Wawa Celebrates Florida's Snowbirds With New Proprietary Craft Beer
MEDIA, Pa. — Wawa Inc. is once again adding to its proprietary craft beer offers.
The convenience store retailer and 2SP Brewing Co. are partnering with Coppertail Brewing Co. to debut Snowbird Reserve as a nod to Florida locals who migrate South to escape the wintry weather from the North.
"With recently celebrating Wawa's 200th store opening in the state of Florida, we're grateful for 2SP Brewing Co.'s introduction to longtime friends at Coppertail Brewing Co. to collaborate on this innovative product that brings excitement to our Florida friends and neighbors," said Mike Sherlock, chief product marketing officer for Wawa. "It's just one more way for us to 'Fulfill Lives' in our community."
Snowbird Reserve is a robust porter with sweetness derived from malted barley, intensified by Wawa Winter Reserve Coffee and balanced by a hint of vanilla. It was handcrafted by Bob Barrar, head brewer at 2SP Brewing Co.; Casey Hughes, brewmaster for Coppertail Brewing Co.; and Michael McLaughlin, Wawa’s concept development manager.
"When our friends at Wawa spoke about doing a beer for their family in Florida, we immediately knew we wanted to collaborate with Tampa natives, Coppertail," said Barrar. "We have known Coppertail's head brewer Casey Hughes for over 15 years and have collaborated with him a few times so we knew we could do something special. Adding Michael McLaughlin, the one and only coffee guru at Wawa into the mix, we created a very approachable coffee vanilla porter. It was a great experience working with our friends and neighbors and we hope Floridians enjoy drinking it as much as we did brewing it."
Snowbird Reserve is the latest craft beer innovation debuting as part of Wawa and 2SP Brewing's multi-state Brew Tour, which kicked off in December 2019. Other brews featured on the Brew Tour and part of Wawa's proprietary craft beer line include Winter Reserve, Coffee Cake Reserve Stout and Reserve Reserve, as Convenience Store News previously reported.
The new beer will hit the retailer's stores and local distributors across Florida on Feb. 20, with a firkin-tapping event taking place at 3:45 p.m. at the Wawa location at 3660 W. Gandy Blvd. in Tampa. Customers will have the opportunity to meet the brewers and get a first taste of the new brew. Additionally, the first 100 customers will receive an official Brew Tour t-shirt while supplies last.
With limited quantities and availability, customers can click here to confirm which stores receive Snowbird Reserve product.
"We are honored to partner with Wawa and 2SP for this one-of-a-kind collaboration," commented Hughes. "To be able to work together with Bob who is both an incredible brewer and a longtime friend has been a blast. We can't wait to premiere Snowbird Reserve to our city and show what we have been working on."
Pennsylvania-based Wawa operates more than 860 c-stores, with more than 600 offering fuel, across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Florida and Washington, D.C.