Central Standard and Leinenkugel’s launch a canned old fashioned
Central Standard Craft Distillery has entered the canned cocktail market with a brandy old fashioned, made in collaboration with Leinenkugel’s and using the distillery’s North Brandy.
It’s the Milwaukee distillery’s first venture into the ready-to- drink canned cocktail market, a market that’s expected to grow significantly in the United States in the next decade, according to Future Market Insights.
Central Standard owners Pat McQuillan and Evan Hughes got the idea while watching a Packers game at McQuillan’s home while drinking old fashioneds.
“We had to create a rotation of who was making cocktails, and we were missing a lot of the game,” Hughes said. “We were thinking, we should really look at how we could can it, and do it well and better than anyone else doing it.”
They first had the thought two years ago, and it came up again when they had a conversation last summer with Tony Bugher, president of Leinenkugel’s.
“It was a fortuitous interaction,” Hughes said. “We’ve been around for 10 years and being able to partner and to collaborate with a local legend like Leinenkugel’s, the outcome was incredible.”
Leinenkugel’s provided cranberry, orange and cherry flavors that are used for their various shandy beers.
The ready-to-drink canned option is similar to the distillery’s Pour Ready cocktails line.
“Those were made for parties to help with speed of service and consistency,” McQuillan said. “We felt, from a drinking opportunity, a lot of people are looking for a canned cocktail. It’s something that is easier to crack open at a Brewers tailgate.”
Hughes said Central Standard’s research and development team is “always working on something,” and that other canned cocktails are a possibility in the future.
For more information, visit thecentralstandard.