Leinie’s Summer Shandy a Top Growth Brand

Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy had a good summer.

Leinie’s Summer Shandy cracked the Nielsen Top 10 growth brands for the four weeks ending Sept. 16, coming in at No. 7.

Case sales were up 52.6 percent during the four week period, according to Nielsen. Case share was up 0.1 points.

This year marked the 10^th anniversary of Leinie’s Summer Shandy, which was inspired by a classic German beer recipe mixing beer and lemonade. Leinie’s Summer Shandy quickly went from being a popular brand in the Great Lakes region to a national phenomenon.

“This year is shaping up to be not only the biggest Summer Shandy season we’ve ever seen, but we’ll sell more Shandy this year than ever before,” said Homer Dawson, senior marketing manager for Leinie’s. “It’s been a nice way to celebrate our 150^th anniversary.”

Dawson noted that, after running out of Shandy early in 2016, Leinie’s brewed more this time around. And that investment paid off.
The success of Leinie’s Summer Shandy inspired a wide range of imitators. But Leinie’s shandy lineup still represents nine out of every 10 Shandy beers sold in the U.S.

Good Beer Hunting shared an in-depth look at Leinie’s Summer Shandy – the “feel good hit of the summer” – earlier this year.

MillerCoors had two other brands in the top 10 – Keystone Light at No. 3 and Hamm’s at No. 10. Behind the Beer News looked at the growth of these brands and earlier this week.