Edison Beer - Press Room

Hippo Press
May 2, 2002 Edition

Edison Light, a bright idea?
By Brutally Frank
HippoPress.com

It might be different if I were morbidly obese or a girl or both, but I must confess that I don’t particularly like light beers, or domestic light beers in particular. Sure, I’ll choke down a half dozen Amstel Lights decorated with lime wedges if I have to drive a kindergarten school bus, perform delicate surgery or sing cabaret songs in a velvet gown and heels within the hour, but otherwise I prefer a beer that has both flavor and its full complement of alcoholic fortification.

Yet light beer sales continue to climb. According to a recent study sponsored by the New Century Brewing Company, it is not the reduced calories that drive this trend but the recognition among young men in particular that they can drink more beer by drinking less alcohol. As any young Lothario can tell you, if you intend to hit the bar scene at happy hour, drink steadily until closing time and still possess enough wits to make inroads with that increasingly fetching gal at the end of the bar at 2 a.m., you have to set a deliberate pace. That may mean drinking your father’s boring watered down light beer, or drinking a more expensive bottled imported light beer or perhaps a light craft beer (such as the recently reviewed Sam Adams Light). As of this month there is a new option in town-Edison Light Beer.

Edison Light is a collaboration between Rhonda Kallman, who spent 15 years building the Sam Adams brewing empire from scratch, and the octogenarian brewing guru Dr. Joseph Owades, who has the dubious distinction of being credited with inventing the original light beer brewing process in the 1960s. For nearly two years, the Kallman/Owades team has been perfecting this new beer with a unique patent pending formula and brewing process. The beer has a bit more color than its mainstream competitors, but has a smooth finish that is not overly hoppy or bitter. It is not a craft light beer; if you are looking for complex flavor, look elsewhere. This beer is the perfect fuel for the all-day, beach-bound drinker.

Fueled by the energies of a small staff that has grown to only 22 after its untimely debut on September 10, 2001, and contract-brewed out of Utica, N.Y., Edison is slowly gaining the kind of cult following that propelled companies like Rolling Rock and Coors to national prominence decades ago. The company is not interested in brewing a “regular” beer but is going to devote its full energies to obtaining a foothold in the $35 billion light beer market. Edison bottles, which have a distinctive red label featuring a light bulb (rather than the visage of another dead white guy), retail for $5.99 a six-pack. Edison is available locally at the North End Superette (1308 Elm St.), where it is the featured beer of the month for May-free Edison beer tastings will be held there on Friday, May 5 and Friday, May 17 from 4 to 7 p.m.

Edison’s marketing campaign is based in grassroots support. You probably won’t see ads on TV or radio or even in the Hippo. You’ll hear about it from your buddy. Or you’ll see a guy surrounded by women drinking Edison at the bar and try it to see if your luck changes. It won’t. But your tastes might. In rustic New Hampshire you don’t get to be ahead of the curve in too many trends. So this might be the chance to check out a new brew, and if you like it, pass it around and pass it on.

Brutally Frank can be reached at hippo@hippopress.com

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