Texas brewery releases 99-pack of beer

Everything is bigger in Texas - even the packs of beer. And to prove it, local brewery Austin Beerworks has created a seven-foot-long pack containing 99 cans.

The new pack has been created to publicise the relaunch of one of its beers as Peacemaker Anytime Ale. But with the pack containing 99 standard 12-ounce cans, Peacemaker All-the-time Ale might have been closer to the mark.

The company decided to change the name of the beer because customers were getting confused: it was originally described as "extra pale" because of its colour alone, but this led drinkers to believe that it was a classic pale ale.

The pack's certainly designed for sharing: indeed, with a weight of around 82 pounds, it's a bit much for one person to carry alone. The company plans to sell the packs for $99 each. It's bought 1,500 of the special packs, but will only release a few at a time.

"Yes, the 99-packs are absolutely real. They will start going out on Thursday," says the company. "We'll post when and as it happens. There's only about 20 to go around this weekend, but we'll be making more because apparently y'all like to party."

In order to get their hands on one of the packs, customers will need to follow Austin Beerworks on social media for tip-offs on which stores will be offering the limited supplies.

In England, the government recently shied away from banning the sale of multipacks at a lower unit price than individual cans. In 2011, Scotland banned multi-buy promotions such as "buy one, get one free" or "two for £5", which were seen as encouraging greater consumption of alcohol. However, research by University of East Anglia and University of Cambridge scientists found that the ban had no effect on the total number of sales.

"This study provides timely evidence on the seeming ineffectiveness of an intervention designed to reduce alcohol consumption," commented Theresa Marteau, of the University of Cambridge.

As for Austin Beerworks, the 99-pack is a bit of a mixed blessing, as selling them means operating at a loss.

"It would probably be better if it wasn't real, but it's too late now," co-founder Michael Graham tells Brewbound. "This project doesn't make economic sense. The more we sell, the more we lose."


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