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Notes -
I really should have thought of it sooner, but cider (hard cider) is the summer drink of recent years: it's tasty, low alcohol (depending on what brand, ranging from 4.5% ABV upwards but since excise duty on anything 6% or over is hefty, the lower rates are the most common) and you pour it over ice so it is longer drinking.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cider_in_Ireland
The traditional one is Bulmers/Magners, a.k.a. Clonmel Chardonnay from where the factory is located.
I wonder if former Bud Light drinkers would switch to cider instead?
Fascinating. I'm used to that being a Magners-only gimmick.
That said, I dont see ciders becoming popular with the bud lite crowd. They're either too sweet (like Angry Orchard's mainline stuff, owned by Sam Adams I believe) or a bit on the dry, non-crushable side.
You'd also need an ad campaign to make them seem manly and tough rather than the softer alternative to beer, at least in the states. Although you could possibly manage that by invoking the rural spirit of the UK's West Country and focusing on "scrumpy". Or hell, cider used to be the Colonial drink of choice (what, you don't think Johnny Appleseed was going around planting apple trees for eating, do you?). A nice patriotic George Washington/frontiersman advert, or something something pre/post prohibition era, would probably do the trick nicely. So now that I think about it, you're right -cider could absolutely be the way to go.
For a summer drink at the game or the concert? Cans of cider just as easy to stock in the fridge as cans of beer! Or bottles, either is good. Nice chilled medium-dry cider that you're swigging out of the bottle as your team get hammered/crush their foes? On a sunny afternoon at the game? Sounds good to me!
I like this one a lot (probably too much) and it's owned by Heineken, so if they made a push now is the right time to capitalise on the need for summer drinking alcohol that's not too heavy!
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