Robin Hood Cream Ale blast from past
In a beer marketing move that steals from the rich past to give to the present pour, Pittsburgh Brewing is bringing back Robin Hood Cream Ale.
The Lawrenceville-based company, which normally brews its Iron City and other beers at City Brewing Co. in Latrobe, is for this one working with Sharpsburg craft brewer Dancing Gnome Beer. Four-packs of 16-ounce cans will be for sale there for $12 starting at 10 a.m. Tuesday by online order at www.orderdg.com. Orders can be picked up starting Wednesday, and the 160 or so cases should last at least through Saturday, predicts Dancing Gnome’s Andrew Witchey.
Sixteen-ounce cans are what all the cool kids drink now, but “half quarts” still were a novelty when the original Robin Hood was sold in green steel cans starting in 1977. The cans included the Olde Englishified invitation, “Hear Ye, Men of Adventure, Join Robin Hood for a Truly Smooth, Satisfying Cream Ale.”
Pittsburgh Brewing pulled that arrow out of its quiver after going for most of the 1970s without turning an annual profit, as the bigger
national breweries were stealing its market share. But the brewery reported that Robin Hood, in part thanks to its cheeky marketing involving the legendary folk hero, was “selling well ahead of projections” by the end of that first year, and the brand did well for at least several more.
People still ask for it from the company, which is tuned in to Pittsburgh’s love of nostalgia. (It recently ran a social media promotion for fans to vote on which of its 64 classic Iron City cans is the greatest of all time. The winner was a steel one commemorating Three Rivers Stadium.)
The beer style of “cream ale” is old school, too, but it’s still made by some craft breweries including Dancing Gnome, which is putting its updated version into these cans. But not without consulting the original recipe with longtime PBC brewmaster Mike Carota, which Mr. Witchey much enjoyed.
Mr. Witchey isn’t old enough to have sipped the original brand, but he knew about it. The goal of the collaboration, he says, wasn’t to mass produce an, uh, “affordable” beer, but “to help educate a new consumer on an American classic style that’s often misunderstood. At its core though, it’s a ‘beer’ beer.” He adds, “The can was pretty sweet, and we used that original design for the inspiration of the relaunch.”
The new cans are the work of local marketing, branding and web design firm Top Hat, which was a big winner in the recent, inaugural Craft Beer Marketing Awards. The firm won eight “Crushies” for packaging, branding (including the IC Light rebrand and logo) and website design (of pittsburghbrewing.com). (Another local winner was First Sip Brew Box’s Dennis Guy who took gold for Best Original Video/Storytelling. See the full results at craftbeermarketingawards.com.
Last year, Pittsburgh Brewing briefly brought back, only on draft, another iconic brand — IC Golden Lager — brewed this time around by Penn Brewery on the North Side.
“We love the idea of doing local collaborations,” says Anna Angotti, marketing specialist for Pittsburgh Brewing, which is considering doing more of them with other craft breweries. “We’re not in competition.”
The company has purchased and is continuing to renovate some of the buildings at its original Lawrenceville location, but Ms. Angotti couldn’t say anything yet about what might happen there next.
She said PBC is having a lot of success with its new Iron City Bean branded coffee, which is locally roasted by Press House Coffee and sold at beer distributors as well as online.