Bootie aims to shake up beer market

Boston Herald ^ | 10-4-2005 | Jesse Noyes

[Cagey]

This week, for the price of a Budweiser, Bostonians can get their hands on some Bootie.

Bootie Beer, promoted as ``America's Entertainment Beer,'' is taking on the heavyweights of the national industry: Miller Brewing Co., Coors Brewing Co. and Anheuser-Busch Cos.

Over 10,000 cases of Bootie Beer and Bootie Light will hit store shelves in the Hub this week. The ambitious Bootie Beer Co. plans to distribute nationwide over the next two years.

The small Orlando, Fla.-based company, which brews in LaCrosse, Wis., has already received major financial commitments from Bay State investors. Boston-based Dutchess Private Equities Fund has promised to buy $50 million worth of the company's shares, said Bootie Chief Executive Tania Torruella.

Bootie plans to sell its beer everywhere other major brands are carried, Torruella said.

``Unless the store owner is offended by the name,'' she added.

The company isn't shy about its edgy moniker, which is one part of Torruella's strategy for reaching the heavy beer-drinking 20-somethings market.

``Everybody loves money, loves sex and they love beer,'' Torruella said. Bootie is the ``Maxim of beers,'' she added, referring to the men's magazine.

Promotional plans include hand-picking ``hot'' female models from Boston, sponsoring local events and possibly even creating a magazine.

The new beer on the block will have to contend with more than just the big boys like Budweiser, which dominates the approximately $77 billion beer industry. In Boston, where locals are often fiercely loyal to the many microbrews, Bootie might have trouble finding a favorable audience in a crowded market.

But Torruella, a former stock broker at Merrill Lynch and a descendant of rum makers, said Bootie's light body puts it in a different market than heavier tasting brews.

[VRWCmember]

I prefer German beer.

After sampling some Bierbitzch, I think I'd have to agree.