Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD 0.48%) wants beer fans to do the unthinkable with its new Budweiser product. Not only need beer enthusiasts not bother handling the can with care before opening it, they're supposed to vigorously shake it up before pouring it right down the middle of a glass. You see, the new Budweiser Nitro Reserve Gold is nitrogen infused, and the shaking activates the nitrogen within the drink.
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Anheuser-Busch may be the biggest, but isn't the first beer company to plug into the growing nitrogen-infusion craze. Guinness inserts a small plastic "widget" in cans of its nitrogen-infused beer, meant to make the beverage smoother and creamier. Budweiser Nitro Reserve Gold aims for the same, but with a simpler process. Consumers only need to turn the can over three times and pour down the middle of a glass -- creating a small splash in the process -- rather than pouring down the side of the glass as a way of minimizing bubbles. The recently introduced Budweiser beer is apparently better with them than without them.
Budweiser's Vice President of Marketing Ricard Marques says he's looking for nitrogen-infused beers to see double digit growth, once consumers are educated on the idea.
Nitrogen infusion isn't an innovation that's only taking the beer industry by storm. The same smoothness can be added to coffee as well, prompting PepsiCo and coffeehouse chain Starbucks to team up last month to create a pre-packaged, ready to drink cold brew simply called Nitro Cold Brew. That beverage, like Budweiser Nitro Reserve Gold, doesn't require anything other than the liquids and gases in the container for the all-important infusion.
