American Airlines Rolls Out New Beers September 1

by Gary Leff

On September 1 American Airlines will be making a hard cutover to change three of their beers on board.

Budweiser, New Belgium Voodoo Ranger IPA and Sam Adams Boston Lager are being dropped in favor of:

  • Goose Island IPA
  • Fat Tire Belgian White
  • A rotating selection of Sam Adams starting with Octoberfest. This will be swapped for another Sam Adams varietal in November.

American continues to offer Bud Light, Heineken, and Dos Equis as well.

A typical drawer with 10 beers will have two each of the Goose Island, Fat Tire, Bud Light and Heineken and one Sam and Dos Equis so that says something about expected popularity I’d think. These beers are available complimentary in premium cabins and for purchase in economy.

American does change out beers on some international flights with a destination-specific option. Tokyo flights get Kirin. Seoul gets Cass/OB Premium. Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai get Tsingtao. Sydney’s selection is Victoria Bitter, and both Europe and Auckland flights get Heineken. (There’s no destination beer for South America.)

Personally I’m just glad American has increased the supply of Woodford Reserve in first class to six minis per first class liquor drawer, so they shouldn’t run out on most flights.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. Amen to the woodford, I noticed this a few weeks ago, though it’s still incredibly popular on my Thursday afternoon flights!

  2. Woodford is pretty overpriced normally and kind of bland for its price range. I prefer Buffalo Trace which United serves. It probably costs the same for BT on UA as Woodford does on AA but even if they’re both the same price I’d take BT. At least it’s not overpriced faux-craft bourbon like Jefferson’s Reserve or the many local “craft” bourbons that are springing up like cockroaches and taking over shelf space from much better, cheaper, and established distillers.

  5. UPGRADE. Even though AB bought out Goose Island, I don’t feel the quality has suffered. Goose IPA is one of, if not the best mass-produced IPA in the country. If the Sam varietal includes their summer seasonal, I’ll be happy as well.

  6. As a beer guy: I’ll say Goose Island IPA isn’t bad. However, the quality of some of their brews HAS suffered, as the recipes have changed and the brewing now takes places in different facilities, that do affect the flavour. Again – It’s not bad, but differen. As for personal preference, I enjoy the New Belgium Voodoo Ranger over the Goose Island. On a plane however, I’d be happy with having either as an option.

  9. Damn, they got to dump Dewars WHITE LABEL too ! At least bring onboard 12yr. Right, Dug?

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