A New Brew Too True? Dry beers go national

By John Elson

The new brews sound almost too good to be true: they have about the same body and alcohol level (up to 5%) of regular premiums but with less sugar and, some claim, the low caloric content of light beers. Get ready to hear a whole lot more about "dry beers," which are being introduced in U.S. bars, restaurants and supermarkets. After only two months of testing in five regional markets, St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch, Inc., the nation's biggest brewer, is so enthusiastic about its version of the product -- Michelob Dry -- that it is launching it with the industry's biggest introductory ad campaign since Bud Light. Two other firms have joined in the dry stakes. In early November, G. Heileman Brewing Co. of Wisconsin, which also distributes Old Style Dry in the Midwest, began selling Rainier Dry to its customers in the rainy Northwest, using the contrary slogan: THE DRY SEASON IS COMING. Meanwhile, Milwaukee's Pabst Brewing Co. started selling Olympia Dry, after first testing its potential in Japan.

Japan is, in fact, the birthplace of dry beer. In 1987 Tokyo's Asahi Breweries, looking to reverse its declining fortunes, produced a beer that it hoped would capitalize on the country's traditional preference for dry drinks in times of prosperity. Asahi's fermentation process used high-power yeast to reduce a beer's sugar content. The resulting brew, called Super Dry, is clean and crisp, with only a trace of sweetness and a short, slightly bitter aftertaste. It swept the Japanese market, in which dry beer now accounts for 35% of sales, and triggered a pack of imitators. Whether that story will repeat itself in the U.S. remains to be seen. The Asian imports have sold well at West Coast bars and restaurants that cater to connoisseurs of Japanese cuisine, but so far are lagging behind the ever popular Dutch, West German and Canadian brews.

Anheuser-Busch is encouraged that during the test-marketing of Michelob Dry, word of mouth prompted a strong demand, particularly among women. Some of their capsule comments: "smoother," "very refreshing," "no beer aftertaste." The nation's other big brewers have adopted a wait-and-see attitude about dry beer, mindful that sales of Michelob's other brews (regular, light and dark) have recently fallen off. Ultimately, the fate of the new dries depends on the taste buds of the nation's 129 million beer drinkers, who can be both fickle and brand loyal all at once.