Will a New Ultra-Premium Guinness Beer Be a Hit — at $35 Per Bottle?

Sometimes new beer launches are great feats, and sometimes they are a risk. So, what is a beer drinking guy supposed to think of a new beer from Guinness? The company has reported that Guinness is launching a new beer called Guinness The 1759, what is called the first entry in its Guinness Signature series. This is not your normal beer — called a ultra-premium brewed with both beer malt and whiskey malt.

There is a rub here that is going to be disappointing to many beer drinkers. The limited edition amber ale is coming just in time for the holidays but will have only 90,000 bottles produced.

The Guinness The 1759 is brewed with traditional beer malt and what is said to be the same peated whisky malt used to make the world’s finest Scotch and Irish whiskies. As the name might suggest, the beer is inspired by a 200 year old recipe. The name is said to be derived from the year Arthur Guinness signed the 9,000 year old lease at St. James’s Gate in Dublin.

It is far to ask if this can really move the needle or not. It seems like a ‘Not!‘ After all, only 90,000 bottles compares to what is represented as being over 10 million glasses of Guinness beer enjoyed each day around the world, with some 1.8 billion pints sold every year.

This is being touted as the first offering of the new Guinness Signature Series of limited edition luxury beers. The 1759 will be available in a 25.4 oz. bottle, with a lofty 9% alcohol by volume, with a suggested retail price of $34.99 per bottle.

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So, how does this stack up for Diageo? Its sales for fiscal year-end in June 2014 were $17.54 billion with net income from operations of $3.87 billion. The 90,000 bottles at almost $35 per bottle comes to almost $3.15 million in revenues. Maybe Diageo and Guinness should be thinking about a way of releasing 9 million bottles if it wants to make even a dent towards a meaningful bump to the bottom line.

Still, it sounds like a great beer per the description below:

• The 1759 is said to have a rich butterscotch aroma with subtle hop notes; and the mellow, caramel flavors combine with a subtle hop character and fruity sweetness from the strong ester profile.