Is a Hoppy, “Juicy” Lager From Labatt Something You Want?
Photos via Labatt USA
Somehow we missed the announcement of something so bizarre as Labatt Blue Citra when it was first unveiled back in November, so bear with us here as we wrap our collective heads around the existence of such a product.
The Toronto-headquartered Labatt Brewing Co., best known as the producers of Canadian lagers in the mold of Labatt Blue, is a subsidiary of the Belgian-owned and operated Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev). Labatt USA, on the other hand, which brews and sells the brand’s beer in the U.S., is a subsidiary of Costa Rican-owned North American Breweries, the conglomerate that owns Genesee, Pyramid and Magic Hat, among others. They’ve existed on their own since the merger of AB InBev and SABMiller, which forced InBev to split a number of its holdings.
Edit: An earlier version of this story erroneously reported Labatt USA as being a subsidiary of AB InBev.
If this was one of the former craft breweries acquired by AB InBev since Goose Island was the first domino to fall in 2011, it would make perfect sense. But Labatt? A brand almost entirely associated with cheap lager? Where do expensive, sought-after American aroma hops fit into that formula?
Just look at the description of Labatt Blue Citra, which bills itself as “juicy,” with “aromas and flavors of tropical fruit.”
It certainly suggests that the execs at North American Breweries believe that the ethos of craft beer flavors, and words such as “juicy” and “tropical” have so permeated the general drinking culture at this point that even the rank and file regulars purchasing 30-packs of Labatt Blue at Sam’s Club might have an interest in an explicitly hoppy version of that middling lager. And not just “hoppy,” mind you, but hop forward in the same sort of language that is typically used to describe styles such as American IPA!