Above a women's clothing store on Main Street in Brighton is the world headquarters of the state's newest brand of beer - WETBEER. "I was sitting at the Cleveland Grand Prix in sweltering heat and pulled the tab on a Bud Dry and had a realization - beer is wet not dry," said Stephen E. Brown, CEO of WETBEER, Incorporated.
As a marketing/public relations representative for such image-based companies as Fosters Beer, Penske Speedway and Championship Auto Racing Teams, Brown knows that a catchy name, logo and marketing campaign can create pull for a product is actually available. This marketing realization is working wonders for WETBEER.
Similar to the controversial Bad Frog Beer, which features a frog on the label portraying the middle finger, WETBEER started out with a name, a T-shirt, some hats and a Web site, www.wetbeer.com.
"The next thing I knew, people were buying the apparel off the Web site and began asking where they could buy the beer," continued Brown. The T-shirts feature the WETBEER logo on the front and phrases such as "Get Wet," "Wet Yourself," "Generation Wet," and "Dry's Out…Wets In" on the back.
The whole concept is aimed at the 21- to 35-year-olds who are having fun and enjoying a cold and wet beer. "I really had no plans to sell beer when I started doing some research. I found that the powerful and large beer companies have trademarked just about every phrase under the sun - ice beer, dry beer, draft beer, not to mention frogs and lizards. One of the few left, and the most obvious to me, was "wet beer." After all, what is beer if not wet?" With that realization, Brown drew up a business plan, which quickly turned into a prospectus to generate cash. By reluctantly floating 45 percent of the company to thirsty local investors, he raised over $100,000.
Holding a competitor's product, Brown points out such themes as fire brewed, aged hops, brewed the classic way. "Heck, beer is to drink with friends and have fun. The last thing I think about is reading beer can labels and thinking about how it is made," continued Brown.
Armed with a name, some T-shirts and a few bucks, the search began for a brewery that would work with him on a small scale to start production and grow the product as the image took hold.
"I convinced Gluek Brewery in Cold Spring, Minnesota to work with me on the beer recipe and a slow roll-out of the distribution," continued Brown. "The recipe includes fresh spring water the lends a hint of sweetness and puts emphasis on the wet taste."
Brown is quick to point out that this is no micro brew, it is a golden lager with a focus on traditional taste. "I started with two truckloads in the spring and quickly sold out. Based upon that response, we are beginning the awareness push and the in-bar promotions to get the product to the public. We are focusing on Generation Wet, 21- to 35-year-olds who enjoy outdoor activities and are not hung up on the old beer traditions and tags."
Still a one-man operation and being his best salesman, Steve set out to attract distributors to get the beer sales on a parallel with the T-shirt sales. Currently Brown has signed on with 14 distributors in the state with more planned. Steve Widman, vice president of Silver Foam in Jackson, said "We've sold 300 cases in 15 days, not bad for a start-up brand that is just waiting to be discovered."
The retailers are also excited about WETBEER. Sam Kallabat, of the Canopy Bottle and Gourmet Shop in Brighton, said "WETBEER is selling great, every one is trying it, the name helps and the packaging is appealing. It is out-selling everyone of my micro brews and starting to catch some of the big name domestics."
