The Miller Chill Effect

This year’s release and success of Miller Chill has been an interesting case study in the current state of the domestic beer industry. Not surprisingly, beer critics have bashed the beer (we posted 3 such reviews in August). But Miller Chill has enjoyed a great deal of success with the beer-buying public.

According to Miller Brewing’s reports (as found at Realbeer.com), they hope to sell 400,000 barrels of Chill this year, which would equal the sales of Miller’s biggest import, Foster’s Lager. And in supermarkets (20% of all beer sales happen there), Chill is outselling such beers as Michelob Light, Heineken Light, Beck’s, Blue Moon White, Samuel Adams Boston Lager and Rolling Rock,

The other big brewers are taking notice of Chill’s success. BrewBlog (operated by Miller), reports that Anheuser-Busch is conducting market research to gauge the consumer interest in beers with a Latin influence.

From Miller’s blog:

If A-B’s moves seem familiar, it’s because it appears to be acting out of an old playbook. As described in Philip Van Munching’s “Beer Blast,” a common A-B response to new products was to “denigrate” them and then “replicate” them. That was how it responded to light beer, for instance. And Bud Select, with it carb profile, was somewhat of an imitation of Miller Lite.

Beer snobs hate it, beer-buyers love it, and other brewers want a piece of it. What’s your take on the Miller Chill effect?

September 15, 2007 | Filed Under Beer, Domestic 

Comments

3 Responses to “The Miller Chill Effect”

  1. Scott McGerik on September 16th, 2007 11:48 am

    I’m a beer lover. I like everything from pilseners to stouts with a preference for American-style IPAs (hops, hops, and a lot more hops).

    With the above in mind, I like Miller Chill and similar products. It is light on flavor but I found it worked well on those hot days of summer. The taste was refreshing and the lower alcohol content kept it from sapping my energy.

    That said, I won’t be keeping it in my fridge because there are other styles I prefer to drink on a regular basis. But, if I was offered Miller Chill at a backyard cookout, I would accept and enjoy it.

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