The brand is available in every major market in Florida and has approval to sell in most big chain stores. After being with Southern Wine and Spirits for four years, Southern has recently sold off it's beer portfolio. There are now six Florida beer distributors that have actively come forward with enthusiastic plans for distribution of Honey Amber Rose throughout the entire state of Florida. One distributor within a few weeks has already put together a full roll out plan to aggressively market the beer. Honey Amber Rose is now more poised than ever to reach the next level.
The beer editor from Bella Online has described the beer as "sex in a glass." Yet another writer from Gulf Shore Life, Karen Bartlett has described the beer as "Scarlet Ohara meets Moulin Rouge". In the last four years comments like these are commonplace and reinforce that the brand has achieved it's goal of reinventing it's version of what a beer for women should be. Honey Amber Rose is and always has been ahead of the trend in the marketing of low calorie, low carb, and lower alcohol preservative free beverages. Recently a renowned Chicago beer critic gave Honey Amber Rose an A for marketing. You can't do better than that! The beer has been deemed controversial by some beer critics. They seem to think that a beer targeted towards women is not viable in a male dominated market. But the funny thing is, half of the beer consumers that quaff down the ale are men. Abby Water's one of the two owners was quoted as saying, "although the product screams girly, real men are not intimidated by the glam packaging." So contrary to their beliefs, Honey Amber Rose is growing steadily and getting bigger despite these incorrect notions. Also to buck this notion there are heavyweights in the beverage industry gearing their products more and more towards women. If you can say Heineken, you just mentioned one of the heavyweights. They are actively pursuing the women's beverage market with their product in Europe called Wieckse Rose'. Also showing up in the European marketplace are other contenders such as Hoegaarden Rose', Gulpener Rose' and Sophie & Sophie, all beverages geared to women.
The recipe, dating from the 1800s, is brewed from the fruit of the rose, Rose Hip Shells plus a touch of Clover Honey. It has been formulated using a special process so that it only contains 108 calories, and is under 7 grams in carbohydrates and 4% alcohol per twelve ounce serving. In addition, rose hips contain antioxidants and 20 times more Vitamin C than regular fruits. Many people are surprised that an ale containing honey could actually be low carb and low calorie and are actually pleasantly surprised that there isn't an overly sweet taste to it.
In the last few weeks with the announcement of the auction, many questions have arisen as to why sell a rising brand? When asked point blank about this issue, Abby Waters replied," I have struggled the last two years to raise the proper amount of capital to be a player in the beer industry. I am a marketing person with a creative bent, and I have found it difficult to plan financially to keep up with the growth of the beer. It is my hope that the new owners will have the proper funding to take advantage of what we have created and exploit it to it's fullest potential."
Bidding starts at noon EST on August 15th, selling the Honey Amber Rose brand, including its recipe, trademarks, portfolio of existing accounts, access to hundreds of approved accounts, flash website, full package design, introduction to suppliers distributors, the brewery as well as training by key executives in the company. A link to the auction will be provided via http://honeyamberose.com/
