky, Cincinnati and Dayton area.

If you can’t find the Caramel Machiatto Milk Stout, you will be able to find PUNCH Vive Hard Seltzer. Punch will be available year-round in all markets that Braxton Brewing products are sold. To learn more about both of these products, visit braxtonbrewing.com.

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